Joining Cardinals was the ‘right opportunity’ for Evan Mathis

The newest member of the Arizona Cardinals’ offensive line almost decided to call it quits.

“I was in a position where I was riding the wave of enjoying that Super Bowl win,” Evan Mathis told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Friday morning. “I was never leaning towards retirement, but I was at the point where I’d say to myself ‘if the right opportunity doesn’t come along I’m perfectly okay with it.'”

Turns out, the right opportunity was a phone call from Cardinals general manager Steve Keim. Mathis said playing for an organization that had a chance to go all the way — and staying close to his family — was too good to pass up.

“One of the other reasons that retirement would have been OK with me is the fact that I don’t like having to pick up my family and move all the time, and get my kids out of their routines and changing friends and losing friends,” Mathis explained. “The fact we can do everything here from home, they can keep their normal routines, their normal relationships and I’m able to make that 30-minute commute to work and play for a great organization, there’s just so many more pros than cons here.”

Although Mathis was at a point mentally where he was content with retirement, he’s fully aware of what’s at stake and is ‘all in with the team’. Arizona plans to move the offensive lineman from his normal position of left guard to right guard. With second-year offensive lineman D.J. Humphries playing right tackle and the possibility of a rookie center, Mathis brings much needed veteran leadership to the trenches.

“Football is a team sport and communication is one of the important aspects of the game, trust and communication,” Mathis said. “What we’re going to do in the offensive line room is we’re going to go over every possible scenario, we’re all going to know our calls, we’re all going to know that no matter what we see on defense we’re going to have an answer for it and we’re going to be able to communicate with each other quickly.”

Mathis adds that being part of a group and building relationships through football is what he will miss the most when his career does come to an end. He describes his teammates as “guys that go to war together.” If 2016 is his final battle, Mathis is fine with it.

“A lot of guys have trouble transitioning out of football,” Mathis said. “I’m proud of where my career has been and what I’ve been able to accomplish.”