Fantasy Football Daily - Fantasy Points Podcast | Gary Melton Sr.

Episode Date: June 3, 2024

Join hosts John Hansen and Brian Drake for the ultimate deep dive into fantasy football on the Fantasy Points Podcast! In this episode, we welcome a special guest, Gary Melton Sr., the proud father of NFL players Bo Melton and Max Melton. Gary and John share a unique bond, having known each other for over 40 years since their days playing Little League and Pop Warner together. Tune in as they reminisce about their childhood, discuss the journey of raising professional athletes, and get insider insights into the NFL careers of Bo and Max. Whether you're a fantasy football enthusiast or just love a good sports story, this episode is packed with nostalgia, expert analysis, and a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make it to the pros. Don’t miss out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, what's up? It's John Hansen. And on this week's Fantasy Points podcast, a very, very special guest, one of my all-time favorite dudes, a guy who's been a friend for, dare I say, over 40 years, Gary Melton, who is the father of Bo and Max Melton of the National Football League. And his son, Gary Jr., also played a little college. football. So for the next hour or so, we're going to wax poetic about the old days. We'll talk about pee-wee football and little league baseball and the like where I grew up with Gary and then we'll transition onto his life as a football player himself and his two sons, Beau and Max. So make sure you like, subscribe, continue to tune in, check out the podcast, and you're welcome. All across the fantasy universe, welcome one and all to the Fantasy Points podcast. I'm your host, Brian Drake, joined as always by the publisher of FantasyPoints.com, the guru, John Hansen, and John, the calendar is flipped to June, which means Father's Day is coming up,

which also means the NFL's around the corner. But in the spirit of Father's Day, we've got a great guest today because he has not not one, but two of his sons in the NFL, which is incredible. And he's got a fantastic story. Oh, by the way, and to top it all off, you and him go way back in New Jersey. There might be a little league stories on this. And of course, we're talking about our good friend Gary Melton. So guru, I just want to get into it.

How did you meet Gary? And I got to hear this little league story back in New Jersey. Oh, absolutely. you know i'm glad you mentioned the father's day stuff because you know in my years of you know i'm a dad myself been around a lot of dads one of the best dads and i have not checked in on gary melton every day but we have run into each other a number of times over the last few decades and for my money one of the best dads that literally exists and also like i'm i'm always impressed by impressive people And I can say this right here at the top, Gary.

Growing up in our little town in South Jersey, you were legitimately the most impressive dude, like in our group. You were a great student. You were a great leader. You also goofed around just like, oh, we did too. It's not like you were, you know, a Puritan over here. Like you goofed around too, but you, you know,

I don't think you ever got any trouble like I did. But you were awesome, Gary. And I am not surprised that, You have, you know, you do have three sons, two of them, the last two in the National Football League. Welcome to the podcast. I'm sure I buttered you up there a little bit, but I've been talking up, you and your family and your kids here on satellite radio for a year. So you're already improving me, right? How are you, sir?

Oh, boy, who has it better than us? I'll tell you that much. Yeah. Yeah, it's been quite a journey, quite a ride. You know, I think back to my days of A. Carver City and, uh, you know, having a strong mother really, uh, really set me up for,

uh, so, um, I always give her, uh, although she has passed, I always give her all credit because, yeah,

kept me on a straight and arrow. Did your son, Bo tell you what I told him about your mom when I interviewed him at the combine in Indy? He didn't. He didn't. I'm a very observant person. As you,

I think you probably survived. That's just not, it's not a surprise. I'm doing. what I'm doing here because I do observe people very, very well. I told your son, and we have a common thread here because your mother's name was Eleanor and my mother's name was Eleanor, which that's a little weird. But back in the 70s and 80s, like parents didn't come to games, basically.

Yours did. I said to your son, I think she, I don't think I've ever seen a mom more proud than your mom, basically. And for a good reason. So we have buttered up Gary Melton here big time, but all deserving. So Brian, before we get into everything about, you know, his life, not to make it about me or anything, but, you know, I've just been waiting for something like this forever. Like my past kind of like worlds colliding, if you will. You know what I mean?

Yeah. I'm not surprised that it's Gary. But I will say, I was just telling these guys, like you and I didn't play a lot against each other person. say we did play in little league baseball against each other. I told you that story. Yeah. I think we both got called up the same year, by the way, to play a year up. We did.

I was about to say that to you. We both got called up at the same time. Yep. You, of course, were the great athlete, you know, but you played short. I told you everything. Like, I can't believe I forgot that detail because that is kind of a good. By the way, I got one hit that year, Gary. One hit.

I was eight years old going up against a kid throwing screwball. Yeah, Ruben Colon. Him? Well, you probably don't remember Weaver, Mike Weaver. Mike Weaver. How could I forget Mike? Yeah. You know the weave. The weave, he threw a screwball.

Yeah, he did. He did. Couldn't hit it. Anyway. But the most fun I ever had playing football on the playground is a little period. I can't exactly remember. I think it was probably I was in seventh and eighth grade. I had a really bad injury that precluded me from playing any sports.

But Gary, as you and I have talked about this, and we're going to talk about another dude, I don't know how long it was, maybe a year, maybe two, but they picked the teams. Gary, of course, is a captain. I mean, come on, he's Gary. I mean, he's the best. And then the other captain was this kid Greg, Greg Ingram.

