Matthew Golden has one of those feel-good stories that make professional sports so great. The former standout Texas wide receiver was raised in Houston by his mother, Geri, and his grandmother. It was a tough upbringing for Golden, as he and the family were sometimes forced to live in hotels. Now, he’s the Green Bay Packers’ 2025 first-round pick.
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No doubt that a rough childhood was part of the reason Golden was so locked in on becoming the best football player he could be. He was always on top of everything from training to nutrition. However, Golden did not have a straightforward trajectory to the NFL Draft. After two underwhelming seasons at Houston, he transferred to Texas ahead of the 2024 campaign. He finished with 987 yards and nine TDs with a 17.0 yards per reception mark that foreshadowed his Scouting Combine performance.
Everyone knew Golden was fast, but his 4.29 time in the 40-yard dash still turned heads. It was the second-fastest in the class and pushed Golden into the first-round conversation. Eventually, the hosts of the draft, the Packers, called his name No. 23 overall. Soon, he was surprised with a heartfelt message from his mother after leaving the stage, where he had embraced commissioner Roger Goodell.
“Just being able to hear you say, ‘Mama, I wanna play football, I wanna go to the NFL.’ And seeing you hustle so hard to get to this moment. This isn’t easy. And that is one thing that I’m so proud of, is that you never gave up on God, you never gave up on yourself. From being a little boy jumping off the top of a roof onto a swimming pool, I knew that you would conquer anything.”
Geri also reminisced on how young Matthew’s lack of fear led her to call him her ‘little lion’. After hearing her say how proud she was of him, how much she loved him, and how he was the biggest joy in her life, Matthew didn’t cry, but he was clearly a little misty as he responded.
“Just knowing that’s my best friend. We went through a lot together. What it took to get here, it wasn’t easy. … She been calling me [little lion] since I was six. She actually called me that yesterday. That’s just something that stuck with us… It’s a cool little thing between me and her. We got the best relationship, she always tells me to represent my last name.”
Golden showed love to his mother, but he also wants everyone to know that his grandma deserves a lot of credit. His family lost the house he grew up in a few years ago, and he planned to buy that house back for his grandmother with the first NFL check he gets.
“We lost our property a couple years ago and it’s always been a dream of mine to get that house back. To be able to be put in the position to do it, it’s going to be an amazing feeling for me.”
As a first-round pick, Matthew Golden will be paid handsomely compared to the majority of the rookie class. However, he also enters an extremely busy wide receiver room for the Packers.
Golden will likely be the WR3 to start the year behind Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs. That means he could start ahead of Christian Watson, Dontayvion Wicks, Bo Melton, and Mecole Hardman. Jordan Love certainly won’t have any shortage of weapons this time around.
