Joe Milton shoots down rumors he can throw a football 100 yards

For rookie quarterback Joe Milton, arm strength is the name of his game. There’s never been any doubt about that, going back to his time in college, and it’s even been rumored that he can throw a football 100 yards.

While Milton’s arm strength is incredibly impressive, he did recently shoot down the rumor that he can throw a ball the length of a football field.

“Here, y’all are gonna hate me for this answer,” Joe Milton said. “Here? The furthest I’ve probably thrown here was what? 60 [yards]?”

Joe Milton also joked that, since he got to New England, he hasn’t thrown a football all that far. Simply put, for now, the focus isn’t on showing off his arm strength while at practice. In fact, he rarely ever just tests out how far he can throw the ball, like in a distance competition.

“In general, last time I had like a distance competition, was when I was 16 and that was high school,” Milton joked. “I won that by a long shot, but that was like my young days. That was only like 75 yards. That wasn’t nothing…yeah, that was only 75.”

Given that Milton was capable of that kind of throw as a high school student, it stands to reason that he could throw a decent bit further now that he’s an NFL quarterback. However, whether he was being humble or honest, Milton shot down the idea that he was currently capable of doing that sort of thing.

“I ain’t gonna play around with myself like that too much,” Milton said with a smile. “I wouldn’t say 100. Not yet. I’ve got to work in the weight room a little bit more.”

Along with Drake Maye, Joe Milton is one of two quarterbacks the Patriots drafted this year. They join Jacoby Brissett and Bailey Zappe this offseason, though not all four are expected to still be on the roster by the time the regular season starts.

Eliot Wolf explained why the Patriots drafted Joe Milton

Eliot Wolf is the New England Patriots executive who was in charge of the NFL Draft. A key piece of that draft was rebuilding the team’s struggling offense. That started with taking Drake Maye in the first round, to be the future franchise quarterback.

Because of that pick, Joe Milton wasn’t a player at a position of need. However, Eliot Wolf felt he had too much raw talent to ignore.

“It was just one of those picks where there was too much talent in him to pass that up,” Wolf said.

Joe Milton ended up being taken in the sixth round. He is likely going to be seen as a player who will take some time to develop into his full potential.