And Gary, every time would pick his best friend, his boy, Bobby, and Greg would pick me, and we would battle that out on the play. That was the absolute most fun I had playing in some of those battles. And Gary, I don't know if you know this, but I broke my glasses on that playground playing football with you probably 30 times. I know your mom wasn't happy about that. But I did catch the ball, though. You know what I mean?

I didn't care about the damn glasses as long as I made the catch. You know what I mean? Yeah, you sure could catch. I'll tell you that much. And I want to ask you, too, about Aaron Jones. We're going way back here. Now, is that your cousin, Aaron? No, well, we call ourselves fake cousin.

But it's funny you mentioned that because Aaron just stayed the night with me. Last night, he came down and we sat down and talked and everything. Aaron's doing very well. More with Gary and the Guru after this. Feeling festive. Catch classic holiday favorites, like Home Alone, the Santa Claus, and Die Hard, along with holiday episodes from Family Guy, Abbott Elementary, and more with Hulu on Disney Plus. From festive Disney flicks to binge-worthy Hulu originals, Hulu on Disney Plus is your home for the holidays. Celebrate the season with Hulu, available on Disney Plus in Canada.

There was another family in town that you had a cousin that was around a lot, right? Yeah, yeah. Am I thinking of Skeeter? You think of the Skeeter and Mickey. I had two cousins. Yeah. How skater is a man. Oh, yeah.

But Aaron Jones is a kid we grew up with. Yeah. You know what my comp is for Aaron Jones? What's that? Alan Iverson. Oh, yeah. Right? Yeah, you're right.

You're right. She's quite the town. Yeah. Smoke's we got. Alan Iverson out here. You got the guru breaking his glasses. You got Gary, number one pick over here. El Capitan.

Now the reverend, I believe, right? Yeah, that's right. That's right. So there was a tournament game, Limwood basketball tournament when we were in eighth grade. And in eighth grade, I could dunk a basketball. Yeah. So I get a breakaway, and Aaron's the point guard.

He's gone, and I'm coming up the wing, and I'm pointing up to the rim to throw me an alley-Upe. And he's staring at me the whole time, and he shoots it and hits the three. to this day I'm still mad at him I said I'm in afraid I'm about to rock the rim and here you are shooting a 40 foot three-pointer I love that dude though man he he was so funny I'm sure he still is hysterical right a ball breaker but that dude could ball he was probably basketball was his best sport but like the alan iverson calm my mom could sling it and I was joking with you I was like my two guys were Greg and Aaron.

I was like, I was way ahead of the curve on the black quarterback. Yeah. Way ahead. Way out in front on that puck. Oh, man. Great times in that small little town, boy. A lot of fun. Well, you're making us all proud, Gary.

You really are. Look, I'm just, you know, just overjoyed, blessed. You know, and there was a program that was instituted in me from my mother. And I just carried it over to my own kids. and say, look, this is what we're going to do. And I told them if they play it right, you guys would probably make it in the NFL. And I kind of, you know, gave them NFL jerseys all the time.

And, you know, of course, I was giving them Eagles first. Here's my partner. You was giving them Eagles jerseys and everything. And no one became an eagle to my chagrin. Right. You're your Eagles fan growing up? Oh, I loved Eagles, yeah. Yeah, okay.

Yeah, I love the Eagles. I'm a huge Eagles fan back here myself. I'm actually a Syracuse guy, too. I know you're a Rutgers player back in the day. Yeah. Back in the late 80s, it was some lean times for Rutgers. That's back when they had New Jersey Rutgers on the helmets, right? That's right.

That's right. I still have the helmet that says New Jersey Rutgers. Absolutely. Absolutely. I hate it playing in that carrier dome. I'll tell you that right now. Oh, yeah, I hate the carrier at home. But they were some rough teams that we played against Syracuse. You probably played against McNabb, right?

Yeah. Mm-hmm. And was Marvin wasn't there, though, right? No, Marlon. Mm-mm. But we have, they had this, Jesus, who's that full bat? He was huge.

Rob Conrad. Ah, man. How do you remember stuff like that? Was that who it was? Back down, was that Daryl Johnston? Back there, late that? Well, that was, 89, 90? Yeah, yeah.

Darryl Johnson was my sophomore year. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. That was a nice guy, Darrell Moose Johnson is, by the way. One of the nice guys ever. But, Gary, so as we get into it here, we're going to get into your efforts and all that.

Star, three-sport star guy in high school, of course. You didn't follow up with the baseball. I'm shocked. but no, I know you did the track and basketball and, of course, the football. And then you did have a cup of coffee in the NFL, right? Talk about that experience. And by the way, I actually kind of know Joe Gibbs a little bit. I've met him.

One of the nicest guys of all time. A man, you know, probably has his Bible around him all the time. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. He was a good guy to me. I'll tell you that. you know, I was just in a situation where, you know, I was going uphill a little bit and injury, you know, towards the end, really set me back.

But you know what? To have that experience, just that experience alone, I even carried that over to my kids now and said, listen, I remember A, B, C, and D. And this is what you have to do to be successful. I'm very big on, like, plans. Like, you know, I kind of, I have a order. And I say, you follow the order. You'll be successful. You don't.

