Bijan Robinson said the first person to reach out after news of his contract extension with the Atlanta Falcons was actor Matthew McConaughey, not a teammate or family member. Robinson told reporters McConaughey texted him within minutes of the announcement, with the initial alert arriving around 7:56 a.m. and the actor’s message coming by 7:58 a.m.
Robinson described a flood of congratulatory messages after the Falcons announced his three-year extension, which is worth up to $75 million, but singled out McConaughey for being one of the earliest to respond. “A lot of awesome, really cool people texted me, but it was cool to see him, as soon as it hit, like, he was the first one,” Robinson said.
The connection between Robinson and McConaughey dates to Robinson’s time at Texas. The Falcons shared Robinson’s comments alongside a photo taken during his campus visit to Austin when he was a recruit, and the organization noted the two have developed a friendship.
Robinson and McConaughey began cultivating that relationship during Robinson’s final collegiate season in 2022. Robinson has publicly expressed interest in pursuing acting after his football career, and the pair have remained in contact since their initial meetings at Texas.
For the foreseeable future, Robinson remains focused on football. The running back will continue playing for the Falcons under the new deal, which provides substantially more compensation than the contract he carried last week.
