A capacity crowd got to see the Green Bay Packers make history Thursday night in the NFL Draft as they selected Texas WR Matthew Golden with the 23rd overall pick.

 

According to the Packers, Golden (5-11, 191) caught 58 passes for 987 yards and nine TDs last season at Texas after transferring from Houston. Golden is expected to add a dose of speed to the wide receivers room after Christian Watson went down with a season-ending injury last season. He ran the fastest 40-yard dash among wide receivers at last month's scouting combine at 4.29 seconds. 

 

Packers fans were jubilant when Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy, who made sure to note that Golden was the first wide receiver picked in the first round by the organization since Javon Walker was selected 23 years ago. Golden played into the excitement of the fans, waving his hands in the air as he walked onto the stage and later walking to an auxiliary stage in the middle of the crowd to shake hands with the thousands of Packers fans in attendance. During his media availability afterwards, Golden described the type of player fans can expect him to be and the joy they brought to him when he was selected.

 

 

An estimated 205,000 took in the first day of the NFL Draft, which is just under twice the population of Green Bay. The draft footprint had to stop admitting general admission attendees about 30 minutes before the first selection because of capacity limits. Many fans were directed into the seating bowl to watch the draft on the videoboards inside Lambeau FIeld.

 

 

Audio courtesy of the NFL