Map it out. Yeah, that's it. You map it out. You map it out. And I was blessed enough where the kids, all my kids caught on to it. And it's a blessing that, you know, we haven't had to pay for college. None of my kids paid for college. They all had athletic scholarship.

So, you know, what a blessing that is. You know, it gives them a head, heads up, a head up in society. And he gave mom and papa an opportunity to save some money. And, you know. man let me tell you I'm the other side of the equation sir I got four I got one out of UMass already in books and I got a Delaware in the books and now I'm going to Savannah College of Art and Design and probably going to probably going to be Georgia oh wow yeah and by the way not to go off on a tangent but you know me I love all the small world

things how the world really is small like how i went to a bar on st simon's island last night in georgia and the bartender was from cherry hill new jersey you know i mean my realtor her name's christin brown her son starting o lineman for the georgia bulldogs fifth year senior this year one two naties already uh so i'm going to buy this house and and she's going to pay me back by getting lad McConkey to do the the podcast here which we've already done we've already interviewed lad but yeah so I love that stuff so I was like oh my god that's amazing I just had Ladd mcconkey on my radio show last week she goes oh I was just talking to lad today you know and at the end of the day these these guys are all just kids still kind of it's funny the way she would talk about oh he's a mess oh isn't it

you know but they are kind of still kids but they're like young men like how challenging is it to to keep them on that straight and narrow, that path you mapped out when they've got, you know, they're starting to get well known. They're starting to become little celebrities here. That's got to be a little bit of a challenge. Yeah, yeah. It was a lot of a challenge, you know, it's, you know, because there was a plan that we had. I actually sat in place, like I said, but following it was the tough part, especially when they

got into maybe like their sophomore junior years and started to feel their oats a little bit more. or, you know, to, so I kind of, you know, kept a good, a good, good relationship with him. I put it that way. Good father-son relationship. My wife was great, absolutely, you know, she, without her, geez, I don't know what I would do. So she was great at handling some of the academic aspects of things, and I was good at handling some of the football aspects of things, keeping them well grounded and so forth, so on. And so, you know, we really ran a pretty good...

Lightship. I called it an assembly line because it was like, you're going to do this then and you want to do that. But I tell you, the thing that, you know, we're country boards, you know, we're still Lake Harbor City. So I said, you know, their workouts were all country-type workouts. You know, they were raking leaves. They were carrying logs. They didn't know that they were working out. But, you know, we're taking her.

So I was like, oh, yeah, we're foreign people. You're going to be out there doing all that stuff. They were exposed to a guy named Billy Cheatham, who is my wife's first cousin, who I know you spoke at, was it Billy's wedding? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, those are hillbillies, okay? Those guys, they might as well be from Tennessee, right?

The wedding was in Batstone Village, all right? Boom. Yeah, yeah. It was great, though. It was great. And Billy, you know, I coach little Billy. You know, and now, of course, Billy Cheatham, you know, our friend Billy Chatham. He has not.

He's known him for 35 years. He's never, he has, he's literally the exact same guy, Brian. I know we're going to take a break, but we can transition to, you know, some brushes with people who. who did touch the NFL world as far back as Pop Warner football in little old Atlanta County, New Jersey. Yes, yes, sir. We can definitely touch on that. Absolutely. Absolutely.

When we come back more with Gary Melton, the father of Bow Melton, you may know him from the Green Bay Packers, wide receiver who last we saw him was scoring touchdowns in the NFC championship game. And second round pick of the Arizona Cardinals Mad Max Melton. You're going to see him all over the field. He's a great young corner might start this year for Arizona. All that and more on the other side. Gary Melton, Senior, here on the Fantasy Points podcast. Snap up ancestry DNA's lowest price ever in our incredible cyber sale.

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What a life you've had, and you're now a reverend. You've had three great sons, Bo, Max, Gary Jr. played a little bit over at Delaware State, little DB. And your wife, I mean, do I dare say, is she the best athlete of them all? She played basketball at Rutgers, and that's where you guys met, right? Yes, absolutely. That's exactly where we met.

Uh-huh, right at Rutgers. She was staying over. They had, well, during the winter break, you know, the basketball teams would have to stay in the hotels. And I was there helping out of recruiting at the time. And we met up at a party. And, you know, got to know each other. And I said, you know what? She's the number one draft pick.

Nice. that's funny that's funny i i kind of said the same thing about my wife i was like you know what this is like drafting tom brady in like a keeper league where i can keep the player forever it's like set it and forget i we're locked in here for multiple decades right right exactly exactly that's exactly the way it was uh-huh so yeah yeah she's she's my rock she keeps me uh um you know stable and all that good stuff and uh yeah yeah we're just living living life right now and uh loving life. I remember running into you a while ago.

