UCLA Football: Josh Rosen says “Football and school don’t go together,” is he wrong?

Shortly after UCLA Football’s junior QB Josh Rosen talked to the media for the first time since his injury, the “Chosen One” made waves with an interesting take on football and school earlier today.

In his first chat with the media last week, UCLA Football‘s Josh Rosen gave very vanilla answers to basic questions about his return to the gridiron. Though they were typical answers you would expect from any QB coming off of a shoulder injury that kept him out of the second half of the previous season, it was different compared to some of his theatrics from last season.

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Even when pressed by a reporter (three times) on whether he is toning down his outspoken ways, Rosen was cool and calm and simply stated that he is just looking to focus on football and this next season with UCLA.

Well it did not take long for the “Chosen One” to give reporters headline material as his Q&A with Bleacher Report came out this morning and lit a powder keg amongst college football fans, especially on social media.

Rosen, who has been very outspoken about several topics, which includes the rights of college athletes, brought down the house today with his comments about football and school. Here is the exerpt from the Bleacher Report article that is getting a lot of attention:

"Look, football and school don’t go together. They just don’t. Trying to do both is like trying to do two full-time jobs. There are guys who have no business being in school, but they’re here because this is the path to the NFL. There’s no other way. Then there’s the other side that says raise the SAT eligibility requirements. OK, raise the SAT requirement at Alabama and see what kind of team they have. You lose athletes and then the product on the field suffers."

That is a whole lot information in just a few words. Though Rosen touched upon several topics through out the article — his injury, NFL scouts, life after football — it was this answer that got the college football-loving world off their feet and got their thumbs into social media.

First off, this is a personal take backed by a person that has first-hand experience. Rosen is an elite talent that works his arse off on the field, along with also trying to navigate through an economics major.

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Second, he talks about players that shouldn’t be in school, which has some truth to it, but he hopes for more from an institute (one of many) that makes money off the work of unpaid student athletes.

He then uses an example of how academic standards could be raised and its affect on a program like Alabama. Things would be very different across the nation.

Sidebar: This statement about Alabama is not an attack on Alabama. It was merely an example of what could happen when things drastically change with an athletically successful program, such as Alabama.

Josh Rosen is not wrong. In his beliefs and his presentation, he is not wrong (although the jury is still out on whether football and school don’t go together). There are a great many things that are wrong about the way college football is given to the masses and he is trying to speak out on them. If he has the platform, he should speak.

Many have stated in a lot of colorful ways, that Rosen should just “shut up and play”. Which is fine. His rhetoric may not be meant for the world of football, but there is a place for it in this world, and that is the important take away.

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Whether you agree with him or not, Rosen is bringing to light uncomfortable truths about football, but do not get him wrong, he loves the game of college football (as he stated several times throughout the Q&A)… he just wants to make it better. Seems fitting for a guy that wants to “own the world”.