Best Green Bay Packers player to wear No. 52 is a member of an NFL royal family

Welcome back to our series covering the greatest Green Bay Packers players to wear every jersey number from No. 0 to No. 99.

We've got one of the most popular players in modern Packers history here at No. 52, so let's get down to business by first running through our usual process where we look at everyone who's donned the digit for the Green & Gold over the years.

Larry Buhler, B
George Cumby, LB
Tiny Engebretsen, OL
Rashan Gary, LB/DE
Bill Kuusisto, G
Clay Matthews III, LB
Jim Melka, LB
Al Rose, E
John Schmitt, C
Bob Skoglund, DE
Ken Snelling, RB
Cleo Walker, LB
Gary Weaver, LB
Mike Weddington, LB
Frank Winters, C

While this list certainly isn't the longest we've seen, there are unquestionably a few notable names here, starting with Packers Hall of Famer Tiny Engebretsen, who took a break from his overall lengthy run wearing No. 34 to sport No. 52 for a season in 1936.

There's linebacker George Cumby, who was a solid player on some average Green Bay teams in the early-to-mid 1980s. You've got center Frank Winters, who manned the middle of the offensive line during a big portion of the Brett Favre era from 1993 to 2002. And of course, there's Rashan Gary, who racked up 46.5 sacks in his seven seasons with the Packers from 2019 to 2025 before being shipped to the Dallas Cowboys in the trade that brought Micah Parsons to Titletown.

At the end of the day, though, the clear-cut call here is the other member of the Packers Hall of Fame on the list, that being none other than Clay Matthews III.

Clay Matthews III did his family proud by becoming a Green Bay Packers legend

Matthews, of course, comes from incredible stock, as his family is one of only a few to send three generations of players to the NFL.

Clay Matthews Sr. spent four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1950s, playing both offensive and defensive tackle as well as some defensive end. He then saw two of his sons go to the league.

Clay Matthews Jr. played linebacker for 19 seasons, 16 with the Cleveland Browns (1978-1993) and three with the Atlanta Falcons (1994-1996), earning four trips to the Pro Bowl and a Second-Team All-Pro selection. And Bruce Matthews was one of the most versatile and decorated offensive linemen of all time, as he played every position up front for the Houston/Tennessee Oilers/Titans for 19 years of his own from 1983 to 2001, earning 14 Pro Bowl nods and 10 total All-Pro selections (seven First Team, three Second Team) before being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007.

Despite his lineage, Clay Matthews III was not a star in high school until his senior season, as his size didn't come until a little later in life. As such, he didn't have any big-time offers to play college football. But with the hope of following in his father's and uncle's footsteps, he enrolled at USC and made the team as a walk-on, initially playing only on the scout team.

While he took Special Teams Player of the Year honors in both 2006 and 2007, it wasn't until his senior year with the Trojans that he became a regular starter on defense. And he certainly took advantage, earning Second-Team All-Pac-10 honors in 2008.

The Packers clearly saw there was talent there and traded up to get Matthews with the 26th overall selection in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft, a decision that certainly paid off immediately, as he racked up 10.0 sacks to earn his first trip to the Pro Bowl and a third-place finish in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.

In his second season, in helping Green Bay to its fourth Super Bowl victory, Matthews earned First-Team All-Pro honors and a second-place finish in the Defensive Player of the Year voting after tallying 60 total tackles, 25 QB hits, a career-high 13.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, four passes defended, and an interception during the regular season. He then set a new team record with 3.5 sacks in the playoffs, and in the Packers' win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl 45, he forced a fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter that ultimately led to Green Bay taking an 11-point lead, basically sealing the deal.

Things were never quite that good again, but it's not as if he didn't have more great seasons after that, as he ultimately ended his 10-year run with the Packers having earned six trips to the Pro Bowl and a pair of All-Pro selections. In that decade in the Green & Gold, Matthews recorded 356 total tackles, 121 tackles for loss, 189 QB hits, 83.5 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, returning one for a touchdown as a rookie, and six interceptions, two of which he turned into pick-sixes.

From a technical standpoint, those 83.5 sacks are officially the most in Green Bay history, as sacks didn't become an official NFL statistic until 1982. However, as the fine folks at Pro Football Reference went back and tallied numbers starting in 1960, the unofficial leader is Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis, who is said to have tallied 99.5 for the Packers from 1960 to 1969.

Either way, Matthews, who most Cheeseheads would probably like to forget played his final season with the Los Angeles Rams, did his family name proud by becoming a Green Bay legend and was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2024.

And if everything listed above wasn't enough to convince anyone that he deserves this title of the greatest Packers player to wear No. 52, that incredible cameo from Pitch Perfect 2 should be enough, right? But only if you're think you're ready for this jelly.

Okay, we'll stop now. We'll see you for No. 53.

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This list will be updated daily until all 100 entries are complete, so be sure to check back in with Lombardi Ave for updates.

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Clay Matthews III did his family proud by becoming a Green Bay Packers legend

Other Green Bay Packers jersey honorees

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