Your son was thinking about going to the high school that my son ended up going to, St. Augustine. Yeah. But even before Max and Bo were even playing Pop Warner football, you were coaching that local team, right? So how long did you do that? And I'm sure that was a great feeling given back to the community because you had so much to offer as a coach. And I'm sure that there was a need for that because, you know,

let's be honest here. I mean, great, great coaches and mentors of young men are not easy to find here. So how long did you do that before you actually did it for your kid? Now, I coached Little League Baseball like 14 years, but I always did it. One of my kids was there, Gary. You know, that's a difference when you're doing it without one of your kids there. Yeah, yeah. You know, I started, yeah, way before my kids started playing football. I started before that. I started before that. And, you know, I was just a crusader. That's all I knew was that, you know, I had to, you know, coach these kids. And you know, the problems that we have in Acarbor City, some of the problems we have. And so one of the things that, you know, I wanted to institute was number one, an academic standing with the kids. And then football standing. So I used to put out eight by ten tables. You didn't do your homework. Get over there at that table after you do my hundred pushups and get your home. And, you know, So it kind of, it set a standard for the kids to have. And that's what I was more worried about is, you know, my mother used to always tell me,

you're not going to be, you know, this great big athletic person but have no brain. You know, one of my worst punishments was having a copy out the dictionary for a full summer, all because I burnt down the backyard. But anyway, we'll talk about it. Oh, I think I remember that, actually. Yeah, yeah. Fire department came out, whole nine yards, because I found a propane tank and decided to light it and shot it at trees. Yeah, I was, you know, I'm sure my father-in-law was there, right?

Because he would cross the street from the firehouse and he was one of the firemen. I love the local connections. I cannot help but bring it up on the radio a lot. Who of note have you come across? like Isaiah Pacheco, I'm sure you've known for a long time. Yes. Probably from like New Jersey All-Star games, right? Did you know him before he went to Rutgers?

I knew him when he was on Pop Warner football. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. I knew him. And the kid ran violent then. Didn't he just run over everyone? It was, it was. I mean, he's what, nine or ten?

And he's hoofing and puffing and running and stomping his feet. I said, oh, my God. getting in front of him said no way this kid is who yeah you could tell you could just tell and then i befriended his father who was a whose best friend was actually from a carbor city jerome bennett was from a carver city really uh-huh yeah yeah was he r age he was r age well he's let me see two years older than us okay yeah damn damn yeah wish i knew him i can get isaiah on the podcast. Yeah, yeah.

Here you go. I don't get up with Jerome. But yeah, yeah, it's, yeah, it was funny when I went to a violin and we had a scrimmage with them. And Bo was actually playing in that scrimmage. And I looked at Bo, I said, don't get in front of that kid. Just let him go. Yeah, I tell you, he was, he was that good.

He was that good. So, yeah, yeah. And then, you know, we all know the story about Isaiah and, you know, losing family and violent ways and the community just gathering up around them and I think we all just gathered up around them. I mean, every time I saw the kid, it was like,

okay, come in, let me holl at you for a minute. You know, made sure he's all right, you know. And, you know, all the time he was. He has plenty of us support system. But how proud are we at South Jersey about I tell you? I'm like the number one dude on

like national airwaves. Just giving mad love. of Flacko. I mean, I'll even go Kenny Pickett here. Okay? I'll still like Kenny Pickett. But here's one for you. And I've told the story of a million times. But my son one time made the All-Star team.

And what was it? Three kids, a team, right? They pick? Yep. They pick my kid. Who was a baseball guy? Didn't really want to play. Joey Callahan.

Wow. And I got to be honest here. I love making predictions and calls it. I've made, I've made something we can get into that too. I would have never predicted Joey Callahan was going to play in the NFL. I mean, I am still to this day stunned.

But my son was his first target. Oh, was a tight end. You got to love it. And then there's a kid that you probably remember him, Danny Master Mateo. Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. Middle linebacker.

Middle linebacker. Yes, I do. Yes. That kid was tough as nails, and he loved football. So that was the team that Joe Callahan, senior, was the coach, he picked. And my son's like, now I'm good. Yes.

You get a jersey with your name on it. He's like, no, I'm good. I was like, no, I'm good. So he did not do that. But did you know, well, you probably do know that Danny Master Mateo went to North Carolina and played football, right? Yep, absolutely. We do know that.

Absolutely. So I'm in Philly in 2017 interviewing Mitchell Trabiski the night before the draft. He was the third pick of the draft drafted ahead of Patrick Mahomes. So I'm like, you know Danny Master Mateo?

He's like, Danny Mass, that's my boy. I'm like, wow, what a small world. Isn't that great, though? That is great. That is great. Yeah, yeah. Anybody else come through that Pop Warner that I'm missing here

who ended up doing some things in football? Well, you know, not that I, Marquisville. You played against maybe? Greg Olson told me once, he played against mainland, you know? Because he's the North Jersey guy. Uh-huh, uh-huh.

You know what? I don't remember, well, you know what? No, no. No. Okay. Well, Brian, this is why I'm so excited because this seal has been broken Because, Gary, as you know, like, I live outside of Philly now.

That area of South Jersey produced some guys, like Penn Socken, John Taylor. By the way, I believe it was a Delaware state guy. Yeah, definitely. Yep. But where we're at, man, we didn't have crap for pro athletes. Nope. And it's funny because living here in Syracuse, our new head football coach is this guy named Fran Brown. I don't know if you know Fran.

Love Frank. Fran's whole thing is he's like, we're going to own New Jersey again. So why has New Jersey, this small little area, right, been such a hotbed for great college and NFL talent? Like, what's in the water down there? Why are there so many, so many, like, you know, Division I prospects coming out of little old New Jersey? Is it like pine needles or something, giving people superpowers? Look, look, I have a theory about South Jersey. It's the cedar water.

