Who Is Matty T? “A Gluten Free, Beverly Hills Ninja”

We’ve all asked ourselves at one time or another, “who is Matty T?” I did it yesterday actually.I mean sure, we all know Matty T, the fuzzy faced, hoody rocking, backwards hat guy who always wants us to “get Savage”, and looks badass in a lab coat. But do we truly know ……… Matty T? …. You will. I dug deep on this one and left no stone unturned. It’s due time to shine the spotlight on this gentle giant and learn all his secrets. So without further ado… Let’s get Savage.

Full name?
Matty—Matty T Race Emcee

Date of birth?
Matty—……………….

Social security number?
Matty—……………….

Just kidding
Or am I…..
Matty—……………….

How long have you been with savage?
Matty—5 years

Were you the day one emcee from the birth of savage? (first event ever)
Matty—I am the day 2 emcee. Sam hit me up when Savage race was just a concept and asked me to quit my job and join but I was unable to at the time, so they started without me. Luckily the emcee spot opened up on race 2 and they’ve been stuck with me ever since.

Ever intrigued to try something else within the brand? Or on event day?(course design,parking, bag check)
Matty—So on the first Dade City event 4 years ago, Sam’s brother and I were still staking out and ribboning portions of the course the night before by the headlights of ATVs. Savage is not about single jobs its about getting it done as a team. Whether it’s assembling umbrellas before, pouring beers during, or gear check after. We wrap one job and move to the next. In Ohio this year we saw a long line and we all jumped in and hustled beers. I poured an entire keg out start to finish for thirsty savages, then back on the mic.

You travel to all events and locations?
Matty—As many as possible, I’m only behind 2 or 3 people for most savages ever. But who’s counting?

Interests outside of Savage? Video games? Movies? Stranger Things on Netflix?
Matty—Crazy interests. Wu-Tang, of course. Every oscar Best Picture nominee must be seen in the T house. Electronics, politics, freestyle battles, peaty scotch, and the home town of Baltiwood. Wolf of Wall Street is the best movie in the last 10 years and is better than The Departed. Stranger Things, of course – the Chief gets to the bottom of things, that’s how to roll.. and know it takes everything from dungeons and dragons to bear traps to solve the mysteries of the world.

Do you stay current with the goings on in the OCR industry outside of Savage?
Matty—Relatively. We always have so many new obstacles at Savage it’s kind of hard to worry about the rest of the industry. I know that no one matches the consistent quality of Savage and obstacle count per mile. So I don’t pay attention to much beyond Savage. Where else are you going to find the founders of a top-tier race at every event? People may not realize what the secret sauce is but it’s our team, from the family members who have been there from race one to the new fam – the course construction team to branding to t-shirts to parking to registration to photo/video to design to bag check. We roll deep.

What did you do before Savage?
Matty—Spent years perfecting my crowd surf negotiation skills.

MudRunGuide or Obstacle Racing Media?
Matty—Both have been huge supporters of Savage, I wish there were more guides out there.

How did you meet Sam?Lloyd?
Matty—7th grade – He was roughly the same height then as he is today. We immediately formed a bond over throwing pizza parties, campfires, and illogical behavior.
Coincidentally I met Lloyd the exact same way over a decade later. He also is the same height as when I first met him.

Dogs or Cats?
Matty—The T Family fosters Black Labs on occasion, and offers a pretty solid dog watching service for homies that are out of town.

Pokemon GO?
Matty—No and by the time this hits the ether, I’m sure Pokemon will have gone.

You seemed to of trimmed down a bit from the first time I experienced “The Matty” at my first OCR in Pa… September 2013.. What’s your secret?
Bow flex?
Matty—Yes
Shakeology?
Matty—Yes
Fen-phen?
Matty—Yes
Shake weight?
Matty—YES…..Simply put, make a commitment to burn more calories than you intake. Easier said than done. I recommend Savages for motivation and the Army PT guide to get ready. Run the Jewels for the soundtrack.

You seem to be the most low key, low profile voice behind a brand in the business that many people know…. But don’t really know …..You stay out of main stream social media. Many main brand emcees are well known. Active on social media.. Many people know of Matty T… But they don’t KNOW Matty T. Do you like it that way? Behind the scenes? Incognito? Ninja like?
Matty—Always Ninja like, Beverly Hills Ninja like. I don’t even save names and numbers in my phone, let alone have Facebook or instagram. I model my online profile after Ron Swanson. I stopped taking pictures at Savage after the first time I saw Mac Stone’s pics, so I wouldn’t have anything to post anyways even if I did have social media. I would have a sloppy rendition of the savage Facebook.

