Joe Burrow set records with his 2019 Heisman Trophy win over the weekend. The Louisiana State University quarterback received the highest percentage of first-place votes and recorded the largest margin of victory in the award’s history.
The Tigers quarterback turned the opportunity into a way to significantly impact the southeast Ohio community that he grew up in, too. Burrow’s award acceptance speech led to more than $100,000 being donated to the Athens County Food Pantry in Athens, Ohio.
“It’s a very, very impoverished area,” Burrow said in his Heisman Trophy acceptance speech Saturday night. “The poverty rate is almost two times the national average.
“There are so many people there that don’t have a lot, and I’m up here for all those kids in Athens and Athens County that go home to not a lot of food on the table, hungry after school. You guys can be up here, too.”
An Athens resident launched a Facebook fundraiser Sunday after Burrow’s speech made the nation aware of the problems in the area. More than 3,100 people donated a combined amount of more than $108,000 as of Monday morning.
According to The Athens County Food Pantry website, the pantry served 5,702 individuals in 2018, about a third of them children.
Entering the College Football Playoff, Burrow has completed 342 of 439 pass attempts for a 77.9% completion rate. The 23-year-old has 4,715 passing yards this season with 48 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He is the first LSU athlete to win the Heisman since running back Billy Cannon won the award in 1959.