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Josh Rosen's willingness to speak his mind has alienated some NFL scouts and pundits.
- Josh Rosen says his goal right now is to be the best NFL quarterback he can be.
- Some scouts and pundits have said Rosen is too opinionated and has too many outside interests to be an NFL quarterback.
- Rosen says he understands there is a time and place for speaking his mind, but ultimately that he wi lll not just "shut up and throw."
One of the biggest lightning rods in this year's NFL Draft is UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen, who is seen by some NFL scouts and commentators as being too opinionated - or too much of a millennial, in the words of his former coach - to be a franchise quarterback.
But in a recent interview for for ESPN the Magazine, Rosen pushed back against that notion, saying, " Right now, I want to be the best QB that I possibly f---ing can be. When the NFL decides I suck, I want to be the absolute best at the next thing in my life."
Rosen has certainly not been shy about speaking his mind during his college career, on subjects such as Donald Trump and the current college athletics amateur system. It's admirable, but not a mindset that's likely to mesh with a league where Colin Kaepernick is still unsigned because he protested police brutality and systemic racism.
Rosen, for his part, acknowledges that it might not be prudent to always be speaking his mind, saying, "You might not want to speak against the president in the playoffs or before you have a starting job on a team and actually have a voice."
Still, to the commentators who believe athletes should just "shut up and dribble", Rosen says, "I'm sorry, you're not winning this one. You won't successfully get people to stop caring for other people. Not happening . . .Athletes have a platform. It'd be selfish to shut up and throw, get paid, go to the Bahamas."
As for what Rosen might use his platform for, he specifically mentioned the environment.
"It touches everything. I mean, the war in Syria started because of the drought and famine that destabilized the country and led the population to revolt against the government. I know global warming is a partisan issue for some stupid reason, but it touches everything."
You can find more of Rosen's thoughts on Elon Musk, movies, and religion by checking out the full interview here.