Tennessee Vols QB Joe Milton clarifies controversial comment
Tennessee Vols redshirt senior quarterback Joe Milton generated some headlines earlier this offseason when he said during an interview at the Manning Passing Academy that he doesn't lose in the state of Florida. Milton, who is from Florida, made the comment in reference to beating the Clemson Tigers in the Orange Bowl in Miami last […]
Tennessee Vols redshirt senior quarterback Joe Milton generated some headlines earlier this offseason when he said during an interview at the Manning Passing Academy that he doesn't lose in the state of Florida.
Milton, who is from Florida, made the comment in reference to beating the Clemson Tigers in the Orange Bowl in Miami last year.
Tennessee, however, plays the Florida Gators in Gainesville in 2023. And as you can imagine, that didn't go unnoticed by the internet. Milton's comment instantly became message board fodder for rabid SEC fans.
Florida fans, unsurprisingly, want the Gators to use Milton's comment as bulletin board material.
This week at SEC Media Days in Nashville, Milton made sure to clarify that he didn't mean for the comment to become bulletin board material for Florida. Instead, he was simply showing confidence in himself and his teammates.
The Athletic's Joe Rexrode was granted exclusive access to Tennessee during SEC Media Days (check out his entire story from the day with plenty of behind-the-scenes nuggets). And Rexrode noted that Milton sought out an interview with a Jacksonville radio station to clarify his comments.
“I got to fix that, be a little more detailed on what I meant,” said Milton according to Rexrode. “That wasn’t meant for bulletin boards, that was just about my confidence level in my coaches and my team.”
Milton learned the hard way that comments don't go unnoticed in the SEC. Nearly everything can be used as bulletin board material, which is a big part of what makes the sport so much fun. But it can also give opponents some motivation. And sometimes that motivation can be enough to swing the result of the game.
Of course, the Vols will have plenty of motivation when they head to Gainesville later this fall — especially considering Tennessee hasn't won in the Swamp since 2003.
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Featured image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
