Last night’s primetime coverage of night one of the 2025 NFL draft turned into a bit of a comedy show thanks to a longtime, heated rivalry.
And a little bit of help from President Donald Trump.
This year’s draft was hosted in Green Bay, Wisconsin — home of the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers are of course one of the most storied franchises in football — and sports.
They are also heated rivals with the Chicago Bears — another storied franchise.
But with the draft being set in Green Bay (aka “Titletown USA”), former players from the Packers couldn’t resist using it as a forum to poke fun at the rival Bears franchise.
Here’s how it went down.
Green Bay Packers legend and Super Bowl winner Clay Matthews delivered a “message” he joked came from President Donald Trump aimed at rival Chicago Bears last night during the opening night of the NFL Draft.
Ahead of the first pick of the draft, Matthews, who played linebacker for the Packers for 10 seasons, took to the podium at the draft in Green Bay in front of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to take a well-timed shot at the Bears.
“I’m gonna go off script here real quick … Roger,” Matthews said.
“I just got off the phone with the president, Donald Trump. He asked me to pass a message along to all 32 NFL franchises. Let me tell you what it reads here, alright.”
“It says, ‘My fellow Americans, the Bears still suck!’” Matthews chanted into the microphone to the cheering crowd.
This is great. 😂
Former Packers linebacker Clay Matthews surprised the crowd at the NFL Draft by jokingly telling them he had a message from Trump for all 32 NFL teams.
"Roger, I just got off the phone with the President, Donald Trump." pic.twitter.com/Ojhz5mSPLf
— CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) April 25, 2025
Matthews made the comments as he was surrounded by other former Packers like Jordy Nelson, Mason Crosby, Ahman Green, and James Jones.
Earlier in the night, the former Packers linebacker had biked out onto the stage alongside Goodell, mimicking a Packer tradition where players ride young fans’ bikes during training camp.
Roger Goodell led former Packers and Lil Wayne out on stage on bikes 😂 #NFLdraft pic.twitter.com/vqTWNG8G63
— ESPN (@espn) April 25, 2025
As a Packer, Matthews went 16-3 against the Bears as he played from 2009-2018.
Other Packer legends have developed a close association with Trump in recent years.
Three time MVP and Super Bowl winner Brett Favre was outspoken about his support for Trump during the 2024 presidential election. The former quarterback even appeared at an event in Green Bay days before the election to rally support for Trump.
President Trump of course did not deliver that message. But it was all in good fun.
Except for Bears fans.