Late in the 1965 season, Matte also memorably filled in as an emergency quarterback when Colts QBs Johnny Unitas and Gary Cuozzo went down with season-ending injuries in consecutive home losses to the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, respectively.

[4] For the Colts' regular-season finale (a 20–17 win) against the Los Angeles Rams and the following weekend's one-game playoff at Green Bay (a 13–10 overtime loss), Colts head coach Don Shula put a list of plays on a wristband that Matte wore.

[5][6] The Colts were the winners of the penultimate NFL title game and advanced to Super Bowl III.

However, Matte would fail to reach the end zone and a fumble to start the second half only made the Colts more frustrated on their way to a 16–7 loss.

[7] After spending most of the 1972 season on the practice squad, he was traded from the Colts to the Chargers for a 1973 eighth-round selection (189th overall–Ray Oldham) on January 24, 1973.

[8][9] Following Unitas' lead, Matte and many of his Baltimore Colt teammates disowned the franchise after their move to Indianapolis in 1984.