USAA hosts NFL Draft Salute to Service event with Packers players, honors military

Rich Palzewic

Staff

May 5, 2025

ASHWAUBENON – Having family members who have served in the military, current Green Bay Packers player Josh Jacobs and former player Clay Matthews, said they appreciate the hard work and sacrifice veterans have made to protect their freedom.

To show their support, Jacobs and Matthews made an appearance at the Epic Event Center in Ashwaubenon on the first day of the NFL Draft.

The duo took part in a Q&A session and signed autographs for the hundreds of NFL fans from around the country in attendance.

In partnership with USAA (United Services Automobile Association), the official Salute to Service Partner of the NFL, both players helped celebrate the day by hosting 100 local military members to kick off the weekend.  

“Everybody always talks about how professional athletes are heroes and put up on pedestals,” Matthews said, “but the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our country are the real heroes.”

Jacobs said he jumps at any chance he gets to give back to the military, so he was appreciative of the opportunity to do so during draft week.

“Like Clay said, we have everything we need in this country, and that’s thanks to the veterans out there,” he said. “We take a lot of things for granted, but the men and women who have served this country are the real heroes. Veterans have seen and experienced a lot of things normal people haven’t.”

Through its partnership with the NFL’s “Salute to Service” program, USAA honors the military community all season long, hosting thousands of military members, veterans and their families at dozens of NFL events, including NFL Boot Camps, visits by NFL players to military installations, the NFL Draft and the Super Bowl.

The luncheon held April 24 provided the organization and the Packers another chance to honor those who serve.

During the USAA event, Matthews and Jacobs participated in a panel discussion about their perspectives on playing in Green Bay, the significance of Titletown hosting the draft and experiences of growing up in military families.

During the 2025 NFL Draft kick-off event, both players said they couldn’t help but take a moment to reflect on their respective journeys to Titletown.

From Oakland to Green Bay

Jacobs, a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders – now the Las Vegas Raiders – came to Green Bay via free agency after the 2023 season.

He said he wasn’t too worried about where he would land in the 2019 draft.

“I think I was really the only running back mentioned to go in the first round, so I knew I’d go somewhere in there,” he said. “I remember how busy it was going to the actual draft – I kind of wish I had stayed home and enjoyed it with my family and friends.”

When Jacobs entered free agency after the 2023 season, he said the Kansas City Chiefs also expressed interest in him.

“I didn’t necessarily want to go to a championship team like the Chiefs, but I wanted to help build a championship team (like I’m doing with the Packers),” he said. “Also, playing against a team in your division like the Chiefs when I played for the Raiders, and us losing to them so much, there was no way I was going to Kansas City. When Green Bay came along, I knew there was something special happening here.”

To “officially become a Packer,” Jacobs said when he came to Green Bay, they showed him an example of what not to do on a “Lambeau Leap.”

“They showed me AJ Dillon’s first Lambeau Leap, and he failed,” he laughed. “For my first jump, I jumped too far, but I made it – I was relieved.”

Jacobs said going into a game, it’s tough to gauge how physical it might be.

“The games you think are going to be physical, sometimes don’t turn out that way,” he said. “It never turns out how you think it’s going to in your head. I always try to be the hammer and not the nail.”

Jacobs said though his experiences on the football field are nowhere near as important as those of service men and women, he anticipates they have similar unknowns when they are in the field.

From a walk-on to Hall of Famer

Matthews came to Green Bay as a first-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

He walked on at USC before finding some success under coach Pete Carroll during his fifth and final year of college.

“I definitely had some nerves on draft night,” he said. “Having the path I did in college, I had no idea where I would land. Once Green Bay traded into the first round and picked me, it was a big weight lifted off my shoulders.”

Matthews said he thought the New England Patriots were going to draft him instead of the Packers.

“My mom thought for sure I was going to New England,” he laughed. “My father played for the Cleveland Browns when Bill Belichick (the Patriots’ coach in 2009) was the coach, so I thought it was a done deal. When the Packers drafted me, for about an hour after, my mom thought I was drafted by New England. Two years later, we won the Super Bowl.”

Not getting back to Green Bay as often as he’d like, Matthews said “it was awesome being back” – especially during draft week and especially for an event that is specifically designed to honor service men and women.

“Last year was the first time I got to bring my wife and kids to Green Bay when the Packers put me in the Hall of Fame,” he said. “Hopefully, I can come back more in the future with my family. It was cool reliving moments from when I was here – seeing Festival Foods, driving over the (Highway) 172 bridge and showing my kids where I lived on the Fox River.”

Matthews said during his career, he enjoyed sacking any quarterback – regardless of who it was.

“Cam (Newton) was a tough one to bring down, as was Ben Roethlisberger,” he said. “With Minnesota, you didn’t even know who the quarterbacks were at the time. Drew Brees was impossible to get to, and I never sacked Peyton (Manning) or (Tom) Brady, but I got (Brett) Favre once.” 

Revealing the first overall pick

Invited military members were also able to participate in a meet and greet with Matthews and Jacobs, ask them questions and attend the first round of the NFL Draft later that evening, courtesy of USAA.

For Staff Sgt. Brandon M. Byrne – who currently serves in the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion – the experience went one step further.

Byrne – who has more than 14 years of service and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2019 – said he was selected by his command’s leadership as part of USAA’s commitment to honoring military members as the Official Salute to Service Partner of the NFL. 

“I’m from Green Bay, so the NFL Draft is a pretty cool thing for me,” he said. “When you look at some of the cities the NFL Draft has been in, it’s special it was here. I live three miles from the stadium, and we come to Titletown (District) and hang out with the kids a lot.”

Byrne said the NFL does a good job of bringing civilians and veterans together.

“It’s cool to be a part of that and cool to represent service members,” he said.

Byrne said he also had the honor of filling out the official draft card for the first overall pick of the draft that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell read off.

Writing down that first overall pick – Cam Ward, a quarterback from the University of Miami who was drafted by the Tennessee Titans – Byrne said, “was special.”

“I got a little sneak peek in the ‘war room’ behind the scenes,” he said. “I worked on my penmanship to make sure I spelled everything correctly. It was a cool experience.”

Byrne said he was chosen for the opportunity after winning the “Best Warrior” competition a few weeks ago held by the Wisconsin National Guard.

“I ended up winning that, and being the local guy from Green Bay, state leadership reached out and asked if I was going to be around,” he said. “I gladly agreed – it was a great honor.”