“It’s a unique relationship,” Heupel said. “And it’s been really good for our football team to see somebody at that position that wants to continue to grow and is willing to work through that process, to stay the course.”
Tennessee doesn’t just have a good quarterback room this season, it has a quarterback apartment. Hooker and Milton recently moved in together, which also meant a pairing of Milton’s pit bull and Hooker’s golden doodle puppy.
“I’m waiting for mine to get a little bigger,” Hooker said.
They vacationed together in the offseason in Miami. They call each other’s mothers “Mom.” When they weren’t in the same place in the offseason, Hooker said, they talked on the phone every day. Hooker is the starter, the star, the guy Milton feels responsible to push and get the best out of each day. Milton is the guy biding his time, staying ready, while Hooker urges him to keep refining those skills and getting ready for another shot at the job.
Milton’s also the chef. The quarterbacks had a large group of teammates over for the Fourth of July, with Milton preparing about 50 pieces of fried chicken, dirty rice and his mother’s macaroni recipe. Hooker chipped in with his father’s baked beans, but it’s usually Milton preparing meals.
“I can make some bad spaghetti, man,” said Milton, and while he won’t divulge his entire sauce recipe, he did say he likes to add sugar and pepperoni — with loads of the cheese on one side of the pan for his portion, and no cheese for the dairy-avoiding Hooker.
This after long days together in the weight room, the film room, now on the practice field.
“I don’t think blood could make us any closer,” Hooker said.
Spot on. The second interpretation was how I imagined JM3 saying it if he were just being optimistic. Mainly wanted to gently point out to the poster I replied to that he had chosen the most pessimistic possible interpretation as THE way HH meant it.