The Denver Broncos were getting praise from all angles for their selection of Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but I don't think they've ever gotten a shoutout from Matthew McConaughey in the past.
Matthew McConaughey is not a Denver Broncos fan, but he might be an honorary Broncos fan after the team's selection of Barron, giving the team a whopping five Texas Longhorns on the roster. McConaughey is a huge Texas football fan and an ambassador for the university, so he was shouting out all Texas draft picks during the 1st round.
He clearly thought the Broncos did "all right, all right, all right" at 20 overall.
Matthew McConaughey liked the Broncos pick of Jahdae Barron
not only a great defender, a great young man. @Broncos getting a stud on and off field. Blessin up. @TexasLonghorns @Officia1dae https://t.co/5ocFBKxqMZ
— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) April 25, 2025
Not to make a mountain out of a molehill or anything, but the Longhorns had three players selected in the first round, and McConaughey's reaction to the Kelvin Banks and Matthew Golden picks was not quite the same as the one he gave to Barron.
While McConaughey shouted out the other guys' football impact, he made a point to note how good of a person Jahdae Barron is off the field. There are a couple of traits that consistently stand out when it comes to players George Paton has picked through the years, and high character marks is one of them.
Paton has noted that NIL at the college level has changed a bit about the evaluation, but he wants to identify players who really love the game. How many guys are still working as hard as possible when the money hits the bank account? Paton feels like that's something you can discern when watching a player and Barron has those types of intangibles.
Barron boxed in his youth as well, and talked about how that helped him see things in his periphery. He's just a really sharp player who clearly has an affinity for the details of the game.
Jahdae Barron told me about how boxing in his youth made him a much better corner...but not for the reason you might think.
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) March 19, 2025
Great players have great eyes, folks. pic.twitter.com/yC9mRKmmaG
It's cool to have the McConaughey shoutout but it's less about the celebrity endorsement and more about the fact that the Broncos truly got themselves a stud with their first round pick. It's easy to be a little disappointed about getting a defensive back with such dire needs to surround Bo Nix with talent but getting a value like this couldn't be passed on.