At long last, the Green Bay Packers' streak of not selecting a wide receiver in the first round of the NFL Draft has come to an end, as the 13-time champs took Matthew Golden at No. 23 overall on Thursday night, a pick that undoubtedly has Aaron Rodgers fuming and Jordan Love grinning from ear to ear.
Golden, who caught 58 passes for 987 yards and nine touchdowns this past year for the Texas Longhorns and turned heads at the NFL Scouting Combine with a ridiculous 4.29-second 40-yard dash, was the fourth receiver off the board in the opening round, following Travis Hunter (No. 2, Jacksonville Jaguars), Tetairoa McMillan (No. 8, Carolina Panthers), and Emeka Egbuka (No. 19, Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
The Houston native is the first receiver taken by the Packers in the first round since Javon Walker was selected 20th overall in 2002, and those in attendance just outside Lambeau Field absolutely erupted when team president Mark Murphy announced the selection.
And Golden was clearly just as ecstatic as those cheering him when he took the stage, playing to the crowd and even stepping up to the podium to lead his new fan base in a quick chant.
The newest Packer later fielded some questions from the media, and with the way he described the process that led to this selection, it sounds as if he knew how things were going to play out.
Matthew Golden says a handshake with Packers GM Brian Gutekunst let him know he was destined to go to Green Bay
In a phone interview broadcast on the Packers' official YouTube channel, Golden was asked how he felt walking onto the stage on Thursday night and said it was unlike anything he'd ever experienced.
But it was actually a story he told about being on the stage on Wednesday that caught our attention, as just before he was set to do a radio interview, he shook hands and had a quick interaction with Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst.
And that handshake was apparently all it took for Golden to realize he was destined to end up in a Packers uniform.
"Man, I knew once I shook his hand, something just told me they're going to come get me," Golden said. "Like I said, when I came to my visit up here and got around the coaching staff, man, it was remarkable. Definitely a great organization, and I'm so happy to be here and just getting ready to go to work."
Get fired up, Packers fans. Green Bay's next Davante Adams may now be in the building.