Dwayne Haskins says he “couldn’t stand” competing with Joe Burrow at Ohio State

Former Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins provided some insight into his battle at Ohio State with Joe Burrow.

You remember it well no doubt. It was the spring of 2018 and former Ohio State quarterbacks Dwayne Haskins and Joe Burrow were embattled in a hotly contested competition. Both were vying to take over the starting spot under center after J.T. Barrett shattered numerous Big Ten career records and graduated.

To hear the coaches tell it, the battle was razor-thin, but all indications were that Haskins had a slim lead on Burrow, who saw the writing on the wall and went to LSU as a graduate transfer. The rest is history of course.

Haskins went on to shatter single-season Big Ten records in 2018, even becoming a Heisman finalist in the process, then finishing his career with a Big Ten title and win in the Rose Bowl. He was then drafted by the Washington Football Team as the No. 15 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Burrow, on the other hand, made his own name. His first season in Baton Rouge was an inconsistent journey, but boy did he breakout his senior season, leading the Tigers to the national championship at the tail-end of the 2019 season, and adding a Heisman Trophy to his own collection. He was the No. 1 overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Got it? Good, we’re back up to speed.

Both what was the battle in the spring of 2018 like really? Both quarterbacks said the right things in front of the media, and both show the utmost respect even to this day. According to Haskins, though, it was intense. And despite both getting along, they too had had enough of battling each other. According to our FOX’s Ring Chronicles series, the competition was probably more intense than any of us imagined.

We found these quotes from our sister site Washington Wire and thought they were worth passing on.

  1. “I love Joe but during that battle, for almost two years, me and Joe couldn’t stand each other,” Haskins told Monday’s Ring Chronicles series from FOX. “Every day, whether it was morning workouts or when we had to do mat drills and it’d be me and him on the mat drill, it was gritty. Or it was practice and me and him are trying to get in front of each other to get a rep to throw to one of the starting receivers. It was always this heated competition but we knew we got the best out of each other. He made it hard for me and I made it hard for him and I didn’t let him take it away.”

I wouldn’t read into this being a vitriol type of relationship between Haskins and Burrow. Far from it. The two showed nothing but respect for each other throughout everything. However, it’s natural for a competitor to want to be the guy, and that’s exactly what we say during that time period.

Luckily, it worked out just fine for both, and we’ll see the two go at it week eleven when the Bengals head to Washington.

 

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