CHARLOTTE — Some might say this would be a better story if Tetairoa McMillan and Mason Graham had predicted how it would end. There's a version of this story that reads like a fairy tale, an invisible string bringing two high school teammates to the NFL at the same time, destiny at work.
But McMillan will be the first to admit, back then, when the two were both at Servite High School in Southern California, he never saw it happening.
"Naw," he chuckles when asked about the possibility.
But he was lying, though, right?
"No," he reiterates, with a shake of the head.
Servite is a talent-rich school that has produced (including McMillan and Graham) 17 players who went on to the NFL, including former Panthers' players Steve Beuerlein, Ryan Kalil, and Matt Kalil. The Friars won a state ch