The Transformation Of Joe Burrow Is One To Behold

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Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow was only four years into his NFL career in 2024, but he'd already accomplished a great deal. Although he's yet to score a Super Bowl victory as of this writing, he's established himself as a formidable quarterback. His athletic prowess hasn't gone unnoticed by the football community. Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, for example, compared Burrow to Superman after their team bested the Cleveland Browns in December 2024. "The one he threw to me, not because it's my touchdown. The mother f***er looked like Superman when he was throwing," said Higgins while praising Burrow's TD pass to him (via CBS Sports). "So I'm calling him Superman from this day forward. F*** Batman. Superman."

Meanwhile, the Bengals head coach, Zac Taylor, exalted Burrow over the entire league following their team's triumph over the Denver Broncos that same month. "I don't know that anybody can stand on the field and watch Joe Burrow and say he's not the best player in the world," Taylor said (via Sports Illustrated). "Then you can transfer that argument to Ja'Marr Chase as well, and you can argue those two to death. But the clearest thing I can say is, I would not trade Joe Burrow for any player in the universe. And so to me, that's (an) MVP," he continued.

However, Burrow's journey started long before he was playing in the big leagues or was even an LSU star.

Joe Burrow's love of sports started back during his childhood in Ohio. Burrow's parents, a former college football coach and a principal, supported his dreams from an early age. Apparently, Joe has always possessed the qualities that have translated well into his professional football career. "Very similar to the way he is today," Joe's mother, Robin Burrow, told Reuters in 2022 about his childhood personality. "He was very focused on sports, very driven to do the best he could at whatever he did, whether that was just playing video games or in school or in his competitions in different sporting events." Elsewhere, she added, "He has always been really focused on making sure that he's prepared for whatever it is he's getting ready to do, whether that was sports or academics or something else in life, and I think that just makes him confident."

In an August 2024 interview with Us Weekly, Joe's parents revealed another positive quality of his that started taking shape during his childhood: his giving nature. "We wanted them to understand that it's important to look beyond yourself," Robin shared about Joe and his brothers' upbringing. "To help when you can and try to be empathetic to others and understand other people's positions in life. If there is something you can do that might help somebody else, you should do it." Speaking of Joe giving back, this particular interview was to promote his partnership with Kodiak, which helped supply thousands of meals to the less fortunate. However, that's just the tip of Joe's charitable endeavors, which he carries out through his foundation.

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Joe Burrow, who sometimes goes by his nickname Joe Shiesty, enjoyed an equally impressive run as a college football star. Although his first taste of college football took place at Ohio State, he later took his talents to LSU, where he became a serious contender for the NFL. It was also at LSU that he eventually scored the coveted Heisman Trophy. And though Joe played football for both schools, he associates his college success with Louisiana State University. "I always say, I went to school at Ohio State. I played football at LSU," he said in 2023 (via Yahoo! Sports). Joe's allegiance to LSU was just as strong a year earlier as he and the Bengals prepared for the Super Bowl. "LSU means everything to me," he said (via Sports Illustrated). "They gave me this opportunity to put myself in this position to be talking to everybody today."

In 2020, Joe officially left his college glory behind when he was drafted by the Bengals in the number one spot. Following the exciting career advancement, he shared his feelings about his new chapter with ESPN. "I knew I was going to have a really good season, 'cause I knew we had really great players coming back. I had really great coaches, and we were going to work really, really hard to do it, but to jump up to number one overall is crazy to me, but it's a dream come true," he said. He also spoke about becoming the most sought-after college player after a less-than-stellar junior year. "I wasn't very good my junior year, it's pretty simple," he admitted. "I worked really hard to get better; all my guys worked really hard to get better; and we just gelled as a team this year to do exactly what we did."