Grant Mattos is one of the most popular and richest American Football Player who was born on March 12, 1981 in Mountain View, California, United States. Mattos has the distinction of dropping the highest number of spots in Survivor history, thanks to his participation in the Redemption Island twist (5th to 8th) that was a brand new twist introduced in season 22 and later employed for seasons 23 and 27. Prior to the former NFL athlete Brad Culpepper in Season 34 Survivor Game Changers placing 2nd in the game, Mattos had held the record for the longest number of days that he lasted during a season in all former professional Major League athletes for a period of 35 consecutive days at the top of the Island (36 after his final elimination following defeat in his final Redemption Island duel a day later).
Mattos was a student at Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California. He later played football in the University of Southern California after moving to the university from Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California and graduated in 2003. The year 2003 was the time he was a part in the squad’s Orange Bowl Triumph. While at USC He received praise from fellow teammates Carson Palmer, a future NFL star quarterback who wrote of Mattos: “Having a guy like Grant Mattos come in has been great, he’s really gonna set the tone for the receivers. He’s out there working harder than anyone on this team and he’ll catch any ball, his hands are unbelievable. He’s big and physical too so we can put him at tight end or receiver and he’s strong enough to do both. It’s gonna be exciting to see what he does this year. His story of how he got here is amazing, I’m not surprised at all that Coach Chow went out and found some guy from some place and brought him in with a chance to start” “He has amazing hands and doesn’t drop any ball. He’s very similar to (ex-USC player) Matt Nickels. But he’s got more potential. He’s stronger, bigger and more capable of much more.”
Before and in the years after Survivor, Mattos worked as full-time yoga instructor at City Yoga LA. He then became a yoga instructor at Moda Yoga International in Los Angeles, California from mid 2013 onwards, until late April 2015, when he moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He moved to New York City in September 2015 and works at Moda Yoga NYC.
Mattos is a member of Team Gleason, a team that is headed by his friend and ex-NFL player and ALS sufferer Steve Gleason. In February and March 2016 he ran a fundraising campaign for the Steve Gleason team, which was one of many efforts by various team members to raise awareness and money to help research for the ALS disease, and also medical care for the many who suffer with it. As the climax of the campaign Mattos participated in the 10 km fundraising run in New Orleans on March 26, 2016. He was the 2nd highest fundraiser of the large team, raising $1750, and the team collectively went well beyond their $20,000 goal by raising more than $66,000.
After his college days, Mattos played for the San Diego Chargers. He made it on the Chargers team in 2003 due to his impressive performances at the training camps, even though he not even been initially enrolled by any major college. He was not picked in any round of the NFL draft. He played for two seasons with the Chargers and four seasons in the League all-around, before being accepted to the Denver Broncos, and later the Tennessee Titans. Knee injuries limited his performance and his chances of playing in later seasons.
