Clay Matthews Sr., the patriarch of one of the most prominent families in sports history, died Thursday night in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Matthews, 88, was a two-way player for the San Francisco 49ers and a veteran of the Korean War, the first of three generations of NFL players in what has been called as "football's first family."
Matthews, who was born in South Carolina but moved to the Los Angeles area, had returned to his native state years ago. He watched his two oldest sons, Clay Jr., and Bruce, play 19 years each in the NFL.
Bruce, the Oilers' first-round pick in 1983, is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.