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According to a 2024 study, 83 percent of Gen Z participants reported that they have an unhealthy relationship with their cell phone. As it turns out, that may well include a college football quarterback who could lose their starting job due to a reported phone addiction.
Josh Pate of On3 Sports recently revealed that a coaches he spoke with at an unnamed Power 4 college football program are concerned that their starting QB battle could well be determined by the phone habits of one of the players.
Legit feedback from a CFB staff…phone addiction is affecting their QB1 battle pic.twitter.com/Ps0pK4xH9D
— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) August 11, 2025
“We are aware of one Power 4 quarterback race right now, where there is legit competition, and one of the staff’s biggest complaints about one of those quarterbacks, who legitimately could win a starting Power 4 job, is ‘we can’t even keep him off his phone,'” Pate said. “And they’re not talking about in the dorm at night, that’s fine. Do that. Stay out of trouble.
“They’re talking about in the building, in meetings, in installs, and whatnot. Like, legit addiction.”
Phone Addiction Is A Serious Problem, Especially Among Gen Z
A 2024 study by BePresent showed that 76 percent of respondents believe they spent “too much” time on their phone. Eighty percent of respondents said they spent three or more hours on their phone and the average amount of screen time was five hours.
And it’s not easy to quit!
The study showed that 74 percent of people who claim they have tried to reduce their screen time struggle to do so.
The problem only gets worse among younger generations.
Gen Z, which is the first generation to grow up essentially entirely online, “reported much higher rates of compulsive phone usage and negative health effects on their mental health and productivity.”
Over 80 percent of respondents in Gen Z believe they have an unhealthy relationship with their phone, compared to 74 percent for other generations. Twenty percent of Gen Z spends over eight hours on their phones, compared to 10 percent for other generations, and 66 percent of Gen Z loses sleep due to their phones, compared to 46 percent other generations.
So yes, it may seem silly to you that an athlete is risking their career due to phone addiction. But it’s a serious problem that needs to be addressed.