Meet Matt Campbell, One of the Best Midfielders at the Perfect Time

On a sunny Friday afternoon, a man in a Team USA lacrosse jersey stood at rush hour in the middle of one of Philadelphia’s busiest streets and tried to look serious.

Matt Campbell — the reigning Premier Lacrosse League Midfielder of the Year, a former first-team All-American at Villanova and the guy in the jersey — understood the setting. Campbell was raised in North Jersey, but Philadelphia courses through his blood. He was downtown climbing garbage trucks during the Eagles’ Super Bowl parade in 2018 and calls it one of the best days of his life. He knows how Philadelphians treat the athletes they love, and how they treat the ones they don’t.

But which category did Campbell fall into? He wasn’t wearing an Eagles jersey this time.

A stranger stopped at a red light in the northbound lane near the intersection of Broad Street and Walnut Street, leaned on his horn and yelled out the window.

“Congrats,” the man said.

Campbell smiled politely, assuming the man was making a joke about the fact that the concrete median he stood on is more frequently used to take pictures of brides on their wedding day.

“Team USA,” the stranger called out, pointing to Campbell’s uniform. “That’s awesome.”

He wasn’t the last well-wisher. As Campbell tried his best to keep a straight face for the photo shoot, the commuters of Philadelphia kept honking and yelling encouragement. A stranger stopped to tell a story. Two teenagers with lacrosse sticks pretended not to notice him then snuck clandestine pics on their cellphones as they walked away.

“Even if they have no idea what this is, they see the USA jersey and people light up,” Campbell said.

It was the first beautiful Friday after a brutal winter in the City of Brotherly Love. A matinee showing of “The Sound of Music” ended at The Academy of Music across the street. Theater goers flooded the sidewalk. It seemed like half of Philadelphia was downtown. And it seemed like all of them wanted to know who Campbell was. He summed up the scene in one word.

“Surreal,” Campbell said.

A decade ago, Campbell could not have imagined playing lacrosse in the Olympics. And not just because he was an under-recruited high schooler who didn’t make varsity until 11th grade. Lacrosse and the Olympics always seemed to be pipe dream, not even worth discussing in hypotheticals.
“You always play that classic game with your friends. If you could make it in any sport in the Olympics what would it be?” Campbell said. “I’d go with curling.”

Campbell likely would have excelled at curling. He made the varsity bowl team at Delbarton School in New Jersey and gets pretty into every single sport, or hobby, he tries.

Curling’s loss is lacrosse’s gain. Campbell has emerged as one of the best midfielders in the world at the perfect time. His skillset is perfectly suited for sixes, the up-and-down 6v6 version of lacrosse that will be played at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. He’s a workout freak who never wants to come off the field. An instinctual athlete who thrives in chaos. His combination of size and speed can’t be stopped by a short stick.

Chet Comizio, Campbell’s cousin and long-time teammate, found that out when his New York Atlas played Campbell’s Boston Cannons in the PLL.

“It’s like trying to guard a moose that’s going at full speed,” Comizio said, an apt simile since America’s path to the gold medal will almost certainly go through Canada.

To understand Campbell's conditioning, understand first that he also spent that morning on the streets of Philadelphia. He was doing the Murph Workout, created by Navy SEAL Michael Murphy. He ran down to South Philly and then did 100 pullups, 200 pushups, and 300 squats in the park before running another mile back home. He wasn’t wearing a uniform and he didn’t get recognized.

That’s life as a professional lacrosse player. It offers anonymity. A chance to work out in public in peace.

The anonymity disappeared, however, when the USA jersey went on. Everyone wanted to talk to him. Team USA and anonymity got Campbell thinking about the people he considers the real American heroes. The PLL puts on a game between the Navy SEALs and Green Berets. He’d been looking at a post about the event that morning.

“None of their faces are in the picture,” Campbell said. “None of their names are on the jerseys. Just numbers. They’re just representing the Green Berets or the SEALs. It’s so cool.”

Campbell’s brain works like that. Ideas are always swirling. He’s always making connections. One minute he’s thinking about the Olympics, the next about real-life American heroes.

“He rarely talks about himself, even though he’s got a lot to say,” Comizio said. “He’s just a genuine happy-go-lucky guy. I’ve known him for a long time and it’s almost frustrating how unbothered he is by everything. Nothing gets to him. I’ll try randomly to see if I can get him pissed. I’ll try to mess with him. And he’s just oblivious to what I’m trying to do.”

Campbell was deferential when asked about the Olympics. First, he has to make the U.S. Men’s Sixes National Team, he said, and there are only 11 spots available. Then he showed that the selflessness he’s known for on the field, extends off the field as well.

“The hope is just that someone can blow up,” Campbell said. “Charlotte North. Someone that can blow up more than they already are to help grow the game.”

That “I don’t care who it is as long as they’re wearing red, white and blue” attitude is exactly why if that moment comes, Campbell will be ready to meet it.

“It’s all in how he attacks every day,” Comizio said. “He’s excited to wake up every morning. Even to go to work, which usually sucks, but he’s happy to do it. He’s super unselfish. He’s as good of a guy as he seems, if not better.”

A good guy and a regular guy. Campbell wakes up every morning, works out and then goes to his job as an associate at Hamilton Lane Investments. Then he works out again. He tries to look at his phone less. He learned to play guitar on YouTube during the pandemic and formed a band called Pleasure Avenue with his teammates. (The band hasn’t played a show in years, but they’re always talking about a reunion.) He also got really into Fortnite. He loses his phone sometimes. 

In an era of specialization, when lacrosse players were committing in eighth grade, he took the wide road. He diversified his options. He played the lead role in ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ at Camp Tecumseh in New Hampshire. He got really into squash. He got really into bowling. As a pro, he even tried out for box lacrosse once with the National Lacrosse League’s Georgia Swarm. He spent most of the time on the ground but said it was maybe the most fun he’s ever had playing the game.

Where does this try-everything attitude come from? Comizo thinks Campbell became obsessed with the process of getting better. Or maybe he has an addictive personality. Campbell thinks he hyper-fixates on things.

But it probably comes from his parents.

Campbell’s parents, Colin and Becky, met at Harvard, where both played lacrosse. His mom won an NCAA lacrosse championship with the Crimson. His dad won two NCAA championships — as a member of Harvard’s squash team.

“They always emphasized how important it was to be good in the classroom, to be a good person, and to give your best effort on the field,” Campbell said. “It was never about X’s and O’s. It was always about, ‘Did you have fun?’ They gave me every opportunity possible, which I’m so grateful for.”

Colin Campbell died of cancer when his son was in seventh grade. Campbell carries his dad with him on the field, both literally and figuratively. He wears a bracelet to honor his memory on his wrist. And he’s always on his mind.

“When I’m playing lacrosse, I definitely feel closer to him,” Campbell said. “Sports were a big part of my relationship with him. We’d play all types of sports together. He was driving me to everything. Every time I play, I’m thinking of him. I’m thinking about him when I’m training in the gym.”

Campbell isn’t sure when he first realized his dad was out there with him. It wasn’t lacrosse season when his father died but Campbell, the oldest of four kids, thinks it probably happened outside playing wall ball.

“Any time I’m not feeling my best or need a second to myself, 20 minutes on the wall I’m good,” Campbell said. “I’m sure that’s what I did. I know that’s what I did.”

Campbell’s parents are also a reason he felt at home standing there in full national team uniform in broad daylight on Broad Street. They met in Cambridge, but both grew up outside Philadelphia, playing high school lacrosse on the Main Line. His dad at the Haverford School. His mom at Agnes Irwin. It’s where those Philly roots were planted. It’s where the Eagles fandom came from and helps explain why he was just as excited to meet the people of Philadelphia as they were to meet the guy in the Team USA jersey.

“It was great to just connect with random people,” Campbell said. “Everyone was happy and enjoying themselves. I was in the uniform and any time you get to put on that uniform, you feel a real sense of pride.”

It turns out 250 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, the red, white and blue still inspires the people Philadelphia. Almost as well as an Eagles jersey.