Ryan Mathews

Ryan J. Mathews (born October 10, 1987) is an American football running back for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected to his first Pro Bowl after the 2011 season. He played college football at Fresno State, where he was a second team All-American his junior year. He skipped his senior year and declared for the 2010 NFL Draft, and he was selected in the first round by the Chargers with the 12th overall pick. Mathews was born in Riverside, California to Tricia Mathews when she was just 16. His father left before he was born and has only seen him a few times in his life. For the first four months of his life, Mathews and his mother lived out of her 1969 Oldsmobile. As a child, he and his mother moved to Tehachapi, a small city 35 miles southeast of Bakersfield, to be closer to family. Once there, she took on several jobs to provide a good life for her son. He began playing football at age five, and Tricia never missed a game. After junior high, he moved back to Bakersfield to face tougher athletic competition. Mathews attended West High School in Bakersfield, California. He played running back, quarterback, and linebacker. As a junior, he led