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East-West Shrine All-Star football game, 1939
Drafted in the NFL with Chicago Cardinals, 1939
Player for Hollywood Bears, 1939-1941
USF Career Years: 1935-1939
Birthdate: May 28, 1915
Hometown: Tracy, CA
Blase Miatovich Mathews was born on May 28, 1915, in Los Angeles and attended Tracy High School. Mathews was recruited to USF on a football scholarship, and played baseball and football for the Dons from 1935 to 1939. He was a member of the Block Club. His senior year, he was chosen for the East-West Shrine All-Star Game, and the Knights of Columbus All-Star team. Following graduation, Mathews was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals in the 1939 NFL Draft. He chose instead to play for the Hollywood Bears in the Pacific Coast Professional Football League from 1939 to 1941. Mathews then went on to coach football at Loyola High School in Los Angeles in 1940, prior to the outbreak of World War II.
He served in the United States Navy and was assigned to the South Pacific in the Admiralties Islands. When he returned in 1946, he accepted a position with the California and Hawaiian Sugar Company (C&H) in Portland, OR and worked for them until he retired at age 65. He moved his family to Lafayette, CA, and during retirement established the Lafayette Little League with several of his friends, which is still in existence today. Mathews has been inducted into the Tracy High School Hall of Fame, the Tracy Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, and the USF Hall of Fame in 1973.
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