When the Dallas Cowboys acquired 25-year-old Joe Milton III in April, sending a fifth-round draft pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for the raw but wildly athletic backup quarterback, they knew he came with some baggage.
At least, Milton came with baggage according to the New England media, who lashed out at the rookie signal-caller as “entitled” and “not a good dude” — mainly, it appeared, due to reports that Milton believed he should be allowed to compete with the Patriots’ other 2024 rookie QB, Drake Maye, for the starting quarterback job.
The Patriots made Maye, a former North Carolina Tar Heel, the No. 3 overall draft pick in 2024, while Milton was a sixth-round afterthought, so the chances that the Patriots would allow Milton to go head-to-head with Maye were minimal at best.
Milton Has Been Model Citizen in Dallas
Whatever the merits of the allegations over Milton’s character, the Cowboys were aware of them, and of the potential pressure Milton could put on incumbent starter Dak Prescott who is attempting a comeback from his serious hamstring injury last year.
Milton has been a model citizen and offered nothing but praise for Prescott, giving no hint that he believes he should be in competition with the nine-year veteran for the No. 1 quarterback role.
But on Wednesday, Milton took to his Instagram account to make an explosive allegation against one of his own Cowboys teammates, and though Milton may have indicated that he made the comment with a sense of humor, it reopens a dark, three-year-old scandal from the college careers of both players.
After Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Brooks, a former South Carolina Gamecock who was a Dallas seventh-round pick in 2023, posted a video of himself in action on his own IG account, Milton reposted the video with the comment, in bold letters, “Yall cheated mane.”
Why Milton Accuses Brooks of Cheating
What did Milton mean by accusing Brooks of having “cheated?” The allegation goes back to a sign-stealing scandal in 2023 that primarily involved the University of Michigan. But according to some unverified rumors, the Michigan employee accused of stealing signs may have passed his information on to other teams, to help them win games that would benefit Michigan’s College Football Playoff bid.
One of those teams, the rumors would have it, was South Carolina. On November 19, 2022, the Gamecocks hosted the Tennessee Volunteers, the school where Milton was then backing up quarterback Hendon Hooker (now a backup QB for the Detroit Lions).
Though the Vols came into the game with a 9-1 record and an excellent shot at a playoff berth, South Carolina’s quarterback Spencer Rattler put up the best performance of his college career, throwing for six touchdowns and 438 yards as South Carolina tallied 68 points.
Tennessee scored 38 of their own, a more than respectable total, but the humiliating loss knocked the Volunteers out of playoff contention. Since then, rumors have circulated mainly online that Rattler and the Gamecocks knew Tennessee’s defensive play-calls in advance, thanks to the sign-stealing operations.
However, no player for either team had ever spoken out publicly to accuse South Carolina of cheating in the game — until now. Despite adding four “laughing” emojis to his comments directed at Brooks, Milton is the first player who took part in the game to level the cheating allegation in a public forum.
The rumors that South Carolina knew Tennessee’s signals has never been substantiated.
Hooker started the 2022 game for Tennessee, but suffered a severe knee injury in the fourth quarter, Milton took over and completed four of eight passes for 108 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions. He also carried the ball twice, gaining 17 yards.
