Naturally, the Boston Media is Asking if the Joe Milton Trade Proves Drake Maye is 'a Diva'

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

As the great Dan Carlin is fond of saying, "History might not always repeat itself, but it rhymes." That's certainly true of the revered, time-honored institution that is the New England sports media. Going back to our grandparents' and great grandparents' generations, the one steady, consistent through-line has always been the philosophy that everything you like is actually terrible. From Ted Williams to last year's Celtics, who no sooner won Banner 18 than the media started pushing the narrative that Jayson Tatum secretly resented Jaylen Brown for winning the Finals MVP, contempt for the people they cover - and the audience - has been the one constant down through the ages. 

So while in a lot of markets, trading a 6th round backup quarterback might not move the needle much:

… around these parts it can only be one thing: A crisis. Proof positive there's Big Trouble in Little Foxboro. A perfect excuse to lapse into panic and hysteria. Not a sign that perhaps Joe Milton might have an inflated opinion of himself after just one game and Mike Vrabel doesn't want a third-stringer with delusions of grandeur around, but something much more ominous. 

The problem has to be Drake Maye. 

Credit where it's due to fans who are used to this approach and wasted no time ratio-ing this post into the Oort Cloud:

Because after eight decades or so of this, you start to notice a pattern. But Felger and Mazz wasn't the only show pushing the same agenda using the exact same language:

Bertrand and Zo changed "diva" to "babying," but the implication is the same:

Credit where it's due to Scott Zolak for recognizing that everyone your QB Room has to know his place. There's a pecking order. A hierarchy. And if Joe Milton thinks he deserves to be the QB1, that's a Joe Milton problem. And thanks to Vrabel not tolerating that nonsense, is now a Dallas Cowboys problem.

But for anyone to suggest that somehow Vrabel's decision to rid himself of a 25 year old rookie who vastly overrates himself somehow proves that Maye is a weak, insecure primadonna who has to be babied is worse than just trolling for clicks. It's straight up character assassination. It's using weasel words and question marks to smear a guy who has literally done nothing since he got here but work his ass off, be a great teammate and have a positive attitude. Who has done nothing less than give the entire fanbase hope for the future. 

Quibble all you want about the return on the Milton trade. Though I'll remind you they got less for Mac Jones, who had 42 career starts at the time of the trade. In fact, they got the 193rd pick for Jones, which they used to draft … Joe Milton. So any notion Milton is unique in all the world, they'll never be able to find another like him, and we'll all live to regret this decision when he goes on to rewrite the record book is laughable. 

Or would be, if anyone was actually arguing it. They're not. They're simply suggestion that Drake Maye is some kind of 2-ply soft wuss with a fragile ego who has to be protected from being in the same building as Milton. Which is actually worse. 

Just as a reminder, if for some reason anyone actually needs one, this is what Drake Maye was able to do as a 22 year old rookie with no wide receiver talent, no offensive line, and Alex Van Pelt calling plays for the first time in 15 years:

And he wasn't doing it against the Buffalo Bills' scrubs who were hoping to hand Milton a W and cost us the No. 1 pick. Question the trade if you must. But don't you dare question who the Alpha is on this team. And put respect in Drake Maye's name when you dare speak it.  Like Highlander, there can be only one.