Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan on His Connection with Bryce Young

Rich is in first place in his best ball fantasy league, and he is not shy about who deserves the credit. He drafted the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, Tetairoa McMillan, and after McMillan's Sunday night performance against the Lions, Rich called him "a cornucopia of fantasy points." The man himself showed up on The Rich Eisen Show sounding like someone who had just finished a shift at the office.

That is not an exaggeration. Asked whether he knew he was on a heater during the game, McMillan said, "You can feel it. The ball just keeps coming to you, and I guess good things just happen." Does he get vocal when he is open and red hot? "Nah, man. I just work here." Rich pushed back, and McMillan explained that the coordinators and the people up in the booth are the ones who let everybody know what is going on down there.

His relationship with quarterback Bryce Young is just as low-key. "We're just cool people, I guess," McMillan said. Both are from California, which gave them a connection and chemistry from the start. What McMillan values most is Young's consistency. "He's always the same dude. He doesn't get too high, too low. He treats everybody the same, humble, kind, genuine type of person," he said. "It's definitely easy to connect with."

That trust showed up in the biggest moment of the night. It was third-and-14 with a little over three minutes left, and the Lions wanted the ball back with a chance to win. McMillan said Young called a specific play for the situation, the Panthers saw cloud coverage, and it came down to faith. "Bryce trusted me to make a play," he said. "He threw it in a spot that nobody else can get it but me, and I was fortunate enough to catch the ball and keep my feet in bounds."

Did he know both feet were down? "Yeah, I knew." That was about as close to bragging as he got.

Rich tried to coax a little chest-pounding out of him, noting that wide receivers in the National Football League tend to do that. McMillan would not bite. He described himself as blessed to be where he is, with an opportunity not many people get. "At the end of the day, it's just a game," he said. "We're just having fun doing something we've been doing since a little kid, and we just so happen to get paid to do it. So, win-win situation for all of us, for sure."

Then Rich asked where the Offensive Rookie of the Year trophy lives, and the interview took a turn. "That's still in the case," McMillan said. The award arrived in a package, he looked at it once, put it back and stuck it in a cabinet. Rich asked if it was next to the bread and cookies. No, McMillan clarified, the pantry is a separate cabinet.

His reasoning is pure McMillan. "I think it's a little conceited when people have pictures of themselves or awards that they've won hanging up in their house," he said. Rich, who has awards on display at the office, immediately offered to go put away "that one single Emmy I won back in 1996."

The trophy may not stay in the cabinet for long anyway. McMillan said his mom is the one with all his awards. "My mom really just steals all of my memorabilia that I've earned throughout my years of playing football," he said. "So, yeah, she can have it." Rich called it a mom's prerogative. He also mentioned he had met McMillan's family briefly when they ended up on the same flight on the way to the draft in Green Bay.

So what has changed now that he is a pro? According to McMillan, nothing. "The game hasn't changed. It's still the same game," he said. The scenery is different in Carolina, and he gets to play "the best of the best," which he called a blessing.

He does not have goals written down, either. "My goal is to win," he said, specifically his first playoff game. Rich summed it up: award in a box, no written goals, just come to work and ball out. McMillan confirmed it. "Life is too hard, man. You got to keep it simple."

As for how far these Panthers can go, McMillan said only time will tell. He pointed to talent on both sides of the ball, with playmakers on offense and "a lot of dudes that can go on defense." But in his view, it is all on the Panthers themselves. "It's us versus us," he said. "We got to make sure that we come to work every day, be consistent, stay humble, don't get complacent, and try to take this as far as we possibly can." Rich did not think the stay humble part would be a problem.

Rich made him a deal for his next visit: bring the box, open it on camera, and close it again. Or just send it to the show. McMillan declined, because his mom would have something to say about that. One member of the crew then admitted he had lost his own fantasy matchup by four-tenths of a point to a team with McMillan on it, and said he did not hold it against him. "You put on a clinic," he said.

Last question: does McMillan get anything tangible for being named NFC Offensive Player of the Week? McMillan figured he gets posted by the NFL and the Panthers, and "some claps." Rich noted it was the Panthers' first Sunday night home game in a decade and McMillan balled out, which is how a team earns more of them. McMillan, for his part, was glad he could help Rich's fantasy team. Somewhere, a trophy sits in its case, unbothered.