Exactly. Yeah, it's all brown. murky. People don't know about Cedar water. We swim in sweet Cedar water all the time. You get out, you have a white baby suit on, you get out, it's brown. Exactly.

In the Harper City Lake, Cedar water. As we transition now into talking about Bo and Max, I do have to tell this other story. So I grow up with Gary near the near the ocean 15 minutes miles away from like Atlantic City but I moved an hour away right outside

of Philadelphia about 14 years ago I have only been to one high school football game in the last 25 years and it happened to be in my local house school my daughter was doing something in like third grade in the band it happened to be against Gary's team Cedar Creek I'm like what are the odds I didn't even know we played them you know I mean because they're right there's so far away right ironically the quarterback is my Babe Ruth baseball coach's son but this guy is not not just my Babe Ruth baseball he got me in my first fantasy league uh in 1990 87 wow that was weird so then I'm like okay I'll watch a game I'm scout now I see beau I knew Bo was good you know potential college I'm like all right I like it looking good but then I see Max and I'm like

I mean, no offense to Bo. Yeah. But I said to Gary, I said, well, number one, after the end of the game, I saw Gary, I said, number one, congratulations, your sons are better than you. Yeah, that's what I mean. Number two, I got to say, I think the little guys, the real thoroughbred here. And not to chew my own horn, seventh round versus second round. I mean, we don't want, I mean, that's got to be tough right there, Gary.

Talk about that, by the way. Like, yeah, yeah. Iron sharpened the iron. So they have like a like a Jason Travis Kelsey thing going there. Like like a competitive love thing. Like what's going on? Exactly what it is. And, you know,

this year they have to play against one another. So. Yeah. Yeah, they play against one. Yeah. First time. Wow.

Literally from Pop Warner. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. They'll be in Green Bay playing against one another. So, so,

you know, of course, you know, Bo, Bo is, the quieter one. Now, Max, totally different story. He'll talk to your old game. He wants

to get in your head, you know, and all that other stuff. And, you know, just as, you know, I knew my older brother used to always tell me, it's always the youngest brother that gets all of the good stuff in the end, because they've watched and listened. And that was you.

And that was me. It was me. It was me. Totally. I'm the youngest, too. Yeah, there you go. There you go. So, yeah, yeah. So, you know, Max has been able to cultivate some skills that when I knew he was good at him, I had him practice it over and over and over again. His quick twitch is just, yeah, his quick twitch is a little different.

I was at his 40. I was in the building, baby. I saw it live. I mean, he crushed it. Oh, you got to love it. You've got to love it. Yeah, yeah. So he, yeah, so I really felt like, you know, I'm so glad because he wanted to be a wide receiver so bad.

And I said, dude, you are a defensive back. I said, you are not a wide receiver. I know you can catch, but you are not a wide receiver. You're a defensive back. And he finally caught on to his sophomore year in high school. And he just took it, you know, I'm amazed at some of the things. I'll be honest with you. Sometimes I'm looking at them.

I'm like, holy crap, how did you get from there to there that quickly? I mean, when I saw him, Gary, he had to be a freshman. He was by far the smallest kid on the field. Yeah. But he was one of the best kids on the field. Yeah. Yeah. It's something. Yeah.

He's a little different. He's a little different, man. And Brian, to have being able to meet both guys, I, Bo, what, he is quiet. Compared to Max, Max, is like the alpha, like, bursting, like, with energy. And he's just ready to go at all times. Is that fair, Harry? If you wear a huge chain that says Mad Max on it around, people are going to take notice of that.

We're going to take notice of the rest of these guys in the Melton family. After this quick time out, don't go anywhere, folks. Be right back with Gary Melton Sr. At Capital One, we're more than just a credit card company. We're people just like you who believe in the power of yes. Yes to new opportunities. Yes to second chances. Yes, to a fresh start.

That's why we've helped over four. million Canadians get access to a credit card because at Capital One, we say yes, so you don't have to hear another no. What will you do with your yes? Get the yes you've been waiting for at Capital 1.ca.ca.com slash yes. Terms and conditions apply. All right, guys, welcome back. Having a really fun conversation here going down Memory Lane with one of gurus, young friends from, I mean, elementary school. I mean, this is unbelievable. Gary Melton, Sr., the father of two NFL players, Bo Melton, He was drafted by the Seahawks in the seventh round. Now he's with the Packers.

Max Melton, second round pick by the Arizona Cardinals. Gary, I got to ask you, they're going to play this year. But all right, you'll line them up. $100 bill on the line. We're laying it down right here. Fourth and 10, we got to make a play. Are we getting a completion to Bo or is Max breaking it up? I'm going with a completion of Bo.

Okay. Yeah, I'm going to be a beach of the Bo. Bo, Bo, Bo, Bo, Bo. got that sly look at his eye when he talks with back. And because they talk, jocke all the time with each other, you know, and all that.

But Bo, Bo still has some tricks up his sleeves. And, you know, he's played against the brother a long time, and he knows what irks him. And so. Well, Gary,

as you told me once before, Bo has covered Jaden Reed before, correct? Yes. Yes. Because I loved Jaden Reed last year. Oh, boy. I was asking, and you told me, because, yeah, Bo said he was, not Bo, Max said he was a handful, right?

