Ryan Wagner

He grew up as the oldest of seven children, raised between Pahokee and Orlando, Florida. Three weeks ago he was sitting on another team's practice squad, and on Sunday he will start at quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. His name is Joe Milton III, and he is 26 years old. Somebody once asked him how he had ended up running a locker room that was not supposed to be his, and he did not have to think about the answer. "I'm the oldest of seven. I've been that my whole life. I'm comfortable," he said. He has spent most of the last eight years as somebody's backup. At Michigan he sat behind Shea Patterson for two seasons and threw eleven passes in eight games. He won the job in 2020 and started three games before he lost it to Cade McNamara. So he transferred to Tennessee, where they handed it to him in 2021. He got hurt against Pittsburgh, and by the time he was healthy the job belonged to Hendon Hooker. He stayed where he was and he ran the room anyway, from the backup spot, and the people around him noticed it. In November of 2022 Hooker tore his ACL. Milton started the rest of that season and threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns in the Orange Bowl, beating Clemson 31-14, and they named him the most valuable player of the game. "He didn't shy away from it," offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said, "but he also didn't become fake and change the way he was." Before the following season he signed a deal with Beats by Dre, and he used it to put a pair of headphones on every locker in the building. They retail for 349 dollars. He attached a message to each one. "Through thick and thin we have each other's back. I ride for you because you're my brothers." "I may be the leader on the team, but I'm still being a servant every day," he said. He started all 12 games that fall and threw for 2,813 yards and 20 touchdowns, including an 81 yard touchdown run against UTSA. New England drafted him in the sixth round, 193rd overall, and he went right back to being the third quarterback in the building. In Week 18 of his rookie year they finally gave him a game. He completed 22 of 29 passes for 241 yards, threw a touchdown and ran one in himself, and New England won 23-16. They traded him to Dallas, where he sat behind Dak Prescott and got into four games. This past summer the Cowboys waived him at final cuts and re-signed him to their practice squad. On October 16 the Eagles signed him off it. Jalen Hurts is on injured reserve with blood clots and is not expected back this season. Today Adam Schefter and Mike Garafolo reported that Sunday against the Giants belongs to Milton. He has played in five NFL games, and every single one of them was as a backup. The oldest of seven finally gets a room of his own.