01 Feb GETTING TO KNOW CINCINNATI BENGALS – QUARTERBACK JOE BURROW

FAST FACTS:

Name: Joseph Lee Burrow

Nickname: Joey Franchise

Born: December 10, 1996 (age 25 years), in Ames, IA

Height: 6 ft 4 in

Passing yards: 7,299

Number: 9 (Cincinnati Bengals / Quarterback)

Education: Louisiana State University (2018–2020), The Ohio State

University (2015–2017)

NFL Draft: 2020 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1

Heisman Trophy Winner: 2019

2022 Salary: $3,900,012

Joe Burrow’s father, Jimmy Burrow, was the defensive coordinator for the Ohio University Bobcats for over a decade, and Joe grew up in Athens, Ohio. After a successful career at Athens High School, he went to Ohio State University, where he sat behind Cardale Jones, J.T. Barrett, and Dwayne Haskins. He, however, didn’t get much playing time with the Buckeyes, so he then transferred to LSU.

After leading LSU to a national championship and winning the Heisman Trophy in 2019, Burrow moved back to Ohio when the Bengals selected

him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Now, he’s looking to win a Super Bowl for his home state, which would likely mean just a little more to him than if he were to win one on another team..

How do you define toughness?

I think you define it as when you get knocked down, always getting back up, never staying down. I think leadership is a big part of it, too. I think if you want to be a leader, you have to be tough.

Why do you enjoy the game of chess so much?

Chess is fun. It’s very strategic, and you have to plan all your moves. That kind of calls to me. Football coaches often like to compare football and chess, where both sides deploy competing schemes throughout the course of a game.

You talk a lot about leadership. It’s something you think about, clearly. How much of leadership is preparation, and how much of it is improvised?

I like that question. It’s kind of both. As a leader, you do think about it preemptively because going into every week you have to decide what the team needs to hear, what the team needs to see from their quarterback. A big of part of being a leader is also adapting to different situations that you see and how you respond to those situations. As a quarterback, everybody’s looking at you. If you respond poorly to a situation, then they’re going to respond poorly as well.

Does winning the division title in Cincy mean something special to you?

I would say it means more because I’m from Ohio. I know the history of the Bengals. I know the ownership that we have has taken a lot of heat, but they do a great job and have done a great job building this team. And so, a lot of credit to the Brown family for doing that. They did a great job hiring [head coach] Zac [Taylor]. Couldn’t have asked for a better situation from ownership all the way down.