How Jake Matthews Arrived Just in Time for His Son’s Birth and Kickoff

Jake Matthews just had one memorable Thursday! The Atlanta Falcons left tackle, and his wife Meggi were inching close to their due date but were expecting to induce labor this Sunday when suddenly, their little guy decided to make an early arrival.

Early Thursday morning Matthews, who was in Charlotte preparing to play the Panthers, received a call that his wife went into labor and would be giving birth within hours. Desperate to make it to the delivery, Matthews explored all his options for making it to Atlanta—commercial flight, private plane—before settling on driving as the quickest option.

According to ESPN, the Falcons’ security staff sped down the interstate starting at 9:30am with Matthews in tow, getting the football star to the hospital at 12:30pm, just in time for the birth. “He came and it was perfect timing,” Matthews said. “He was healthy and he was perfect. It was a whirlwind.”

After just 15 minutes spent holding his new son, Beckett, Matthews hopped on a private jet back to Charlotte. The left tackle was captured running into the locker room at the last minute, where he was met with big congratulations from his team.

Although the Falcons would go on to lose the game, Matthews doesn’t regret one moment of his memorable day. “It’s mixed emotions because the first part of it was incredible to hold my first-born son and see how amazing she did and then obviously making it back here,” Matthews told ESPN. “It would have been nice to win but give them credit, they outplayed us today.”

Our best to the new happy family!