The 4’2 40-yard dash and the speed Matthew Golden shows on tape were big motivators for the Green Bay Packers to finally select a wide receiver in the first round after 23 years. In the first week of training camp, his smoothness to run routes is evident, and his quickness to explode from the line of scrimmage catches the attention of everyone around him.
Assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia is no different. He likes to give players nicknames based on profile comparison, and Golden has already received his: Bob Hayes, the Bullet, a former star Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers receiver who was an All-Pro three times in the 1960s and won two gold medals in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics on track and field.
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Hayes, who passed away in 2002, one year before Matthew Golden was born, is the only person to win both a Super Bowl title and an Olympic gold medal.
“[Bisaccia] told me to look him up. I looked him up and I saw he was real fast,” Golden said in the locker room. “So he gave me that nickname.”
Bob Hayes played for the Cowboys from 1965 through 1974. He was a First-Team All-Pro in 1966 and 1968, a Second-Team All-Pro in 1967, and a Pro Bowler in those three years. With speed as his calling card, he was the NFL receiving touchdowns leader in 1965 and 1966.
It’s impossible to know how close Matthew Golden will be to that amazing career, but this is an answer the Packers don’t need right now. So far, the early signs are as promising as they could be.
“For any of these guys coming in for the first time, you don’t know the opportunities that are going to be presented to each player, and then they’ve got to respond,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said earlier this week. “We think he’s got a chance to certainly make an impact for our football team. I think it’s going to be a competitive group. But again, we took him where we took him for a reason. At the same time, he’s a third-year college kid. He has two years at Houston, one year at Texas. So far, so good.”
Part of the appeal for the Packers was Golden’s positional versatility. In his lone season at Texas, the wide receiver played 664 snaps outside, 175 in the slot, and even 12 in the backfield.
“It’s easier initially to start with a primary position, but really it’s about how much they can handle,” head coach Matt LaFleur explained. “The more he shows he can handle, that will naturally occur. We’ve done a nice job, [passing game coordinator Jason] Vrable and [wide receivers coach Ryan] Mahaffey do a really good job training these guys. We always try to teach concepts and where you fit within the concept. The more a player proves he can handle that and move around, the more opportunities he gets.”
Matthew Golden has shown he can impact the offense right away. As fast as he is on the field.
