Josh Rosen to "deal with consequences" for a rational, well-spoken interview

UCLA head coach Jim Mora says Josh Rosen will have to deal with the consequences of his comments. https://t.co/LZGmzI7r6h

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 9, 2017

UCLA's junior quarterback Josh Rosen did an awesome Q&A with Bleacher Report that stuck out to me as great because of Rosen's level headed honesty, and the accurate description of his polarizing career as a Bruin. My expectations for Josh Rosen in 2017 change everyday; I can't get a good read on him. That of course is largely due to the fact that he was out for the majority of last season with a shoulder injury. He claims it's 100% now, but the looming question is if he has the consistency of a top tier QB. He had a great freshman year, but everyone seems to have mixed reviews on the California Native.

The part of Rosen's Q&A that has been gaining the most attention, "Football and school don't go together. They just don't" is an honest answer that would only upset chumps wearing grumpy pants. Rosen goes on to explain the football/academics balance is equal to two full-time jobs. Even Cardale Jones, who was highly criticized for this tweet from 2012:

weighed in on the current Rosen situation by telling the Bruin quarterback to "Chill bro, play school."

First of all, I think it's ludicrous that Cardale Jones ever had to apologize for his statement from a few years ago, and this is something Josh Rosen does a great job discussing during his Bleacher Report interview. Rosen pointed out, "There are guys who have no business being in school, but they're here because this is the path to the NFL." That's not knocking certain guys, not calling them stupid, nor is it Rosen making an arrogant claim regarding his intelligence compared to other college football players. What that statement is, is the truth. And that's why the NCAA pay-for-play debate is so cyclical; a large number of these elite recruits have no intention of gaining an education. For many, many players, college sports are merely a stepping stone to the professional level. 

That's what Ohio State was for Cardale Jones, and he was just being honest. If Jones had the option to play football at any Ivy League school, he still would have chosen Ohio State because the Buckeyes are one of the best football programs in the country, thus making an easier path to the NFL. Anyone who is critical of NCAA athletes "taking advantage of the education system" can take a tumble off of their high horse. Do students enroll at Ohio State because they want to see Cardale Jones and Ezekiel Elliot excel in the classroom and get a diploma? No. The one connection to your enrollment in that school and the school's student-athletes is you get to watch these guys tear it up on the field. 

Such a large amount of players utilize college sports as a scouting tool to get to the pros, and that's completely fine because (especially in football) there is a lack of other options. Rosen was simply pointing that out, while also explaining that his personal plan involved properly utilizing a UCLA education in case his future is not defined by football.

Some people were also a little upset about Rosen saying, "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." If you think that's invalid, you're delusional. This is not to say that any successful football program doesn't have smart guys on the roster. And I'm not saying good athletes are dumb/smart people are bad athletes. It's simply a numbers game: if your school is easier to get into, more people will be eligible to play there whether they intellectually are Einstein or Peter Griffin. If your school is hard to get into, there will be plenty of players good enough to be on the team, but they don't quite meet the academic standards. Therefore, you might not be as good on the field, since you had to deny some great athletes the opportunity. Just ask the 4-8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Once again, Rosen is simply speaking the truth, not being a hazard.

Rosen goes on to talk about his potential future as a businessman, his confusion about NFL scout's negative reviews of him, and just overall uses his status as a platform to state his beliefs. As we've seen in football recently, players publicly taking a stand on certain issues can lead to endless debate and difficult discussions to be had. But a college quarterback publicly saying it's hard for student-athletes to balance both aspects of their identity? Come on, these are some really shallow waters we're in, everyone needs to stop freaking out because the kid said what was on his mind. It could have been a lot worse.

Rosen's punishment for his outspokenness won't result in suspension or really anything that will affect college football fans. Apparently, UCLA coach Jim Mora simply had a talk with the QB about how speaking your mind can cause controversy, lead to controversy, blah blah blah. Rosen is a smart kid, so although he's very forthright, his answers to questions are well-calculated as opposed to arrogant verbal vomit. At the end of the day, I can't really find anything in what Rosen said to be dangerous whatsoever. There will always be people out there who will be outraged at someone's public thoughts, and that's the consequence Rosen will have to face. It will be a pain in the neck for him, that's for sure. But the fact that people act like they are legitimately concerned with college football players' academics is something that will always exist and I will never get over it. I'm here to watch the product on the field, you're here to watch the product on the field, and if you say otherwise you're a liar.