Barstool Sports founder throws major shade at Vols QB Joe Milton
Tennessee Vols starting quarterback Joe Milton received some added motivation for Saturday night's game against the Florida Gators from an unlikely source this week. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, a Michigan alum, threw some major shade at Milton while making picks for this week's biggest college football games. "Joe Milton stinks," said Portnoy. "He stinks […]
Tennessee Vols starting quarterback Joe Milton received some added motivation for Saturday night's game against the Florida Gators from an unlikely source this week.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, a Michigan alum, threw some major shade at Milton while making picks for this week's biggest college football games.
"Joe Milton stinks," said Portnoy. "He stinks and remember he was my quarterback, Milton tough, we sold the f–ing t-shirts. He stinks."
Portnoy then proceeded to pick Florida to cover the Tennessee -6.5 line.
Here's the video of the segment (H/T GRITknox).
Portnoy is a Michigan man so it's no surprise that he's not high on Milton, who played for the Wolverines from 2018 to 2020 before transferring to Tennessee.
But what Portnoy might not realize is that Milton struggled at Michigan for several reasons beyond accuracy/touch issues.
The offensive coordinator that brought Milton to Michigan, Pep Hamilton, left after his true freshman season. And then Milton, according to ESPN, broke his thumb early in the 2020 season.
Milton, who had surgery after the 2020 season on his thumb, played well at the start of the 2020 season for the Wolverines. The Florida native passed for 869 yards and four touchdowns in his first three games of the 2020 season. He also rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown in those three games. His performance, however, declined rapidly after the injury (which is what tends to happen when a player suffers a significant injury).
I can understand why Portnoy feels the way he does — if you just look at box scores, it's easy to get the wrong idea when it comes to Milton. But there are reasons why Milton hasn't reached his full potential yet. Not everyone's journey is the same and not everything works out perfectly from day one for a quarterback.
Milton's road to get where he's at currently has been a bit bumpy. But he can erase a lot of questions and doubts with a big game against the Gators on Saturday night.
If Milton can become the first Tennessee quarterback since Casey Clausen to deliver a win in the Swamp, he'll be a Vol legend forever.
Story from former Heisman winner shows Josh Heupel is no pushover despite being labeled as a ‘players’ coach’
Story from a former Heisman winner shows that Tennessee Vols HC Josh Heupel is no pushover despite being labeled as a ‘players’ coach’
Featured image via Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
