Cleveland Browns first-round NFL draft pick Mason Graham (left) and Carolina Panthers first-round NFL draft pick Tetairoa McMillan were teammates at Servite High of Anaheim during the pandemic and in 2021 fall season. Photo: servite_sports / Instagram.com.
Former Servite of Anaheim teammates Mason Graham and Tetairoa McMillan made history in Thursday’s first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. They were selected at No. 5 overall and No. 8 and have become the highest drafted teammates in the first round from the same California high school team in the same draft. We have all of the historical feats documented in this post and add some details on a third player from the state who was the final pick of the first round. The state had four in the first round last year and five three years ago.
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The key numbers for a California football history buff entering Thursday night’s first round of the 2025 NFL Draft that was held outside Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, were 5 and 11.
Those were the drafting positions in the first round back in 1997 of defensive back Bryant Westbrook of the University of Texas and defensive back Michael Booker of the University of Nebraska. Westbrook and Booker may have been from different college teams, but they were from the same California high school, El Camino of Oceanside, where they played for legendary Wildcats’ head coach Herb Meyer.
Almost as soon as last year’s NFL Draft ended, the mock drafts for this year began and it was quickly apparent that both defensive tackle Mason Graham of the University of Michigan and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan from the University of Arizona would be very strong first round prospects. They played on the same Servite of Anaheim team in 2021 that was runner-up to Mater Dei of Santa Ana in the CIF Southern Section D1 playoffs but was able to record a win over St. John Bosco of Bellflower, thus becoming the only team in the state to get a win over Bosco or Mater Dei since the 2016 season (which is when those two schools began their still on-going domination of the state).
McMillan’s height, jumping ability and catching the ball one-handed made him a nightmare to defend both in high school and in college. Photo: @ServiteFootball / Twitter.com.
Could Mason and McMillan do better in the draft than 5th and 11th for the El Camino DBs? The answer on Thursday night didn’t take long to determine.
After quarterback Cam Ward of Miami was selected first by the Tennessee Titans (with Concord De La Salle grad Brian Callahan in the war room as head coach), the Jacksonville Jaguars made a trade with the Cleveland Browns to grab the second spot. The Jaguars had the fifth pick entering the draft and were shown to be taking Graham with that pick on many mocks. The Jaguars went with WR/DB Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter with that pick, but the Browns (who moved back three spots) still selected Graham at fifth.
Graham’s fifth spot, however, was still just the same as Bryant Westbrook’s in 1997. The key for the Friars’ duo to beat the record would be where McMillan would go. The 2021 Mr. Football State Player of the Year had mock spots generally in the range of No. 12 to No. 23, but he beat the mocks and was tabbed at No. 8 overall by the Carolina Panthers, who are led by quarterback Bryce Young of Heisman Trophy fame and of course is a graduate of Servite’s biggest rivals from Mater Dei.
Former Servite head coach Troy Thomas, who coached both players in high school, was shown hugging each one after they were selected. It also was noted on the TV broadcast on ABC that Servite High had two players picked in the NFL Draft this year before any college had two players picked and it was later mentioned through research by Servite alum and NFL Statistician Blake Warye on the school’s Instagram page that no other school in the nation has ever had two players in the top eight of the same draft.
While the accomplishment of No. 5 and No. 8 overall in the same draft is unprecedented, it is not the highest pair of teammates ever drafted off the same high school team when back-to-back drafts are counted. The record for that is No. 1 and No. 2 overall for the 2006 and 2007 NFL Drafts with quarterback Alex Smith going first in 2006 to the San Francisco 49ers and running back Reggie Bush going second in 2007 to the New Orleans Saints. They were teammates (like Graham and McMillan) that we saw play in high school, but down in San Diego County at Helix of La Mesa and not up north in the CIF Southern Section.
There also were two from the same high school team that were chosen at No. 1 overall and No. 3 overall in the 1969 and 1970 NFL Drafts. That would be the duo of running back O.J. Simpson and defensive lineman Al Cowling, both from Galileo of San Francisco. Anyone over 30 knows those two more for being chased by the CHP in 1994 while Cowling was driving a white Ford Bronco with OJ in the car reportedly with a gun to his head. Simpson, who died last year a couple of weeks before the draft, was acquitted in a trial for killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and a man named Ron Goldman who was just dropping something off back at the house.
Galileo had another first-rounder in the NFL Draft the very next season as well in 1971 with Norm Thompson, but Helix had to wait until this year for its third first-round pick. That would be offensive lineman Josh Simmons, who was the final pick in the first round on Thursday night. Simmons has had a well-traveled career that has seen flashes of incredible potential (he’s 6-foot-5, 317 pounds and has been on college recruiting lists since his sophomore year of high school) mixed in with injuries.
Former La Mesa Helix player Josh Simmons played last season at Ohio State. For the second straight year after WR Xavier Worthy from last season, the Kansas City Chiefs selected a former California high school player with the last pick in the opening round of the NFL Draft. Photo: OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
Simmons began his high school career at Madison of San Diego, but later transferred to Helix where he finished during the pandemic seasons of 2021 spring/2021 fall. He also transferred in college, beginning at San Diego State and finishing with the Buckeyes. Simmons started the first six games at Ohio State last season before a torn patellar tendon in his left knee. The Chiefs flipped drafting spots with the team they lost to in the Super Bowl, the Philadelphia Eagles, going down from No. 31 to No. 32 and gaining a fifth-round pick before they took Simmons.
Servite also now has three all-time first-round picks. The Friars have other top NFL players on their alumni list, including special teams Hall of Famer Matthew Slater, quarterback Steve Beuerlein and offensive lineman Blaine Nye, but their only other first-round pick has been offensive lineman Matt Kalil at No. 4 overall in 2012. His brother, Ryan Kalil, was a second-round selection in 2007.
Long Beach Poly still ranks first among all schools in the state with six all-time first-round picks. Eisenhower of Rialto, Bakersfield and Gardena are all tied for second with four. Poly teammates Mark Carrier (6th pick in 1990 draft) and Leonard Russell (14th in 1991) are among those from the school on that list.
Servite’s 2021 team has been well-represented at Arizona with other players in addition to McMillan. His quarterback there the last several seasons has been former Friar Noah Fifita, who was the QB on that 2021 squad and in 2019 was State Sophomore Player of the Year. Linebacker Jacob Manu of that same 2021 team also was a standout at Arizona, but has since transferred to the University of Washington.
Graham headed to the University of Michigan after his Servite days concluded and made an immediate impact on the defensive line. He was one of the team’s top defenders when it won the national championship in January of 2024 after the 2023 regular season.
Both Graham and McMillan also have credited their participation in multiple sports in high school with the success they’ve had later on. Graham was a two-time Trinity League champion in wrestling. McMillan was one of the top boys volleyball players in his class in Southern California.
The Graham and McMillan selections in the first round also could be a harbinger of similar first round former teammates being selected from talent-laden teams at Mater Dei for 2022, 2023 and last season. And it’s also going to likely be surpassed in the first round of the next MLB Draft in a few months by players from this year’s team at Corona High, which may have three in the first round and two in the top six or seven.
Mark Tennis is the editor and publisher of Cal-Hi Sports. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
