The talk of the town right now is that dude Joe Burrow. After leading the LSU Tigers to a national championship, he has the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl.
Burrow arrived in Baton Rouge ahead of the 2018 college football season from Ohio State. The graduate transfer had two years of eligibility, and he wanted an opportunity to compete for a starting job. He won it over then-sophomore quarterback Myles Brennan. What Ed Orgeron and the staff didn’t know is he would change the game for the Bayou Bengals.
LSU had gone four seasons since its last double-digit win season and seven seasons since its last trip to a New Year’s Six bowl game. That first year under Burrow, LSU won nine regular-season games and earned a trip to the Fiesta Bowl against Central Florida. There was a moment within that game that the Legend of Burrow began, as many have credited it.
The hit on Burrow left him shaken and the team was ready to go to backup Myles Brennan, but the transfer quarterback wasn’t about to go out like that. On the play that left Burrow on his knees, Brandon Moore had picked off Burrow and ran the ball back 93 yards for the score. While Burrow was pursuing Moore, Joey Connors absolutely rocked the quarterback. The pick six left LSU trailing 13-3.
And so it began.
Burrow went on to throw four touchdowns and handed the UCF Knights their first loss in two seasons. The Tigers won a New Year’s Six bowl game for the first time since their 2011 BCS Championship game loss. They then went on to one of the single-best seasons in college football history in 2019.
It was time for a new challenge in the NFL. After being selected No. 1 in the 2020 NFL draft, he returned to his home state to lead the Cincinnati Bengals. The team was 2-14 the season before it selected the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner. In his rookie season, Burrow led the Bengals to another two wins in 10 games before a knee injury. After Cincinnati selected Ja’Marr Chase in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft, Burrow and Chase led it to a 10-7 record.
That team that was 2-14 two seasons ago is now heading to the Super Bowl. Former LSU Tiger Ryan Clark was a guest on ESPN’s “Get Up” where he stated Burrow is responsible for the two greatest turnarounds in this millennium. Clark admitted he wasn’t the biggest Burrow fan when he arrived on the Bayou, but he can now say “Burrow is THAT DUDE.”
"Joe Burrow is responsible for the two greatest turnarounds in this millennium! … Joe Burrow is THAT DUDE!"
—@Realrclark25 😤😤 pic.twitter.com/KhpT9nk4ll
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) January 31, 2022
It is hard to argue what Clark is saying about Burrow, but I would add that he is responsible for two of the three greatest turnarounds this millennium. Nick Saban’s arrival at LSU couldn’t have come at a better time as Tigers football was on a brutal stretch. From 1997-99, the program won 16 games combined before Saban led them to a national championship in 2003.
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