He was a handful. He gave Max some trouble, I'll tell you that. And he spun him around a couple times. And I was like, oh, boy, okay, you got a little competition. And Max was so mad, he didn't get an opportunity to get the get back. Okay, payback time. Now, I do think it's interesting. Both of your sons, Max and Bo are the kind of hybrid-y. Is that fair to say? Oh, yeah, yeah, without question, without question. So talk about Bo first.

That's got to be difficult to, I mean, it is for me to articulate the type of receiver Bo Melton is because, A, I think he's still rounding into form. He's just got the versatility, you know, like, what is he? I mean, is he like a Swiss Army knife that can do anything you need? Yeah, you know, the, funny part about Bo, and I'll use this as a prime example, we were playing Willingboro in the South Jersey Conference Championship. We bow to stand up end, and they couldn't stop him. Yeah. They couldn't stop him. So it's great to have an athlete to be able to do that. And,

you know, he's running the running back down from the back side. You know, so we really won that game because we made that adjustment and said we're not going and they had some huge linemen at the time and we're like no we're going to outspeed them and uh yeah so so bow bow's just an athlete you know he's just he's just an athlete i mean i'm i told the coach i said if you put him at a strong safety i promise you he would play strong safety well and um talk about the growth that he i mean it was amazing like i You know, I've told you this before, but I'm, I'm kind of big on like, I study like body language. Like I get all up in there.

Right. And I'm telling you, man, like I watched them, you know, at that senior ball practice week, you know, maybe he was a little nervous a lot. I guess it's a tough deal. But this year, like the demonstrative nature that I saw him display after making a couple of catches, like, oh, snap. I was like, this is great. You know, that was my observation. But talk about his ascension this year. Yeah, yeah.

You know, it was, we knew he was getting a shot against Carolina. And, you know, one of the things I told him, I said, you're still a football. You know, you still got to catch it. And after that, you do what you do. That's my words all the time. You just do what you do. I don't know how you just do what you do. See his confidence get built up in that game was really what springboarded him to do, you know.

better and better. Confidence, man. How big is that? Oh, that's huge. That's huge. You know, it's not, it's, you know, and I've always, you know, Seattle was a little tough. Seattle was tough. Seattle, I don't have to tell you.

Seattle, Seattle, they're going to be Seattle or the P. Carroll regardless, right? Well, no longer, though. No longer, right. No longer. And I don't want to say, thank God, but no longer. Oh. But, yeah, him coming from Seattle and coming to Green, and going to Green Bay, you know, and again, it was funny how it happened.

We were actually in Seattle for the game, and here we are sitting around, and the phone rings, and it's like 11.30 at night, and it's Green Bay. Wow. Yeah, yeah. And he had to catch the flight that night, and I don't even know how they got a flight out that quick. But he caught the flight and went out to Green Bay at that time. Yeah. Yeah. So it was, yeah, it's good for him because he feels like he had a better opportunity in Green Bay.

And yeah, yeah, I just think that his work ethic is outstanding. He's the energizer buddy, you know, is outstanding. And I think that caught the eye of some of the coaches. Yeah, I mean, his second game with the Packers, against the Vikings. He caught six of his nine targets for 105 yards in a touchdown. Really put him on the radar. Yeah.

I put him on the map right there. Well, you know, we are a fantasy show here, Gary. So let's get a little fantasy nuggets from me here. Jordan Love, his quarterback, is a guy that people are talking up and they're really high on. Give us some of this inside dirt here. How good can Jordan Love be? You know, and should people in fantasy be even more excited about him? Because you're getting that inside door.

You're getting in the huddle. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They better get excited. I'll tell you that right now. They better get excited because he's a gunslinger. He's absolutely a gunslinger. Unorthodox in some of the things that he does, right?

He's got a little Mahomes in him, Gary. Oh, yeah. Oh, absolutely. You know, some of the things that he does, that little sideways things he does. I mean, how do you stop that? You know, that's kind of difficult to stop. And so the best part about it is,

is how he commands the offense now. You know, it's truly Jordan loves team. It's no longer, you know, Rogers team, it's Jordan loves king. And the way he galvanizes all of his teammates together, especially on the offensive side of the ball, is really quite unique. Yeah.

I've always been a fan. I actually talk with him at the combine a little bit. I thought he was a nice kid. I did a video on this YouTube channel a year ago where I just laid out the map. I mapped it all out. Like here are the pros, here are the cons. You know, because it reminded me so much of Aaron Rogers.

Yeah. Because the year before he took over for FAR, they needed him to get a start. And I'm like, yeah, he's good. Right. And Jordan loved it the same damn thing against the Eagles. Yeah. Yeah. But as, Gary, as the season progressed, it seemed to me like, again, body language.

He was starting to feel it. You can tell that he was getting comfortable and that he was processing the information. And I think he's still ascending. So it's a little scary. Like he could be an absolute baller. Like he could be the NFC's Patrick Mahomes. I agree with you 100%.

You know, watching him and practices that I am able to go view. You just see it. You just see it. You know, like I say, you know, he's in his bag now. he knows he could do pull out some throws that, you know, nobody's seen before. And really, and then the best part is, the best part is even with the younger guys that came in, I'm watching him with the younger guys, he's stern, but at the same time, he's like, yo, we can get this.

Like, it's not like, you got to get, boom, boom, boom, no, he says, you know, and that makes a difference. It really does. I'm sure. I bet he gets along with Christian Watson, because, I did a nice interview with him, like sit down. What a nice kid. Like that guy's a preacher's son, right?

