Small Town Boy

Chapter 1

“This kid is going to be something special in the years to come.” This is what many of  Joe Burrows coaches, trainers, and even teachers said about him, but he did not know how great he would come to be. Joe Burrow grew up in The Plains in Athens, Ohio which is a small town with some very nice areas, but it also has a high rate of poverty and many areas that are not so nice. Football was in Burrow’s blood. His father had played football at the University of Nebraska, and went on to play in the National Football League (NFL) and Candian Football League (CFL). For 14 years Burrow’s father was the Defensive Coordinator at Ohio University, and his mother was a principal at a local middle school. Burrow had two much older half brothers, Jamie and Dan. Like his father, Jamie also played football at the University of Nebraska as a middle linebacker. 

Joe Burrow played many sports as a child. He was a great basketball and baseball player along with football. He attended Athens High School, a Division 3 school, from 2011-2014. He was a great outside shooter in basketball and stopped playing baseball his sophomore year to focus on playing AAU (Amature Athletic Union) basketball. Burrow may have gotten his basketball talent from his grandmother who he brags scored 82 points in a game during her high school career! While playing high school football, Burrow put up great numbers especially throughout his sophomore to senior seasons. He was a dual-threat quarterback. He could both pass and run the ball efficiently. In his senior season Burrow threw for an incredible average of 278.4 yards per game finishing his high school career with 11,416 total yards and 157 total touchdown passes. Even better, Burrow only threw 17 interceptions in his whole 4 year high school career. He also ran the ball for 2,067 yards on 370 carries scoring 27 rushing  touchdowns during his high school career! Burrow led his high school team to 3 straight playoff appearances, and in 2014 his team made it to the state championship, but unfortunately they suffered a heart breaking 56-54 loss to Central Catholic (Toledo). After this game Burrow’s comment was, “This is the worst day of my life.” At the end of his high school career, Joe Burrow was considered an elite athlete with stats that exceed all the national averages for high school quarterbacks.

Chapter 2

Burrow’s elite status resulted in him receiving many offers from a variety of Division I colleges. These included offers from Central Michigan, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Fresno State, Iowa State, Maryland, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Toledo, West Virginia, and Western Michigan. Despite only being ranked 298 of the 2014 recruiting class in the ESPN 300, a ranking system of high school football players in the nation, Burrow was offered to sign with the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2014. The Buckeyes Offensive Coordinator at the time, Tom Herman, persuaded Head Coach Urban Meyer to offer Burrow a scholarship. Burrow chose to sign with the Buckeyes because he said it was the “best” team that was recruiting him. However, Burrow knew that the Buckeyes already had 3 stellar quarterbacks: Cardale Jones, Braxton Miller, and J.T Barrett. 

Burrow attended The Ohio State University for 3 years, but never got a chance to start as a Buckeye quarterback. He ran the scout quarterback position during his time at OSU which undoubtedly helped Ohio State prepare for the season. Unfortunately during the camp of his second year Burrow broke his right thumb. This took away his shot at becoming the 2018 Buckeyes starting quarterback. Burrow then decided that instead of spending another year on the bench, he would transfer schools. 

Fortunately, Burrow had two dozen schools interested in him including Georgia, Alabama, and Michigan, LSU, and Cincinnati to name a few. He was seriously considering becoming a Cincinnati Bearcat because he already knew the head coach, Luke Fickell, who was the former Defensive Coordinator for the Buckeyes. However, a visit to Louisiana State University (LSU) changed that. Burrow was won over by Coach Ed Orgeron, who’s known as one of the sports best recruiters. Burrow knew he wanted to play football at the highest level so he chose to transfer to Louisiana State University. In 2018, Burrow won the starting quarterback position for LSU and led the team through a successful season ending 10-3. He played with this elite team for 2 years and had a lot of success. Burrow had a passing completion percentage of 67% during the 2018 season with LSU averaging 291.5 yards per game; and he threw 10 touchdown passes and only 1 interception the whole season. 

