Kevin Kolb and 8-hour tattoos: It’s been an offseason for Cardinals rookie Max Melton

GLENDALE — Arizona Cardinals rookie cornerback Max Melton’s offseason was one for the books.

The second-round pick bought a car, got a new house, flew out his parents and of course, dove into the playbook and prepared himself for the work ahead that is training camp.

He also got a crash course on a former Cardinals quarterback. And we’re not talking Carson Palmer or Kurt Warner.

Reporting to camp on Tuesday, Melton donned a white Kevin Kolb jersey. Let’s just say it didn’t take long for people to notice.

“I was getting a lot of backlash for that one. … I got it from Goodwill. It is what it is. I wanted a throwback jersey and coincidentally I was just shopping at the thrift store Goodwill. I didn’t even know who Kevin Kolb was at the time, so really the media let me know. … I liked it. I would wear it. It is what it is.”

“I was getting a lot of backlash for that one, bro.” 🤣

Arizona Cardinals rookie CB Max Melton dives into his throwback Kevin Kolb jersey purchase from Goodwill that had a whole lot of people talking. pic.twitter.com/0AWuDZqbOv

— Cardinals Corner (@AZCardsCorner) July 24, 2024

To refresh the brain a bit:

Kolb was traded to Arizona in 2011 in a deal that shipped cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and draft capital to the Philadelphia Eagles.

As part of the trade, Kolb inked a five-year, $63.5 million contract with $21 million guaranteed.

The pairing between Kolb and the Cardinals organization wouldn’t last longer than two years, however, with the quarterback struggling through injuries and inconsistent play.

Instead, Kolb posted a 6-8 behind 3,124 yards and 17 touchdowns on 58.5% passing before his release in 2013.

So yeah, Melton was bound to get some questions there.

More ink than a squid

Before the Kolb conundrum, Melton’s offseason had another twist in the form of some new tattoos that took a lot of time and quite a few extra hands to complete.

Did we mention he was knocked out for them, too?

Among Arizona Cardinals rookie CB Max “Malachi” Melton’s offseason activities was an eight-hour tattoo session where he was put under.

He said he had five different tattoo artists working on his new ink. pic.twitter.com/YvNBQdx9Vw

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) July 24, 2024

“I went to Ortega out of Glendale and I got put to sleep for my tat,” Melton said. “I went under anesthesia for eight hours and I had five tattoo artists working on me at one time.”

“I got a whole New Jersey sleeve. I got the throwback Rutgers logo, the ‘Welcome to New Jersey’ sign, two streets that I grew up on and Exit 12 — that’s where you get off for my city. They all got meaning,” he added. “My real name’s Malachi, that means ‘messenger of Jesus Christ’ in biblical terms and I got an angel with a message bottle coming from heaven. That’s just one sleeve.”

As for how the cornerback was feeling after getting worked on for that long?

“I was looking at it in the mirror for like five hours,” Melton said. “After it wore off, I’d say like a whole 18 hours later and that’s when you start feeling it. Waking up 2 a.m. and your whole body itch. It was a process.”

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