The streets of Cincinnati will run red with Skyline Chili after Super Bowl LVI, with many hoping it’s in celebration of Joe Burrow bringing home the town’s first-ever NFL Championship. Joe and the rest of the Cincinnati Bengals will take on the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13. The game is the Bengals’ first Super Bowl appearance in 33 years, with their last trip to the Big Game being a loss to the San Francisco 49ers in 1989’s Super Bowl XXII. The Rams are the slight favorite going into this game, but if anyone can pull out a victory while defying the odds, it’s Joe Burrow. Here’s what you need to know.
1. Joe Burrow Is A Professional Football Player.
Born Joseph Lee Burrow on Dec. 10, 1996, this Ames, Iowa native grew up around the sport of football. He redshirted his first year at Ohio State and played in 10 games over two years. In 2018, Joe transferred to Louisiana State University. In 2019, he led the LSU Tigers to college football glory, defeating the Clemson Tigers in a 42-25 victory. After that win and five years of college football, Joe entered the 2020 NFL Draft.
2. Joe Burrow Has Football In His Blood.
Joe Burrow’s father is James “Jimmy” Burrow, a former all-star defensive back in the Canadian Football League and National Football League. After Jimmy played college at the University of Nebraska, he joined the NFL when the Green Bay Packers drafted him in the eighth round of the 1976 NFL Draft, per Pro Football Reference. After one season in Green Bay, Jim went north and joined the CFL. He played with the Montreal Alouettes, the Calgary Stampeders, and the Ottawa Rough Riders before calling it a day.
Joe’s dad is a champion, having won the Grey Cup in 1977 in the famous Ice Bowl. “I guess that was the first championship in the Burrow family,” Burrow told The Suburban. “I had been hurt most of the year, had an operation but got activated for the Grey Cup and got a chance to play in that game. We played in a couple of others (Grey Cups). We should have won those, those are the ones you think about, but the 1977 one was a good one for us.”
Jim Burrow transitioned to a coaching position, taking his talents to many places, most notably Iowa State (where he was a defensive back coach from 1987 to 1993.) He ultimately hung up his whistle in 2018, after serving as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Ohio University.
3. He’s A Heisman Trophy Winner.
Joe’s performance in the 2019 college football season made him a shoo-in for that year’s Heisman Trophy, but how he won shocked everyone. Burrow earned a first-place vote on 841 of 927 ballots, according to USA Today, which came close to the record of 855 first-place votes, set in 1968 by Southern California running back O.J. Simpson in 1968. However, Joe’s 1,846-point margin of victory breaks Simpson’s record of 1,750. Joe also earned 93.8% of possible points available, which broke the record of 91.6% set by Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith in 2006.
In that season, Joe broke the LSU and SEC record for passing yards (4,715), passing touchdowns (48), and a handful of other school records. He was an offensive machine, making him an easy pick for the Heisman. It’s also why the Cincinnati Bengals selected him as the Overall No. 1 Draft Pick in the 2020 Draft.
4. He’s Has Attitude.
Joe has taken full advantage of the spotlight. His style of diamond necklaces and fur coats has drawn comparisons to “Broadway” Joe Namath, another quarterback who was rocking the fur coat look back in the 1960s.
One of Joe Burrow’s biggest moments came when he arrived at the 2022 AFC Championship game in Kansas City. Joe sported his typical swag, including a giant diamond-encrusted necklace of his initials above a Nike swoosh. After Joe led the Bengals over the Kansas City Chiefs, someone asked him in the postgame press conference if the rocks on his chain were real. “They’re definitely real,” Burrow told reporters. “I think I make too much money to have fake ones, you know? So, these are real.”
Joe Burrow signed a four-year, $36 million contract this season. While some people thought the response was based, others thought it was distasteful. As for how Broadway Joe Namath thinks about Joe Burrow? “He’s got a way to go to catch up to me about being slick, man,” he said with a laugh to the New York Post. However, Joe Namath gave praise to Burrow. When told that Joe has drawn on-field comparisons to a young Namath, Broadway Joe said he was “flattered ’cause he’s better than I ever was
5. He’s Taken.
Sorry, but Joe Burrow already has a love in his life. Joe is dating Olivia Holzmacher in 2022. The two met while they were at Ohio State. Olivia has been Joe’s biggest fan and has documented their journey together on Instagram. With Tom Brady retiring, many suspect that Joe and Olivia will be the new Brady and Gisele Bundchen.