Southern California is no stranger to NFL talent. From sun-bleached practice fields to Friday night lights stretching from Anaheim to Westlake Village: SoCal manufactures football greatness.
On Thursday night at the NFL Honors ceremony, that truth kicked down the door again.
Tetairoa McMillan, the Carolina Panthers’ smooth, surgical wide receiver, was named Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Carson Schwesinger, the Cleveland Browns’ relentless defensive engine, claimed Defensive Rookie of the Year. Both players grew up in the same Southern California soil.
McMillan was born in Hawaii, but moved to Southern California when he was one-year-old. At Servite High School in Anaheim, McMillan didn’t just dominate — he curated tape that looked like a warning label. Contested catches felt inevitable. Corners looked helpless. As a senior, he stacked 1,302 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns, then took his polish to Arizona before becoming Carolina’s newest offensive star.
Schwesinger’s rise was louder in its struggle. Born in Moorpark and forged at Oaks Christian, he arrived at UCLA unranked and unwanted, a walk-on carrying more belief than scholarship offers. He left college as proof that evaluation misses heart. Now in Cleveland, Schwesinger plays like a man who remembers every doubt.
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That both ended up in the same Browns orbit as Mason Graham, another Southern California product and McMillan’s former classmate, feels less coincidental and more cosmic. This region breeds NFL talent that’s ready for the bright lights on Sundays.
Oaks Christian alone has sent a small army to Sundays — Kayvon Thibodeaux, Michael Pittman Jr., Zach Charbonnet, Colby Parkinson — the receipts are endless.
And this season, 13 California-bred players will take the field at Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium, when the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots.