Long before he was protecting Tom Brady’s blind side, Matt Light was running through the woods of rural Ohio in buckskins, hurling tomahawks and shooting flintlocks. Raised in a family of outdoorsmen including his father, uncle, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Light learned early that the outdoors was more than a place; it was a way of life.
That grounding shaped the man he would become: humble, hard-working and uninterested in the spotlight. While many professional athletes chase red carpets and endorsement deals, Light prefers tree stands and campfires. He’s a former NFL All-Pro who’s never had a personal social media account and a three-time Super Bowl champion who still defers credit to his team, both on and off the field.
Early Outdoor Lessons
That humility began in his earliest years in Darke County, Ohio, where Light was always eager to learn something new, even if it wasn’t an easy lesson. One such lesson that sticks with him came after raiding a bird’s nest as a boy.
“I’ll never forget the disappointment my uncle had in his eyes because I touched those birds, and he knew full well that their mother would never come back,” Light recalled. “It taught me the best lesson I could ever have.”
While some kids grew up glued to cartoons, Light was captivated by Marty Stouffer’s Wild America. The woods called to him early, and never stopped.
Matt Light: From Bowhunter To Boilermaker
Light didn’t grow up in a family that emphasized sports, but as a big kid in a small town, he eventually found his way onto the football field. When Purdue University offered him a scholarship, he jumped at the opportunity.
Light began his college career at tight end, logging a single reception where he steamrolled Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson. After the season, he moved to left tackle and spent the next three years protecting fellow Boilermaker legend Drew Brees.
Off the field, Light pursued one of Purdue’s most demanding majors: mechanical engineering. Balancing his rigorous athletic schedule with that course load was no easy task, but Light embraced the challenge.
“I just didn’t know any better,” he said. “There wasn’t any room for error, and there was comfort in that.”
Gridiron and Gobblers
The New England Patriots selected Light in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He quickly became a fixture protecting Tom Brady’s blind side en route to three Super Bowl titles in his first four seasons.
Light went on to play in five Super Bowls and earn three Pro Bowl selections. He’s since been inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame and selected to their 50th Anniversary Team. However, when Light signed his rookie contract, his first three purchases were telling: a car, a cell phone and a Mathews bow. It was a clear sign: Even as football took center stage, Light would never stray far from his roots.
Ask him about his proudest moment from that career, and you won’t hear about individual accolades.
“Being a part of that team and winning the way that we won,” Light said. “We earned the right to be out there each and every week. We put a lot of work into what we did.”
Light was as committed as any of his teammates to helping the Patriots win. But while most players set early alarms for an extra workout, his was to squeeze in a morning hunt before practice. Light needed to carve out time for his other passion as well, and he believes his career was better for it.
“It provided me with a lot of clarity,” Light said. “Being able to get outdoors and get a hunt in here and there was probably what gave me the longevity I had. I was able to keep my sanity.”
Light was certainly in his right mind during the 2011 NFL lockout. While the league was scrambling to figure out how to play, Light was found in the woods or on a boat.
“I was sending coaches photos of me holding turkeys, saying, ‘Don’t fix this any time soon, fellas,’” he laughed. “They didn’t find it as funny as I did.”
That spring marked Light’s last offseason in the NFL. Retirement brought him the opportunity to spend more time outdoors and dedicate additional energy to giving back.
The Light Foundation
Soon after entering the NFL, Light and his wife, Susie, founded the Light Foundation. Inspired by the values on which he was raised: responsibility, morality, accountability, and leadership, he wanted to create something that could reflect the lessons he’d learned over the years.
“After going through [the draft] and understanding I might be able to do something and have some success, it turned into, ‘What are you going to do with this? You’ve got this unbelievable opportunity, and they’re paying you more than they should,’” Light said. “So, I asked my parents what they thought of me creating a nonprofit and doing some work.”
What started as a modest fundraising event has evolved into a national organization that has impacted over 7,500 kids through outdoor-based programming. The foundation’s core pillars are accountability, hard work, leadership, service and respect for the natural world.
Through hands-on activities such as woodworking, fishing and turkey hunting, kids learn to push themselves and work as a team. Light believes these challenges help build the skills necessary for success in life and assist young people in developing the grit needed to face the challenges that life will inevitably present.
