Former Ohio State and current Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow may have left the Buckeye state to go down to the Bayou and make a name for himself at LSU, but OSU fans still have a special place for one of Ohio’s own. After all, he played high school football in Ohio and is a graduate of Ohio State despite winning a national title and Heisman Trophy at LSU.
And for Burrow, he too thinks fondly of his time as a Buckeye on the banks of the Olentangy. Despite never winning the starting job at Ohio State, just behind Dwayne Haskins in that 2018 year, Burrow credits a lot of who he is as a player to his time in Columbus.
In fact, when speaking to the media this week ahead of the AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Burow was asked about his time at Ohio State and had nothing but good things to say.
“I wouldn’t be the same player that I am today without those trials and tribulations that I went through there,” Burrow said to the media Wednesday. “I loved my time there, I stay in contact with a lot of people from Ohio State and — like I said — I wouldn’t be the same player.
“I think I am who I am because of the difficult times that I went through in my career, and if you look at all the quarterbacks that were in the playoffs, a lot of them have gone through a lot of adversity in their careers — whether it was early on in high school without offers, or after college not getting drafted high, or having to go to junior college or anything like that. I think part of what makes certain people great is the adversity that they’ve had to go through.”
Hear from Joe Burrow as the Bengals prepare for the AFC Championship Game. https://t.co/qDANAamD1J
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) January 26, 2022
It would have been interesting to see what Burrow would have done at Ohio State as a starter, but from Dwayne Haskins (Heisman finalist) to Justin Fields (Heisman finalist), it’s hard to fault anyone making those decisions. Sometimes there are just too many great competitors and you have to allow one to make his own path. Burrow has done a fine job of that.
And he has been nothing but complimentary of Ohio State. Here’s to wishing Burrow a ton of luck — and skill — this weekend in a one-game shot to go to the Super Bowl.
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