Jake Matthews welcomes 1st child in Atlanta hours before arriving for Falcons-Panthers in Charlotte

Jake Matthews and the Carolina Panthers are in Charlotte on Thursday to face NFC South rival Atlanta Falcons on “Thursday Night Football”.

Matthews, though, has bigger things on his mind: he became a father for the first time on Thursday.

The former Texas A&M offensive lineman, a 1st-round pick in 2014 by the Falcons who signed a 3-year extension with the team in the offseason worth $52.5 million, was in Atlanta with his wife earlier in the day as she delivered the couple’s first child. After that, it was off to the Queen City ahead of the Panthers’ prime time matchup at Bank of America Stadium.

The Falcons’ social media team had video of Matthews running into the stadium just over an hour before kickoff, which you can see below:

When you have a baby during the day, but Thursday Night Football at 8:15 pic.twitter.com/ybKJWGr7ax

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) November 11, 2022

Congrats to Matthews and his wife on the new delivery! The left tackle will now hope to help the Falcons even their record to 5-5 and, at least momentarily, atop the division.

Sydney Hunte

Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.