“There can’t be enough said for surrounding yourself with people who can either outdo you mentally, physically or at least push you,” Light said. “That’s where you can make some serious gains in life.”
Nowhere is this more evident than at Camp Vohokase, the foundation’s signature initiative. Each year, four incoming high school freshmen from at-risk communities are selected to participate in a four-year leadership program. Participants must maintain academic progress, complete an annual community service project and check in regularly throughout the year.
Every summer, they gather at the foundation’s 500-acre facility in Greenville, Ohio, for an eight-day immersion in the outdoors: woodworking, skeet shooting, canoeing, archery, fishing and more. The goal is simple: help young men grow into strong, confident leaders using the outdoors as their proving ground.
Matt Light's Legacy Through the Land
Though the Light Foundation has more camps, events and a broader reach than can be discussed here, it exemplifies what Light truly represents. It’s about more than hunting, fishing or learning to work with your hands. It’s about helping young people find purpose, direction and the ability to thrive through challenges, lessons that mirror those Light has learned in the woods his whole life.
For him, it always comes back to that deep-rooted connection to the outdoors. It’s where Light finds clarity, peace and perspective, not just on the hunt, but on how to live.
“If I had to sum it all up, it would be time in the outdoors,” he said, reflecting on what defines a good hunting season. “The more of it I get, the better the season. The less, the more disappointed I am. We only get so many turns around the sun, man. If I’ve got 20 or 30 more falls left in me to chase, that’s not a whole lot. You have to covet every precious moment you get.”
Hot Takes: A Q&A With Matt Light
If you had to have one hunting partner in a turkey blind, who would it be?
Matt Light (ML): Rob Gronkowski. I took Gronkowski out once, and we had a great hunt. I think he got in trouble for hunting with me from his significant other, so he hasn’t been back out, but he’s a riot to have anywhere with you.”
What are your guilty pleasures in the food and drink variety?
ML: Butter and bread, man. My wife makes the best sourdough and focaccia bread on the planet, and I could eat my weight in it. For drinks, it’s got to be scotch and bourbon. To me, the best scotch is Raer Scotch Whisky. For bourbon, I enjoy a Weller, a Pappy, but you really can’t go wrong anywhere. There’s too many to list.
What’s your favorite travel destination?
ML: I haven’t been yet, but I know it’s going to be my favorite, New Zealand. For one I’ve been to, though, England would blow people’s minds.
How much pro football do you watch these days?
ML: Man, I hadn’t seen a game until I got there, and outside of Super Bowl Sunday, that hasn’t changed much. If it’s a Sunday in the fall, I’m somewhere in the woods.
Who was more fun to work with between Drew Brees and Tom Brady?
ML: I’ve got to say both of them. When you win, everything is fun.
Were you a pregame music guy?
ML: I was in college, but in the pros, I fell asleep before every game. After warmups, everybody would be in there slamming their heads into walls and doing smelling salts, and I’d just fall asleep.
If you could own any firearm for the rest of your life, what would it be?
ML: Probably a Thompson. Give me that old Bonnie and Clyde, let me have a little fun.
What was your favorite season with the Patriots?
ML: That 2007 season. Going undefeated in the regular season, that was a special year, man. With the way we did it, yeah, we didn’t win the big one, alright. But everything else about that season was just incredible.
Who was the best defender you faced in your career?
ML: I think I had the most respect for Dwight Freeney. You know, if you have one move that you can consistently win with, you’re going to be a perennial Pro Bowler. Dwight had three that were as good as there’s ever been.
Who was your favorite teammate you played with?
ML: Man, I had so many. I don’t know that I had a favorite, so to speak, but Kevin Faulk was a great one. That guy is a football-playing Jessie, and the ultimate teammate.
Who is the best hunter you’ve ever hunted with?
ML: Eric Stapelfeld. Eric is one of the most intense hunters I’ve ever been around in my life, and he’s unbelievably accomplished. Honors the animal, his family eats everything that they harvest. Mark Thomas is another. He’s just a consistently good hunter and an awesome human.
What’s the best place to go hunt?
ML: In some ways, I’d just say the big woods. I love the West, western hunting is great, but I grew up hunting in the big timber. That’s where I belong, man.
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