What does #SAF mean to you? Do you like that acronym?
Matty—It means max savage. Best acronym ever was the GMSOS boys, multiple Savages wore bomb suits a la Hurt Locker and did the entire Florida Race a couple years ago. I’m partial to LetsGetSavage as it can be repeated at SavageJr.

Hulu or Netflix?
Matty—Search in this order on Apple TV: NBA highlights and recaps, Trailers, HBO Go, Netflix, then Hulu.

You don’t conform to a persona like many main brand emcees(Dorough-Capt. America, Coach Pain-military/fitness…) what type of style do you feel you portray on the mic?whats your motivation?
Matty—My style is the “Let’s have a party style.” Motivation is let’s get everybody out of their daily lives, problems, concerns, hangups, fears and into Savage. This is the moment. You made it and it’s gonna be wild. Hope you don’t mind minor explosives and Tebowing.

What are you thoughts on the state of OCR as a sport… Olympics, championship series, elitist…
Matty—OCR should be in the Olympics and I think that saturation is just starting to occur right now. It matches the spirit of the Olympics – run, jump, splash, swim, crawl through mud. It’s universal.

Any certain type of diet? Vegan? Gluten free? Paleo?
Matty—Gluten Free IPA and Brussels Sprouts. Covers all of the bases.

How does Savage avoid the drama filled social media debates that spark weekly post event?
Matty—Consistency. We commit as a group to make sure that everyone goes home satisfied, and problems develop, we are all empowered to solve that problem. An incredible amount of planning goes into each Savage to make before, during, and after seamless.

Favorite energy drink?
Matty—Coffee number one, then of course I always have 4 chilly sugar free Red Bulls at the start line, which I consume in parallel.

Do you ever run the courses?
Matty—No, I get driven to the obstacles in a lab coat.

Everyone loves your tutorials .. What’s your favorite savage obstacle? Have you ever ran another brand’s course?
Matty—Is the start line an obstacle? Nah. Nothing is better than standing on the middle deck of Colossus at the top of the ropes and pulling people up. Quick Story: We had a person in Georgia who did not complete Colossus the previous year and came back in order to conquer it. Colossus was at the end of the course and by the time the savage got there most of the crowd had died down because it was later in the day, and dude was tired. The deck was empty. He was not going to make it on his own. A couple of us saw this guy looking up massive Colossus by himself and we ran over, climbed the ladder behind, and made sure that once this guy was on the rope, he would get over the edge. The guy got to the top and was ELATED, he had waited all year to get to the top, and our help was more than welcome. Savage is a group effort.
I have run other courses, but not in a long time. They won’t drive me to the obstacles in a lab coat.

How often do you shave?
Matty—Less often than haircuts.

What are you thoughts on brands having pro teams?
Matty—Go for it. Better yet, have other pros compete: Have a baseball player, a hockey player, a football player, and a basketball player get savage and see who finishes first. I’m challenging Chicago to represent, or Atlanta, or Dallas, as they have all four sports.

What’s your breakfast on event day?
Matty—Hotel eggs, hotel bacon, hotel bagel, hotel banana, except in Georgia where rain or shine, they always hook us up with a chicken biscuit. Southern hospitality at it’s finest.

What’s your favorite Savage location and why?
Matty—It’s not possible to pick just one. Florida is home base and is our family – they have been with us from day one. Georgia and Maryland are where we left home and went to Savage college, and things got weird.. remember Tazed?? Ohio really brought a lot of personality this year as did Pennsylvania. Chicago is always circled on the schedule because the city is so beautiful, and the crowd grew tremendously this year in addition. Dallas, Texas could be 30 degrees one day and 80 the next. Houston is where I get my Elvis karaoke on.
Put it this way, the best moment is seeing a Savage you know from one location that has made the trip from their home base to another Savage Race location, and you’re so excited to share that course’s personality with them. Shout out to the Savage Syndicate.

Thanks man… And anything else you want or think the readers should know to get a good sense of what makes Matty..Matty.
Matty—Nah just wanted to say, see you at the next race… and thanks to all the Savages for watching the videos and coming out to enjoy these obstacles and to all the homies that make doing Savage so fun.

Let’s get Savage.

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