Joe Milton explains his lifelong Patriots fandom

Former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joe Milton was selected in the sixth round by the New England Patriots, meaning that he’d be able to play for the team he grew up rooting for.

Recently, Milton explained how he became a lifelong Patriots fan living in South Florida, where it would make more sense to root for someone else, like the Miami Dolphins.

“So, my mom’s boyfriend at the time when I was like eight, he was always watching the Patriots,” Joe Milton said. “I used to always be outside playing football, but every time I’d come in the house, he’d have the Patriots on. So, I just started following along and sitting on the couch watching TV with him, and every time Tom Brady was playing, I was watching.”

Joe Milton’s childhood was a good time to grow up rooting for the Patriots and Tom Brady. He was born in 2000, the same year Brady was drafted. That means the first run of Super Bowls he was probably a little young to remember. However, the undefeated regular season in 2007 and everything that came after it was certainly in play.

“So, it kind of like grew on me, and then just where I’m originally from in South Florida, in Pahokee, our colors were red, white, and blue. So, it was something that was originally in me,” Milton concluded.

Despite that Patriots fandom and growing up watching Brady, that wasn’t why he chose to originally go to Michigan. Instead, he says he went there for the education and to play in the snow. He would, of course, later transfer to Tennessee.

Interestingly, Joe Milton and Tom Brady do share the connection of being sixth-round picks of the Patriots, with Brady going 199th and Milton going 193rd. They also both enter a team with a different quarterback, Drake Maye and Drew Bledsoe respectively, expected to lead the team moving forward.

Joe Milton says Tennessee set him up for the next level

Joe Milton believes that going to Tennessee was key to his development and getting ready for the next level.

“Tennessee, you learn how to grow fast. We kind of had the same schedule as we have it here. Do everything in the morning and then your whole afternoon you’d be off, other than the rookie player development meetings, but other than that Tennessee, they set you up for the NFL,” Milton said.

“Just the time off, how you manage your time, how you take care of your body, the way that you study, you have to be ready for it because at Tennessee we ran a fast-paced offense. You have to understand where guys are going and what they’re doing. So, same thing as here. You have to understand where guys are going and be able to say it in the huddle.”