A Mays Landing athlete is making his mark in the NFL.
Green Bay’s Bo Melton is gaining national attention after putting up the best performance from a Packers receiver this season in a must-win game on New Year’s Eve in just his third career game.
His unlikely rise may come as a surprise to most, but not to one person in particular.
Melton’s youth football coach first saw his potential in middle school.
“He was the most talented kid on the field, hands down,” said Paul Burgan, who coached Melton in fifth through eighth grades when he played for the Egg Harbor City Crusaders. “He was able to do it all.”
Now Green Bay Packer fans are seeing what the Cedar Creek High School graduate can do on the big stage.
But how did he get here, and what makes the 24-year-old’s performance on Sunday so special?
After graduating from Cedar Creek High School, Melton played at Rutgers University.
He was a seventh-round pick for the Seattle Seahawks in the 2022 NFL Draft.
His Seahawks career was short lived, however, as the Green Bay Packers would sign him off of Seattle’s practice squad that December.
Melton had the opportunity to compete for a spot on Green Bay’s 53-man roster in 2023, but after an underwhelming training camp, he was cut before being re-signed to the Packers’ practice squad.
His breakthrough finally came when he was activated Dec. 17 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He recorded a seven-yard reception — his first in the NFL — in a 34-20 Packers loss. He earned more targets on Christmas Eve against the Carolina Panthers, recording 51 scrimmage yards in a 33-30 Packers win.
With that win the Packers’ playoff hopes were still alive, and they controlled their own destiny.
Their task: Win the last two games of the season and they're in. One mistake, one bad game, one loss, and it would likely be all but over.
New Year’s Eve, they would be going into Minnesota against a desperate Vikings team who were also on the brink of elimination and had already beaten the Packers earlier in the season. Both teams would love nothing more than to kick the other out of playoff contention given their storied rivalry. That's exactly what the Packers did.
Melton knew what was on the line and came up big, becoming the first Packer to record 100 or more receiving yards in a game this season, including scoring his first career touchdown in a 33-10 Packers dismantling of the Vikings.
His performance broke the longest single season streak without a triple-digit receiving yard game in NFL history, which is now held by this year’s New England Patriots.
After the game, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur awarded Melton the game ball.
The Packers signed him to the active roster the next day.
Melton’s unlikely rise is just getting started and he now has all of South Jersey rooting for him.
His former coach is proud to see it.
“He made coaching a lot of fun for me and always made us laugh with his humor,” Burgan said. “Bo was a tremendous leader also. He was always willing to help others on the team that needed the help along with motivating his teammates.”
Burgan was in awe at Melton’s performance on Sunday, telling BreakingAC, “I always knew he would get to this stage in his career. He just had all the tools and dedicated himself to the game, but to watch him play on the big stage and see him have a 100-yard game with a touchdown was just special to see.
“I felt extremely proud because it’s one of our own from South Jersey and because it was one of my former youth players I coached,” he added. “Just such a special moment to witness.”
Melton and the Packers will play the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field in their regular season finale Sunday afternoon.
A win and they will head to either Dallas, Detroit or Philadelphia for a wild card game. A loss, and their season likely ends here.
