Last night we witnessed the coming of age for the NFL's next Superstar quarterback. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was the leader of a miraculous comeback last night as they came from 21-3 down to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 and make it to Super Bowl 56.
With rumours circling that Tom Brady could announce his retirement very soon, there's a chance for a new quarterback to step up and try dominate the next era of football and Joe Burrow could be that guy. Here's a few reasons why we think Joe Burrow could be the new big-time quarterback in the NFL.
1. He's essentially at his hometown team
Burrow moved around a lot as a kid due to his dad, Jimmy Burrow being a college coach. Joe himself was born in Iowa, but also spent time in Nebraska and North Dakota before settling in Athens, Ohio in 2005 when Jimmy became the defensive coordinator for Ohio University.
Joe has always spoken about being an Ohio kid and has even used his platform to speak up on issues in Ohio. When he won the Heisman trophy for the being the best college football player in the nation, he spoke up and raised awareness about the poverty in his native Southeast Ohio.
I still think a lot about @JoeyB using his Heisman platform to note the issue of Southeast Ohio poverty
And how that led to a wave of donations to his hometown's food pantry. It'd be awesome if this Super Bowl berth did the same: https://t.co/GnavkY6EWdhttps://t.co/zZNwyNG8jN pic.twitter.com/hLHXFDGw7i— Tyler Buchanan (@Tylerjoelb) January 31, 2022
And after winning the Heisman he was drafted to the Cincinnati Bengals, which is only a couple of hours away from his hometown of Athens, Ohio. It's as close as you can get to a Roy of the Rovers story in the NFL and it will be incredible if he can go one step further and win the Super Bowl.
Joe Burrow, who attended high school in Athens County, Ohio, just led Cincinnati to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1988 in his second professional season of football. He went to school 150 miles away from where he'd be a future superstar in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/zczJxkK4EO
— Optimus ⛩ (@SubToOptimus) January 30, 2022
2. He's completely turned around the Bengals
It's fair to say the Bengals have had a rough time over the years. They reached the Super Bowl in 1988 where they lost to the legendary Joe Montana's San Francisco 49ers but that was as good as it got for the Bengals over the next 30 years.
They wouldn't get to the playoffs between 1990 and 2005 their 1990 first round win over the Houston Oilers was their last playoff win until two weeks ago when Joe Burrow helped them beat the Las Vegas Raiders in the wildcard round of the 2021 playoffs. To put that into perspective, no one had sent a text message saying the Bengals had won the playoff game until January 2022.
Someone just sent a text message about the Bengals winning a playoff game for the first time in the history of mankind.
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) January 16, 2022
The Bengals have been the laughing stock of the NFL for a very, very long time. Any time they had a star like Carson Palmer, they would be traded out of Cincinnati, looking for success that wasn't going to come with the Bengals.
However, with this playoff run Joe Burrow has put Cincinnati back on the map. Himself along with Ja'Marr Chase have made the Bengals fun again while also being successful. They've been the underdog in every round of the playoffs this year but they have found a way to keep winning and if they win the Super Bowl, it will have to go down as one of the best playoff runs of all time.
3. He's got swagger
Burrow has an air of confidence around him wherever he goes. He never seems to panic on or off the field and his drip id unmatched. His pre-game outfits and his trademark rose-tinted sunglasses have made him a fan favourite across the league and the video of him smoking a cigar after winning the National College Championship with LSU in 2020 has to be one of the coolest videos on the internet.
It was over when Joe Burrow arrived to Kansas City like this. pic.twitter.com/G75FlgLOu0
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) January 30, 2022
This is the greatest video in the history of college football ♨️
(via @LSUfootball)pic.twitter.com/oh6lQhNOTX— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 14, 2020
4. He proved the doubters wrong
It hasn't been all plain-sailing for Joe Burrow during his football career. After becoming a top high school prospect he chose to attend the Ohio State Buckeyes, one of the best programmes in America and still close to his hometown of Athens. However, over his three years with the Buckeyes he would be a back-up and only had 30 pass completions in 2 seasons as he rarely saw the field.
When he realised he was going to have another season as a back-up Burrow decided to transfer school and move away from home to Louisiana State University. At LSU Burrow would be the star of one of the greatest college teams of recent years. The 2020 LSU Tigers went the season unbeaten and won the National Championship.
When he went to the Bengals he also had a tough start to life in the NFL. In his rookie season he tore his ACL and would miss the second half of the season. He had to recover all during the off-season to get back and this season he has been phenomenal.
Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals will play in Super Bowl 56 on Sunday 13th February where they'll face the Los Angeles Rams after the Rams beat the 49ers 20-17 last night. The Bengals will once again be massive underdogs in this match but as we have seen over the past few weeks you can never doubt Joe Burrow.
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