He played college football at Cornell, where he was ranked among the top 20 quarterbacks in passing yardage in Division I FCS history.

After going undrafted in the 2014 NFL draft, Mathews spent the summer with the Atlanta Falcons, and was a practice squad member of the Indianapolis Colts and the Arizona Cardinals.

[1] His parents divorced when he was young and Mathews was raised by his father in Colorado, and California, with his mother and older sister living in Florida.

[2] Mathews' sister Katie was paralyzed in an automobile accident in May 2006 when the car in which she was a passenger flipped when the driver swerved abruptly to avoid missing a freeway exit.

[6] A two-sport athlete, the 6'4" Mathews also started at forward on the ACHS varsity basketball team,[2] wearing jersey #23 for head coach Mike Prewitt.

[1] During his 2011 Sophomore campaign, Mathews managed to smash the Cornell single game passing record, racking up 548 yards against Penn.

[1] Mathews was named to the All-Ivy second-team for his heroics and was runner-up for the 2012 Bushnell Cup as the Ivy League's top offensive player.

[8] Following the season Mathews was named to the College Sports Journal FCS All-America team and received the additional honor of becoming only the fifth player in Cornell school history invited to participate in the East–West Shrine Game, serving as captain of the East squad.

[11][12][13] While Mathews' strong throwing arm was admired, scouts expressed misgivings about the former Big Red QB's footwork and general lack of athleticism — problematic in the lightning fast professional game.

[14] Not selected in the 2014 NFL draft, Mathews was immediately signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Falcons and attended that team's 2014 training camp.

On July 26, 2015, he jumped over the Saskatchewan Roughriders late in the 4th quarter to score the winning touchdown in an eventual 31–21 victory.