After seeing Burrow’s amazing performance, Coach Ed Orgeron decided to change up LSU’s play style in 2019. In this season LSU ran a shotgun-based, no-huddle spread offense to speed up the defense and get the snap off before they were in position. This was a great success. Burrow also had a lot of help on the team, he had Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Thaddeus Moss, and a great offensive line to protect him in the pocket. The LSU Tigers finished with a perfect 15-0 record in the 2019 season. LSU won the SEC conference this year and won the College Football Playoffs defeating Clemson 42-25. Joe Burrow got a lot of recognition from this season putting up astonishing numbers for the Tigers. He threw for 5,671 yards with a completion percentage of 76.3% and 60 touchdown passes in the season with only 6 interceptions. With these accomplishments Burrow was nominated for the Heisman along with Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert. After days of discussion, debates, and analyzing stats, Joe Burrow was chosen to be the 2019 Heisman trophy winner. 

Chapter 3

April 23, 2020 was a huge day for the Cincinnati Bengals and Joe Burrow because it was the day that he went number one in the National Football League (NFL) draft overall to the Bengals. Burrow received a call from the Bengals offering him a $36.19 million dollar, four year contract, and Burrow accepted the deal. Moments later the Bengals called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to tell him they had acquired Burrow. Across the nation it was announced, “With the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals select… Joe Burrow.” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the draft was held virtually so Burrow was at home in The Plains with his family for the announcement. Burrows' family said that a few days after he was drafted, he locked himself in the basement for several hours a day to study the Bengals playbook and to practice calling plays and their cadence, or verbal signals. 

After 5 months, Joe Burrow and the Bengals were prepared for their opening preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that game and eventually the rest of the preseason games were cancelled. This delay gave the Bengals more time to prepare for the regular season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers which was scheduled on September 30. In Burrow's first NFL start, he threw for 193 yards against the Chargers and got his first NFL touchdown rushing 23 yards untouched into the endzone. In week 7 of the NFL season Burrow had his best game against the Cleveland Browns. Burrow threw for 403 yards completing 74.5% of his passes, and throwing 3 touchdowns with only 1 interception. Overall, the season was going well for Burrow. In week 11 the Bengals had a tough matchup against the Washington Football Team. Washington has one of the best pass rushing teams in the NFL and Chase Young, the rookie Defensive End is a dominant performer at his position. Throughout the entire game the Bengals had trouble stopping Chase from getting into the backfield to Burrow. Unfortunately, early in the third quarter, Chase Young rushed off of the right side and put pressure on Burrow forcing him to step up in the pocket where Burrow took a nasty hit to the left knee. Burrow went down, and after several minutes he was carted off the field.  It was announced later that Burrow had torn his MCL and ACL, a season ending injury. While Burrow was being carted off the field he said, “Thanks for all the love. Can’t get rid of me that easy. See ya next year.” On December 3rd, 2020 Burrow underwent a successful surgery to repair his injuries and is expected to return as the Bengals starting quarterback for the 2021 season. 

Chapter 4

Over the past 3 years Joe Burrow has become a recognized name among the football community, and has used this recognition to give back to Athens County where he was raised. This began with his acceptance speech when he was awarded the Heisman trophy. Burrow thanked his community and informed the audience of how the community he grew up in struggled with poverty. Because of Burrow’s comments in this speech, more than $350,000 was donated to the food pantry in his hometown. Also, for every touchdown that the Ohio Bobcats scored that season, which is where Burrow’s father coached, money was also given to the community food bank. Despite all of his fame, Joe Burrow is still a humble, unassuming, hilarious small town boy who loves Spongebob Squarepants.

Works Cited

Illustrated, Sports. Joe Burrow's Heisman Speech Raises Over $350K for Ohio Food Pantry. 2019.
ESPN Website Baby, Ben. Joe Burrow NFL Stats. .
Ohio Bobcats Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator, Tim Albin, Burrow family friend
Dellenger, Ross. Eyes on the Tiger. 2019.