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For reasons that remain unclear — aside from laziness — many draftniks have decided to dub ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ receiver Tetairoa McMillan “Tet.â€�

Having covered McMillan for about three years, I don’t remember anyone calling him that. Usually he’s T-Mac. Sometimes just “T.� He also goes by Nalo. Tet? Never.

Just to be sure, I asked McMillan’s BFF, Noah Fifita, if he’d ever called McMillan by that name or heard anyone else use it. Nope.

So what should we make of this Tet offensive?

Here’s what it says to me: Whoever’s calling Tetairoa McMillan by that name doesn’t know who he is. And the pervasive use of this mistaken moniker symbolizes the misconceptions about McMillan that are running rampant across the internet and social media heading into the April 24-26 draft.

I’m not going to proclaim that T-Mac and I are best buds. McMillan did only a handful of media interviews during his three seasons here, and they were all in group settings.

But for the purpose of pushing back against the nonsensical narratives that have emerged lately — that he’s not a top-10 player in this draft, that he isn’t the best pure receiver available, that he can’t separate, that he doesn’t love football — I spoke to a handful of people who’ve spent a lot of time around T-Mac.

One is a former staff member at ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ who’s now at Washington. The others are current UA head coach Brent Brennan and general manager Gaizka Crowley.

All agreed that McMillan has been misjudged, that his athleticism has been underrated, that his work ethic has been underestimated and that his intelligence has been overlooked.

‘Rarest combination’

Let’s tackle those one by one. The former staffer said McMillan is the most impressive athlete he’s seen in person aside from Randy Moss. McMillan isn’t a blazer like Moss or Calvin Johnson — the big-receiver unicorns who could run by anybody. But at 6-4, 219 pounds, McMillan is smooth, fluid and flexible. He isn’t N’Keal Harry 2.0. More like Mike Evans or Drake London.

“He’s the rarest combination of size and ability to create separation and finish that I’ve been around,� said Brennan, who has coached multiple NFL receivers and tight ends. “He can play the ball off his feet if he has to. He can create space vs. man coverage. He’s big and strong enough to break tackles.

“Normally guys that are built like that cannot change directions and make people miss and don’t display the suddenness that he does.�

Like many projected first-rounders, McMillan did not run a 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. He did run at a private workout for NFL teams on the UA campus. Recorded times ranged from 4.48 to 4.53 seconds — plenty good enough for a receiver his size.

“Because he’s so long, he plays faster than the time,� Crowley said. “He eats up so much ground because he’s a long strider. Watch the tape. Look at how many guys he pulls away from.�

I don’t recall many instances, if any, where McMillan was caught from behind. I do recall multiple spectacular catches made in practices and games — contested one-handers, tiptoe grabs along the sideline, effortless jump-ball wins.

You’ve undoubtedly seen a lot of that yourself. McMillan’s makeup isn’t as easily decipherable in highlights or even media interviews.

He’s different than many alpha receivers. McMillan grew up in Hawaii before moving to Southern California. He has that chill, Marcus Mariota vibe — which would be a bigger concern if McMillan were a quarterback.

“He’s not a self-promoter,� Crowley said. “He doesn’t tweet himself watching film. He doesn’t tweet himself working out.�

The former staffer said he’s told scouts that some old-school football men might be turned off by McMillan’s personality. They shouldn’t be. The staffer described McMillan as a fierce competitor, a loyal teammate and a “fully invested� player.

A video recently made the rounds that suggested otherwise. It was part of a short-lived series called “OFF SZN� by a YouTuber who has 407 subscribers. In , which was published April 11, 2023, McMillan says: “I don’t watch football. I don’t like watching film either.�

You can understand why this . But it’s been presented with zero context — in particular the fact that it’s from two years ago, when McMillan was just over a year out of high school. This might be hard to believe, but young people tend to mature a lot while in college. That’s kind of the idea.

Here’s what Brennan had to say about McMillan’s study habits: “He spent more time with Coach (Bobby) Wade, his position coach, just watching film, getting extra work, than any other player besides Noah. He was with Bobby all the time. He devoured film.�

If you’re still not convinced, consider the way McMillan approached last season — which he easily could have spent elsewhere for “way more money,� Crowley said.

After suffering a lower leg injury toward the end of spring camp, McMillan could have opted out altogether to prepare for the 2025 draft. There were plenty of rumors to that effect. It wouldn’t have been unprecedented.

Yet there he was during training camp, running countless sprints up and down the sidelines while his teammates practiced football. Rehab is not fun. It’s really not fun when it’s 100-plus degrees. McMillan worked his butt off to get back. Then he played in all 12 games for a team that finished 4-8. Is that the behavior of someone who isn’t that into football?

“He came to work every day,â€� ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ safeties coach Brett Arce said during a recent post-practice news conference. “We obviously had our struggles, but that dude came and showed up and played. In an era where you see guys maybe sitting out, forgoing stuff to just focus on the draft, that guy was all about the team.

“To me, actions speak louder than words. So when anybody asks me, I just say look at his actions.�

Still not convinced? How ’bout this: Brennan said McMillan never missed anything — a class, an academic appointment, a treatment, a weightlifting session, a meeting.

One time, one of Brennan’s former players, James Jones, came to the UA campus with his kids and wanted to meet McMillan, who’d already left and gone home.

“T-Mac’s like, ‘Keep him there.’ And he drove back here,� Brennan said. “He’s that kind of guy.�

Filling the void

The biggest criticism I’ve seen from the scouting community resurfaced this week. that McMillan was guilty of “not running routes full speed.�

Hmm. Well, first of all, McMillan was coached to vary his tempo to set up defensive backs. Second, he seldom, if ever, came off the field.

, 18 college receivers ran at least 450 pass routes last season. McMillan ranked fourth in that group in terms of the percentage of routes run per total team offensive snaps at 57%. Texas’ Matthew Golden, the receiver who has surpassed McMillan in some mock drafts, was last at 40.1%.

So yeah, McMillan might have been fatigued at times. Also, , McMillan had to break off his routes to run “scramble drillsâ€� an inordinate number of times in ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s dysfunctional 2024 offense. That could have been a factor, too.

Finally, let’s talk about McMillan’s football instincts and intelligence. As colleague Justin Spears reported, McMillan scored extremely high on the AIQ (Athletic Intelligence Quotient) test at the Combine. The former UA staffer said McMillan had a photographic memory and knew where every other player was on the field and what they were doing.

Brennan, a former receiver, said he was “consistently impressed� with the questions McMillan would ask.

“It wasn’t like, ‘What do I have on this play?’� Brennan said. “It was a way bigger understanding of the whole picture than most wideouts I’ve ever coached.�

So, in sum, McMillan is an elite athlete with a proven work ethic and a sublime feel for the game who also happens to be 6-4 and who broke the UA receiving-yards record in three seasons. So what’s the problem here? Why so much negativity?

It’s draft season. Every prospect gets picked apart. And, as Crowley noted, it’s easier to fill the content void with criticism.

“This time of the year ... football is kind of revved down,� Crowley said. “People need to figure out ways to fill podcasts and articles and shows. Those guys have the right to do that, obviously. But just tweeting about how great everybody is is probably not going to get traction.�

You hear that, haters? Stop with the nonsense.

Stop trying to make Tet happen.