Matthew Golden Shares Special Reason for New Jersey Number
Matthew Golden honors his grandmother by wearing her favorite number
Former Texas Longhorns wide receiver and first-round NFL Draft pick Matthew Golden revealed on Friday the reason behind his new jersey number.
Golden was taken by the Green Bay Packers with the 23rd overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft and was the third receiver taken off the board in the first round. He now heads to Green Bay with a new journey in front of him leaving some things behind, like his old number.
Golden wore the number two in his time with the Longhorns but has elected to dawn the new number 22 with Green Bay. Golden decided on the number 22 because the number two is his grandma’s favorite number.
“My grandma, her favorite number was two growing up, and she told me she wanted me to represent that number,” Golden said in a press conference. “I knew the last receiver that was drafted [by the Packers in the first round] was 2002, so I feel like it kinda just made sense to me.”
The receiver Golden was referring to was 2002 first-round draft pick Javon Walker. Walker was taken with the 20th overall pick and spent seven seasons in the NFL, four of which with the Packers.
Golden maintains a close relationship with his grandma, as he has done throughout his life.
“Definitely my best friend, she helped me get to this point,” Golden said. “I feel like me being here I can give her all the thanks for helping me get here. The rest is on me to come out here and have fun and compete.”
Golden’s grandmother, Penny, had the opportunity to join her grandson for his draft day experience.
“It’s amazing, It’s been a long journey from a little kid on,” Golden’s grandmother said in an interview during the draft. “He’s had challenges, we’ve had challenges…and we knew the day he was born he would be a superstar, but we had no imagination like this.”
Golden could not choose the solo number two due to the jersey being currently occupied by backup quarterback Malik Willis.
