A ‘young and dumb’ Tetairoa McMillan went viral. He had to mature to land with Panthers (2025)

Three college football seasons ago, a promising freshman receiver named Tetairoa McMillan admitted before a camera something that he probably figured would be said and forgotten.

And it probably was, at one point, just that: Said and forgotten.

“I don’t watch football,” McMillan said over a plate of food in what looked to be a University of Arizona dining hall.

You don’t watch football? At all?

“At all,” he said.

Is it hard to watch film then if you don’t like watching football?

“Yeah,” McMillan responded. “I don’t like watching film either. I don’t ever need to watch it by myself because we go over it as a receiver group.”

It turned out that video was temporarily out of the public purview.

But it wasn’t lost.

As many things do in today’s world, what he said resurfaced. It did so in late March. The video, then with McMillan being a Top 10 overall pick-in-waiting in the 2025 NFL Draft, went viral. Teams called him and his agent, questioning everything from his discipline to his love for the game. Certain pundits, including NFL Draft guru Todd McShay, corroborated suspicions with separate reporting: McShay, on his show, barely had McMillan making his Top 50 prospect list because he didn’t “trust him” — citing that the receiver “didn’t like to work out and practice hard unless a scout was in attendance.”

McMillan has spent the better part of a month answering questions stemming from this idea: That he didn’t have the mentality required to be a star in the NFL. He did so to coaches and scouts and front office personnel. And on Friday afternoon, he did so again, this time during the smiley, No. 8-pick, 6-foot-4 contested-catch wunderkind’s introductory news conference at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

“That was from my freshman year of (college),” McMillan said, specifically referencing the video. “I’ve definitely grown, definitely matured since then. I feel like I wouldn’t be here, in front of y’all today, without loving the game, without watching film. So that was just young and dumb freshman me. I definitely matured from that for sure.”

When asked how he responded to NFL personnel who had similar questions, McMillan said, “The same way.”

It’s hard to imagine McMillan’s production could come without that required maturation, that development of a work ethic. Over his three years at Arizona, he collected 213 receptions for 3,423 yards and 26 touchdowns in 37 games. In his senior year alone, those numbers are more gaudy: 1,319 yards, 15.7 yards per catch and eight touchdowns — gaining a reputation for making catches in traffic, and doing so after lining up pretty much anywhere he was asked to, in the slot or on the outside.

His size is compelling, and perhaps some of that is natural. He’s 6-foot-4, 219 pounds, with 10-inch hands and a 31.5-inch arm length — all measurables that give him a clear size advantage over nearly every defensive back in the league. His speed wasn’t his selling point as perhaps it was for others in the draft — in a private workout, McMillan reportedly ran a 4.48-second 40-yard-dash.

But even still, every time he stepped in front of Panthers general manager Dan Morgan and head coach Dave Canales, he impressed. He impressed on the field — with his gifted athleticism and sure-handedness — and he also impressed off the field, answering all sorts of questions, from the aforementioned to beyond. He undoubtedly had to mature to do that.

“He certainly comes in just like everybody else and comes into a talented group,” Canales said. “Probably the thing I’m most excited about is the further we dug in, the pro day, all the postseason work, just getting to know the guy, spending time with him. We had him here on a 30 visit to be able to spend a little bit more time and just making sure he was the right fit for our team. The type of players we’re looking for, they love playing ball. They love to work on their craft, and it really shows up.”

Canales said of the No. 8 selection: “We weren’t going to let our guy pass. It was a great moment for us.”

Much of McMillan’s story — beyond the aforementioned video — is still out there to be discovered for Carolina fans.

The Waimānalo, Hawaii, native is the sixth Hawaii-born football player to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft, following in the footsteps of Chris Naeole (1997), Tyson Alualu (2010), Marcus Mariota (2015), DeForest Buckner (2016) and Tua Tagovailoa (2020).

He’s remarkably proud of his Polynesian roots. When he was drafted, he offered a lei his grandmother had made to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. On Friday, he did the same for team owners David and Nicole Tepper — and Canales had a special lei made for him featuring silver and black and Panthers blue. Also, one of McMillan’s nicknames is “Nalo,” a reference to his hometown. (He prefers to go by Tetairoa or Nalo or TMac — just not Tet.)

He’s a showman, as was on display when he boomed the “Keep Pounding” drum and pumped up a crowd of about 100 fans who greeted their first-round draft pick on Mint Street on Friday afternoon.

He has a previous relationship with Bryce Young, whom he saw soar to remarkable heights after McMillan moved to California. Young, a Southern California star himself, played for a rival high school and was a few years older than McMillan, and the two have worked out together since. McMillan said that Young went to “the table” for him, advocating to the Panthers’ front office to select him. The front office all but confirmed that in a video that circulated Friday: After selecting McMillan, the trio of Morgan and Canales and Tepper put Young on speakerphone: “How you like that, Bryce?”

Young responded: “I love it!”

McMillan seems to love it, too.

“I mean, he’s literally been the best player at each level of the game,” McMillan said of Young. “And I’ve always wanted to be a part of something like that.”

He is now.

Even if it took him some time, and some work, to get here.

This story was originally published April 25, 2025 at 4:31 PM.