The majority of people are familiar with one version of Joe Burrow. The person wearing the Bengals jersey, appearing to have seen this movie before, was incredibly composed during a two-minute drill and had his chin strap loose. The version that crossed a stage at Louisiana State University on December 20, 2019, six days after accepting the Heisman Trophy, to receive a master’s degree in liberal arts, is less frequently discussed. Both versions are authentic. Additionally, they are not as distinct as you may believe.
As Burrow himself noted, the poverty rate in Athens, Ohio, a small city in the state’s southeast, is almost twice as high as the national average. Jim, his father, moved the family from Iowa to North Dakota to Ohio as opportunities arose during his decades-long career as a football coach. It was a fleeting upbringing, the kind that tends to either make a child uneasy or teach them how to quickly adjust. It appeared to do the latter for Burrow.
When he first arrived at Ohio State in 2015 on an athletic scholarship, he redshirted, studied, and became familiar with the system rather than playing football. It turned out that patience had a purpose. Burrow completed his undergraduate degree in consumer and family financial services in just three years while sitting behind J.T. Barrett for two complete seasons. It’s the kind of information that gets lost in the highlight reels, but it reveals a lot about his methods. He wasn’t hanging around. He was getting ready.
Burrow didn’t pout when it became apparent that Dwayne Haskins would be given the starting position at Ohio State. In 2018, he transferred to LSU as a graduate student, and since he had already completed his degree, he was immediately eligible to play. That choice, which at the time was extremely risky, turned out to be one of the most important ones in recent college football history. He had a strong first season in Baton Rouge. His second was completely different.
The LSU 2019 season is the kind of event that makes headlines for years. Burrow won nearly every major award available, led the Tigers to a national championship, and threw for more than 5,700 yards and 65 touchdowns. Football was not a major topic of discussion in his December Heisman acceptance speech in New York. He discussed Ohio’s southeast. about children returning home to empty tables. In the days that followed, more than $450,000 was donated to the Athens County food bank. A college student using the biggest platform of his athletic career to make a meaningful statement was, in a subtle way, a remarkable moment.
He then graduated almost immediately after that. Once more.
Burrow joined nearly 2,000 other students at LSU’s 300th commencement ceremony in December of that year, according to the university. There were only 28 student-athletes present at the ceremony, which is a small but significant number. It takes a certain kind of focus to complete a graduate degree during the most taxing football season of your life, which involved cross-country travel, constant media attention, and week after week of film study. Some of it might have come easily to him. Another possibility is that he simply put in more effort than most people realize.
It’s intriguing how his educational background appears to subtly influence his playing style. For non-physical reasons, quarterbacks with fast information processing skills—such as reading defenses like text and making adjustments in real time—tend to possess this trait. Burrow’s comfort in the pocket and his capacity to maintain composure in the face of chaos seem to be related to something more than just athletic instinct. It’s difficult to say with certainty whether it’s the football lineage, the years of waiting his turn, or something in the education itself. Most likely all three.
The story of Joe Burrow is primarily told in terms of yards and touchdowns. It’s true that there are many of them. However, degrees are also important. Not as a branding exercise, nor as footnotes. They are all part of the same picture: a person who, despite situations to the contrary, has continuously managed to make time work for himself.
