Growing up around the game of football always had the dream of one day playing in the NFL. Lighting his motivation to make it even more was being around former Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive tackle Zach Banner at a young age and then watching his success in the NFL.
After attending Lakes High School and starting his career in junior college, Gotel earned himself a scholarship from the Argonauts of West Florida ahead of the 2019 season.
2019 proved to be a memorable one for Gotel at the University of West Florida. In the season opener alone at Carson-Newman Gotel notched up a season high of five tackles in the game. Throughout the season he would play a crucial role, starting in 14 games at defensive end and be a key member in their success in winning a Division II National Championship.
Credit: @youngg_simbbaa/Instagram
Gotel finished the 2019 season a champion and made 31 tackles over the course of the season, which includes seven tackles for a loss.
Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic his 2020 season would be canceled.
However, proving his strong work ethic, the stoppage of the season didn’t disrupt progression and training for him. As he continued to put in the work in preparation for his next season.
Looking like he never missed a beat, he came out and produced near duplicate numbers to his 2019 season. Getting 26 total tackles, with an average of 2.5 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks.
Now as an undrafted free agent the Tacoma native would on May 6th, 2022, sign with his hometown team the Seattle Seahawks.
Gotel played his first game of the preseason for the Seahawks against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Whilst Seahawks would lose the game 32-25 in the dying seconds, Gotel impressed in his time on the field, making a solo tackle and great defensive effort during his 15 snaps on defense and one on special teams.
Credit: @youngg_simbbaa/Instagram
The Seahawks have landed themselves a player that not only is coachable and able to play both inside as a tackle and outside as an end, but is willing to do anything for the betterment of the team with his team first mentality.
With his competitiveness along with dominance and impact he can provide through his versatility, Mathew Gotel is someone to watch out for over this NFL preseason. His ability to read plays and make the transition from run stopping to pass rushing when needed will be a huge benefit for the Seahawks as Gotel looks to open eyes right across the league and make his mark representing his hometown team.
Follow Mathew and his career:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/matthewgotel?s=21&t=79F7cWzrut2x5ABuP62Diw