I mean, he's pretty damn good here, Christian Watson. Yeah, yeah, he is. Christian's a good guy. He's a good guy. And, you know, we're hoping that, you know, his injuries that he has. I think he gets that handle. This dude can fly. He commands a ball.

Like, he commands, that's a term. I started 25 years ago. I'm like, he commands a ball. He's on the field. You got to get him the ball. You got to get him the ball. You got to. And even if you take a shot,

you got to take that shot to keep the defense honest. And so he's the guy that does that. And yeah, I think the receiving core as a whole, you know, is pretty soft, a bunch of. Really good.

You know, and they feed off of each other. I love that. They really feed off of each other. So I'm looking. We're doing. And I love how the Packers are all about the Senior Bowl. Every one of these dudes is at the Senior Bowl, including your son. They didn't even draft your son, but they probably were inclined to get him because, like,

oh, you know what? I remember him at the Senior Bowl. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. That's the truth. That's the truth.

So it's, yeah, it's, you know, it's the Green Bay is so different. And I, this is just my own opinion. Yeah. Green Bay is Ake Harbor, but it's a big stadium in the middle of it. Yeah. It is. Wow. They're playing a key wreck. Yeah. That's right. They play that key wreck. I'm telling you, I say it all the time. I go to Green Bay. I'm like, oh, it's like a Carver. You know, I'm down. Yeah. Yeah. We were green. Yep. That's right. That's right.

Wow. Man. So Max is out in Arizona. He likely could start this year. He in OTAs who's matched up with Marvin Harrison Jr. another second generation guy, his father, the Hall of Famer. And what have you heard from Max about Marvin Harrison Jr? Because us guys in fantasy, people are taking him at the,

I don't know if you're a fantasy guy at all, but they're taking him at the end of the first round. What is he saying about Marvin Harrison, Jr. and the skills set from this kid? Well, you know, well, you know, it's quite obvious. Marvin Harrison is probably, not you probably is the best receiver in the whole draft class.

Matt was going against Marston. every now, I don't know, two or three times. Because he played in the Big Ten. Oh, yeah, played in the Big Ten. Has held him, you know, held him at Bag. You know, he's done great against him. Yeah, done great against him. I think the last time he played at Rutgers,

Marvin had like 25 yards receiving. And, you know, that's max on them. So I'm happy that they're going against each other. And even Marvin Harrison, you know, had said something at one point that, you know, yeah, that these two battling against each other. there's going to be a great thing. It's only going to make them all better. And so, but Marvin is, look, he's a freak of nature.

He's, you know, I don't care. He can break one at any moment at any time. You know, he's that type of, that type of receiver. And he runs such clean, precise routes. His transition is so smooth that you can't tell if he's breaking or is he's actually trying to blow past you. And, you know, that's the most impressive thing for me as I'm watching them. That's a thoroughbred right there, man.

Oh, yeah. That's just like elite here. And then Max, again, the hybrid stuff. Like, is he a safety? Is he a nickel corner? What do you think it's going to eventually be here? I do worry about some of these hybrid guys because sometimes you're a man without a continent. Right.

you know, you don't have much to hang your hat on. You're good at a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Well, you know. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I'm hoping for my best case in errors that they keep him on the outside. I would want them to be on the outside because I think, number one, he can handle it. Number two, if he's doing that for the whole year, that's just more reps.

That's just him seeing more and understanding more. And he is a true student of the game. Max studies that playbook. He studies film. He loves them. doing it. That's just what his thing is. And I'm sure he's chopping it up and, you know, with Marvin and saying, hey, why are you making this break at this moment? You know, you know, everything's on the field. You know, hash mark numbers and zone. I'm hoping. I told

him, I say, hey, look, get with those receivers and ask them. Just ask them. They're on your team. Why are you bending this way on the numbers or why you do it? You know, so forth, so on. And he's learned that from high school. You know, I've taught him about the hash marks and the numbers and the distance from the so forth, so on, and what they can do and what they can't do. So he knows how to take things away. Nice. So would be a press man corner?

Is he more of a zone guy? Nah, you know what? I don't like them in zone quite yet. I like him in Pressman Corner. In zone, I think he gets every. so often he peaks too much. Just a little bit of a peak. That's all.

It's hard to harder luck. Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah. So I like them. I've always liked them in man. He does better in man. But I'm sure they're going to see, you know, what he actually can do.

And like I said, play a nickel right now. And, you know, it depends on the team. It really does. It depends on me. Hey, hey, Jalen Ramsey was playing nickel for the Rams the last year he was there. Yeah, that's right. You're right. You're right. So, yeah, it's a tough call.

It's a tough call. And I'll be honest with you with the new coaches that are in there and things of that nature. You know, looking at what they did last year is not even beneficial to me because it's all changed. Yeah. I'll tell you what, though, I got a good vibe on the Cardinals. I mean, the organization, I mean, let's keep it real. I mean, it is what it is. But I like Monty Austin for it.

this guy's like a freaking out there doing business, man. And then Jonathan Gannon seems a little cocky, but it seems to be working, you know, like I kind of like the vibe in Arizona. What do you think? Oh, I love it. I love it. I love the fact that Gannon is a coffee. I love it.

