Phidarian Mathis shares hilarious story after surprise draft by the Washington Commanders

Washington selected Phidarian Mathis at No. 47 overall in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. However, the Alabama Crimson Tide star was so surprised by the Commanders taking him off the board that he was not prepared. Mathis shared the story from his draft day last week.

“Washington, man, I talked to so many teams and had so many Zoom calls, phone calls,” Mathis said. “I’d be lying if I said I knew when I talked to those guys but I’m just happy that a team got me and now I can finally focus on this one team.

“I most definitely was surprised,” Mathis added. “The crazy thing was, we could not find a hat. We couldn’t find a hat at all for the Commanders so it was like, that’s the only hat we’re not going to have. My dad was coming through from Atlanta and he said he found this hat. It’s not the Commanders hat, it just says Washington. I told my dad, it’s going to be crazy if they call me and it’s the only hat I don’t have.”

With all of Washington’s rebranding, it’s no surprise the newest rookie defensive tackle didn’t have the right gear. The team established the new team name at the beginning of February.

Mathis on breakout senior season: ‘I knew what time it was’

Phil Mathis went from a relatively unknown player outside of Tuscaloosa to a second-round pick in less than a calendar year.

The 6-foot-4, 312-pound defender had played a total of 915 snaps over the prior three seasons, but 2021 was different, and all about business.

After the draft, Mathis shared what went into his breakout senior season. Apparently, the Monroe (La.) native understood time was running out, and he took advantage of what little was left.

“It was just motivation, man,” Mathis said. “For me, I knew what time it was, I knew it was time for me to step up. I finally had my chance to be a starter. I found out I had my chance not to sit behind so many guys. There were so many guys that came through that I had to sit behind, I had to wait my turn. So it was finally my turn and I think I stepped up when it was time to step up and when they needed it the most.”

In his 15 games as a redshirt senior, Mathis produced 53 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss, 9.0 sacks, 6 QB hurries and 2 pass deflections. For comparison, he only had 5.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks over the first 40 games of his career. That’s the definition of a breakout campaign.