LI's Matt Goncalves comes home to face Jets
Indianapolis Colts rookie left tackle Matt Goncalves is a Long Island native who is in line to make his second NFL start Sunday against the Jets. Goncalves, who attended Eastport-South Manor High School, was a third-round draft pick of the Colts earlier this year. Credit: AP/Indianapolis Colts
Matt Goncalves has never stepped foot in MetLife Stadium.
The first time the Manorville product will do so is Sunday – on the field, likely as the Colts left tackle against the Jets.
In front of plenty of familiar peers in the building that plays host to New York’s two NFL teams, Goncalves – a 2024 third-round pick out of Pittsburgh, and before that Eastport-South Manor High School – is in line to make his second career start in his 11th career game.
“Honestly to me, it’s another game,” Goncalves told Newsday. “Coming home is special, and being able to play in front of my family and friends is special. But I’m really just looking forward to getting out there and hoping we can get a Colts win, so that’s really the biggest thing for me.
“Obviously it’s going to be good to be around family and have them watch me and stuff. But you know I got one thing on my mind, and that’s hoping that we can win this game.”
Kickoff Sunday at MetLife Stadium is 1 p.m. The Colts are 4-6, the Jets are 3-7.
At least 40 of Goncalves’ friends and family members are expected to be in attendance Sunday, according to Dawn Goncalves-Brown, Matt’s mother.
The 6-6, 317-pound Goncalves grew up a Dolphins fan. Of course, plenty of people in Goncalves’ circle are – or were, at least – Jets fans, including Goncalves-Brown, his high school coach Chris Prokesch and many others.
“Those Jets fans will be wearing Colts jerseys if they knew me,” Goncalves said. “... It’s been maybe a little bit of banter here and there, but nothing too crazy.”
Bernhard Raimann, the Colts starting left tackle, was ruled out Friday with a knee injury, paving the way for Goncalves to get the nod.
With Raimann entrenched as the starter, Goncalves played just 36 snaps in the first eight weeks – three offensively and 33 on special teams. But Raimann was sidelined for the Colts’ Week 9 game at the Vikings with a concussion.
So on Nov. 3, on Sunday Night Football, Goncalves made his first NFL start. He played every offensive snap in a 21-13 loss.
Goncalves returned to the bench in Week 10, but only briefly. Raimann left the game against the Bills – a 30-20 Colts loss – with a knee injury, and Goncalves played 80% of the offensive snaps.
Goncalves did not allow a pressure on the quarterback on the first nine drives of his first start but surrendered two sacks and a pressure on the Colts final drive as they tried to claw back against Minnesota. He has a 60.8 Pro Football Focus grade and has committed one penalty and allowed three sacks in 108 offensive snaps this season.
“I definitely think there’s things to improve on,” Goncalves said. “There always is. Whenever I come out of a game, it’s never perfect. I don’t think anybody’s ever played a perfect game … I always want to get better.”
Goncalves, who was a three-sport athlete playing baseball and basketball, was not seen as a generational, can’t-miss prospect. He had only one FBS offer: Pitt.
He was primed for a big junior season at ESM – and his chance to get on college radars – but tore his meniscus in the second game of the year.
Healthy right before his senior year, Goncalves earned a visit from then-Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore at ESM. Priore put Goncalves through an agility workout, which soon opened more doors.
“Right after that workout, Priore right away said, 'I’m offering this kid right now. But I mean, honestly, once this kid plays … I don't think I’m going to get him,' ” Prokesch recalled. “So he knew, and then at that point, it was like, ‘Wow, OK.’ "
Shortly after, Goncalves received an invitation to a Pitt prospect camp, where he dominated players from states perceived to have more talent than Long Island.
He redshirted the 2019 season and was a Freshman All-America selection by the Football Writers Association of America in 2020. Goncalves garnered All-ACC third-team accolades in 2022. His 2024 NFL Draft prospects were bullish.
“We went to a parents breakfast before the spring game in April (2023), and his coach (Pat Narduzzi) relayed to us … ‘He’s going first or second round in the draft. He’s that good,’ " Goncalves-Brown said. “And we were like, ‘What?’ And I know my son is good – every parent knows their child is great and has potential and all that – and then it opened my eyes.”
Goncalves ultimately was selected 79th overall; he tore the plantar plate in his left big toe in Pitt’s third game of the year, knocking him out for the rest of the season and sidelining him from physical activity at the NFL Combine.
Goncalves said he felt 100% around OTAs in late May, and the learning process began.
As the opportunities arise, continuing Sunday as he comes home, what will success look like for Goncalves?
“How much we win as a team, I think that’s the biggest key into what I want to do personally,” Goncalves said. “... That’s really the biggest accolade that I can have, is this organization to reach the very top. I think that’s how it should be all the time.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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