I think it's great, you know, and I think the yin and yang of what they're going to be as, you know, with general manager and coach, I think that's going to be, I think it's going to work out great. And I think just me, I think they have one of the best draft classes in the whole draft. I mean, Trey, you come out of there with Marvin Harrison, Trey Benson.

I mean, right there. And then your son, boom. I mean, I'm sure others too. But yeah, yeah. And that kid Raymond, the tight end. And by the way, speaking of tight ends, I don't know how much Max has dealt with Trey McBride. But Trey McBride was a senior ball guy.

I believe it was there with your son. I don't know if they were. Yeah, he was. He was. he was yeah i had i i i came back and i reported on what i saw i'm like this freaking tray mcbride man is good like i don't i'm no scout but trust me he's good and he is that guy was he is he has got to be the greatest guy ever because you know he he's come through some you know some adversity i guess but he just seems like the greatest guy ever yeah yeah yeah yeah i watched

him i i thought i thought he was the stealing the whole thing be honest with you. I thought he was, when I was watching him at senior bowl, I was like, holy crap, this guy can play. He was winning on every, every rap. Single rep, every rep. I think people were moving out of line, so they didn't have to go against them.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And then I'm like, oh, this is scouting? This is easy. What I just blew on in here? Oh, yeah, Trey McBride, stud. Yeah.

Stud. This is easy, you know? Yeah. Some guys make it look easy. Yeah, yeah. There you go. This is something as a coach coming up through the years, I'd love to get your perspective on.

And a lot of guys, I'm sure, and girls listening to this show right now, their kids are playing sports. And a big thing now is specialization. You know, if you're in Little League, people's like, oh, we want you in the Travel League, and you're going to go year-round and play sports,

I've always kind of thought that maybe it's better to diversify, play a little football, play a little basketball. You know, you don't have to be at 10 years old, dedicated to one sport, in my mind. As someone who's coached it and, you know, your sons are at the highest level of a profession now, what's your thoughts on youth athletics and what we're seeing now with the specialization of these kids.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of specialization at all. I really feel like even if a kid is a, I'll just shoot something. Even they're a great baseball player, right? There are muscles at some point that they're going to have to learn to use also and not just muscles geared towards baseball. And so, you know, I was really about a holistic approach to everything that if you, if you play football, you can play basketball. If you play basketball, you can play baseball.

You might not be the best at all, but at least you're utilizing different muscles and understanding different situations. The mental aspect of each game that you're playing is most important because you watch basketball players today. And this is just me getting on my high horse right now. The youngsters that's playing basketball today that only play basketball are the worst trash talkers or the worst getting the most techs because they just are specialized to that one area. You take them out of that. They're all in. Yeah. Yeah.

You take them out of that setting and put them in another one. They're not successful at all because they don't know how to handle the adversity of going to something different. and realizing that you might be good at that too, but since they're specialized, they never get that opportunity. And let's face it, there's only what, 10, 12 people on the basketball team, all right? And there's 9 million people that want to be a part of that 10, 12. I just don't like it because I don't think it gives you the opportunity to optimize all of your strengths as an athlete and be able to use different muscles and, different situations. And so, no, I'm not, I'm not a fan.

Not a fan. Well, Gary, we can end on this and we really thank you for your time. Not to dispute any of your claims here, but I would argue when I was growing up, I could play football, I could play baseball. I could not play basketball, sir, okay? I

suck at basketball. I mean, one day I'd come in and I'm draining threes. I'm like, oh, I got it. Next day, I can't hit a thing. So I was that guy where, no, I I could not, I could not do that. But by the way, it's probably your fault because we did not have a,

there was no way to play basketball, basically, until seventh and eighth grade, right? Yep, yep, you got it. And I broke my leg, as you recall. Yeah. Very badly, knock me out of seven. By the time I'm eighth grade, I'm like, whatever, there's 10 spots.

I never played before. Forget it. It's over. So thanks, Gary. You ended my basketball career. I'm kidding. This has been great, Gary. I hope I'd make it too weird, you know, pumping you up a little bit.

But I'm very proud to know you and your family. And it's been awesome. It's been fantastic. I've just been tickled for a year or two now to see all this come to fruition. So we wish good luck and good health to Bo. And of course, Max, as he, I mean, works on Marvin Harrison in practice every week. I mean, that's going to be training. It's going to be awesome.

So we really appreciate it, Gary. You're the man. No, no. Thank you, guys. I appreciate you, John, always. You know what? You've been a lifelong friend. And, you know, I was so, I was happier.

And I'll just say this when we went to the Haddonfield game that I saw you rather than the game. I was like, oh, man, this, you know. Wow. Yeah, yeah. I felt the same way, too. It was so cool. Yeah. It was so cool.

It was so cool. Yeah, so I'm so appreciative, so proud of you and all that you're doing and the work that you're doing here. And look, you're the guru, man. And when someone said, do you know the guru? And I was like, yeah, I know him. I grew up with him. I felt a sense of pride. And so thank you.

Just make sure you tell them that I could run and I could catch. Yeah. I'm open, baby. Got those hands. I'm ready. You got it. You got it. Thank you so much.

I appreciate you. For Trey, our producer, Ging. Mary Melton and the guru. I'm Drake. We'll see you next time, everybody, for the Fantasy Points podcast.