When it comes to SEC football, fans say “it just means more.”
But for former Auburn quarterback Bo Nix, SEC fandom may have been too much pressure for him to handle.
During an appearance on the Ryen Rusillo podcast, Nix was asked what the biggest difference was between playing for his home-state Auburn Tigers and heading out West to play for Oregon.
His answer was surprising:
Bo Nix with some very interesting comments regarding the Auburn Tigers fanbase 👀🫢
Thoughts?
(video via @rusillopod Tik Tok) pic.twitter.com/4WfqS1xYci
— SEC Unfiltered (@SECUnfiltered) April 1, 2024
“In a sense the hostility and maybe the unhealthy pressure that is added to 18-22 year-olds by outside noise and fans, it’s almost like an unhealthy obsession in the South,” Nix said. “I was that way growing up, I thought football was life or death.
“And you move out here and you play the game as hard as you can and you got great passion for the game, it’s just a little bit more laid back in a way and it’s a lot more like ‘we’re proud of the person you are out there on the field and if you give great effort and you try really hard’, obviously we’re out there to win. Nobody goes out there to lose and look bad in front of a bunch of people, but I think that’s the difference quite frankly is the what is put into college football in the South and out here football is just a game and we find the joy in it.”
Nix had an up-and-down three-year Auburn career that bottomed out at the end of 2021 when he was injured.
He elected to leave Auburn, where his father was a star quarterback, and head out West to play for Oregon.
Under an immense amount of scrutiny at Auburn largely due to his last name, Nix was never able to become the quarterback he wanted to be in the SEC.
But while at Oregon, Nix turned his career around under head coach Dan Lanning and was able to become a Heisman finalist this past season.
Now, Nix turns his focus to the NFL Draft at the end of April where he is poised to be picked among the first three rounds.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP
