Jalen Milroe tells how he dealt with negative comments made about him at Alabama

Dec 31, 2024; Tampa, FL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) drops back to pass against the Michigan Wolverines in the first quarter during the ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Jalen Milroe had to deal with his fair share of negative comments when he was the starting quarterback at Alabama.

Milroe, who started at quarterback for the Tide in 2023 and 2024, experienced highs and lows as a college starter. He recently opened up about how he dealt with hearing negative things said about him when he was QB1 in Tuscaloosa, while speaking to student-athletes at the 2026 Castille Character Camp.

“It was hard,” Milroe said. “ESPN playing, you got your alerts on your phone, and you go in the training room, you see your face. You see your face, and they’re talking negative about you, right? You see they talk negative about you. Of course everybody sees it. You walking in the facility, all they talking about is how bad you are. You gotta look at your teammates in your face when you go in the huddle, right? Or you go out to eat. People talking crazy about you, right? Whether it’s social media, whether it’s in your face, whether it’s to your family. Now my family gotta bear it when they at the games, and you never see me complain. You ain’t never see me go on social media complain. You ain’t never see me go on— go out and about say I hate Alabama. You ain’t never see me say that. If you fill a water bottle up at the very top, at some point it’s gonna spill. That’s how our emotions are, right? If you don’t talk about it to somebody, at some point you gonna lash out on somebody. Or at some point you don’t know how to cope with when something is bothering you, right? And so I’ll say that without a relationship with God, you have no direction with your life.”

Milroe was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He was the Seahawks’ backup quarterback on their road to a Super Bowl victory for the franchise last season.