Matthew Golden (born August 1, 2003) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...

and

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

and was selected by the Packers in the first round of the

2025 NFL draft The 2025 NFL draft was the 90th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Lambeau Field and its adjacent Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24–26, 2025 ...

Early life

Golden was born in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and attended Klein Cain High School, where he caught 167 receptions for 3,242 yards and 32 touchdowns, while also rushing for 112 yards and four touchdowns. A four star prospect, he initially committed to play

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

, but later flipped his commitment to the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

College career

Houston

Ahead of his freshman season in 2022, Golden earned a starting spot. In week 12 of the 2022 season, he brought in eight passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns in a win over

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

. Golden finished the season with 38 receptions for 584 yards and seven touchdowns. He was listed on the Walter Camp Award watchlist for the 2023 season. In week 3 of the 2023 season, Golden hauled in four passes for 56 yards, while also returning three kicks for 132 yards and a touchdown, in a loss versus

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

, earning

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

special teams player of the week honors. In week 7, he returned a kick 99 yards for a touchdown in a win over

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. On December 7, 2023, Golden announced that he would be entering the transfer portal.

Texas

On December 16, 2023, Golden announced that he would be transferring to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. In the 2024 regular season, he led the team with 49 receptions for 787 yards and eight touchdowns. Texas lost to Georgia in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship game and advanced to the College football Playoffs, beating Clemson and Arizona State. On January 13, 2025, Golden declared for the

Statistics

Professional career

Golden was selected in the first round with the 23rd overall in the

by the

. He was the first wide receiver selected in the first round by the Packers since

Javon Walker Javon Liteff Walker (born October 14, 1978) is an American former professional American football, football player. He was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers 20th overall in the 2002 ...

in 2002. Golden signed his rookie contract on May 19, 2025.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bioTexas Longhorns bioHouston Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden, Matthew 2003 births Living people Players of American football from Houston American football wide receivers American football return specialists Houston Cougars football players Texas Longhorns football players Green Bay Packers players