joe burrow master's thesis

Joe Burrow Graduated from LSU, And The Place Went Wild

Billy Cannon . Pete Maravich. Shaquille O'Neal . Seimone Augustus . Patrick Peterson. Odell Beckham, Jr.

Louisiana State University is loaded with athletes from every generation who transcended their sport and lifted the LSU Tigers to greater heights. College athletes are flashes in the pan, leaving their school almost as fast as they arrived. Some win individual trophies, others capture national championships, but even fewer create a legacy that lasts forever .

Count LSU Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow among the greatest athletes to ever step foot in Baton Rouge because his legacy is sure to last a lifetime.

He's the second Heisman Trophy winner in school history, plus he did it with the largest margin of victory ever. The LSU football record book might as well be renamed "The Joe Burrow Book of Accomplishments and Other Cool Shit" after the near-perfect season he put together in 2019. If the former Ohio State Buckeyes transfer and pride of Athens High School goes on to win the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, he's going to cement his place in the conversation among, not only LSU athletics, but the greatest college football players ever .

Congratulations to Joe Burrow, 2019 @HeismanTrophy winner (left), pictured here with GS' Jim McNamara (zero Heismans) during Joe?s time at our office. @Joe_Burrow10 is always welcome back, but we think he may have some other plans post-graduation? pic.twitter.com/svJRtqB253 — Goldman Sachs (@GoldmanSachs) December 16, 2019

RELATED: 15 Memorable (And Forgettable) People Who Attended LSU

Burrow never really sat in an LSU classroom (Could you imagine how little work would get done?), but that didn't stop him from earning his Master's degree and graduating prior to LSU football's Peach Bowl showdown against the Oklahoma Sooners.

When Burrow's name was called among the LSU graduates, and he walked across the stage during Winter Commencement in Baton Rouge, the entire place erupted with many giving the star quarterback a standing ovation.

Joe Burrow's Graduation from LSU

#Heisman ? #LSUGrad ?? Congrats, @Joe_Burrow10 ! pic.twitter.com/f6VLobJ2FU — LSU (@LSU) December 20, 2019

What a week for Joey Burrow pic.twitter.com/BvNgwlA58O — LSU Football (@LSUfootball) December 20, 2019

What Did Joe Burrow Graduate In?

In May 2018, Burrow graduated from Ohio State with a Bachelor's degree in consumer and family financial services before heading to LSU. The graduate transfer earned his Master's degree in liberal arts alongside 12 other LSU football players in December 2019.

RELATED: Why Joe Burrow's Meteoric Rise Shouldn't Surprise Anyone

Long snapper Blake Ferguson (Master's in business administration), center Lloyd Cushenberry III (sports administration), cornerback Kristian Fulton (sports administration), Rashard Lawrence (sports administration), placekicker Connor Culp (general business), wide receiver Derrick Dillon (interdisciplinary studies), linebacker Michael Divinity (interdisciplinary studies), offensive guard Adrian Magee (interdisciplinary studies), outside linebacker Ray Thornton (interdisciplinary studies), offensive tackle Badara Traore (interdisciplinary studies), punter Zach Von Rosenberg (interdisciplinary studies) and wide receiver Dee Anderson (interdisciplinary studies) all earned degrees alongside the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and First-Team All-American.

If the likely No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft doesn't have a prolific pro career, he'll be just fine with two college degrees in hand.

Thirteen members of the LSU Football team graduated from the university on Friday! ? https://t.co/IjsOYQRGaQ pic.twitter.com/WvEfySwuqk — LSU Football (@LSUfootball) December 20, 2019

Head coach Ed Orgeron and the SEC champions take on Lincoln Riley, Jalen Hurts and the Sooners on December 28 in Atlanta, Georgia. Clemson takes on Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl game that same day, with the winners of those semifinal games playing for college football's national championship trophy.

MORE: 'SEC on CBS' Coming to End, Likely Moving to ESPN/ABC

You might also like, joe burrow's "heisman moment" versus georgia proved he was special, joe burrow: lsu offense can score "40, 50, 60 points a game", "that's joe": lsu releases chapter 2 of amazing documentary, joe burrow's dad was a star football player in the 1970s.

How Joe Burrow, LSU’s Heisman favorite, built his legend in Athens, Ohio

ATHENS, Ohio — Tell people from Athens you want to talk about Joe Burrow, and all you need is one question and some time.

Where were you when LSU went into Tuscaloosa and rolled the Tide?

Trae Williams, a defensive back at Northwestern, was in Evanston, Illinois, having just lost the eighth game of his disappointing fifth-year senior season.

Advertisement

“I’m sitting there with my roommates, and obviously those are some of my best friends, and they were cheering for him like they know him too,” said Williams, an Athens High classmate of Burrow. “That’s just how we are, like, that’s my boy, so that’s their boy too.”

The Luehrman twins, Adam and Ryan, having played a game on Wednesday, were there in Athens. First, at an Ohio University football practice, where a trainer dispatched first-half updates, including Burrow’s two touchdown passes and LSU’s six scoring drives.

They hurried back to their apartment to watch the second half with another former teammate from Athens High to celebrate LSU’s 46-41 victory. 

Ryan Adams and Nate White, who coached Joe Burrow at Athens High, were at their respective homes for the entire game.

“There were several people around town that had parties,” White said. “But I really enjoyed just my wife and me on our small couch taking it all in. I loved watching it very closely without any distractions.”

Zacciah Saltzman, whose Georgetown football career ended early because of injuries, was on the scene, sitting in the at Bryant-Denny Stadium stands in Tuscaloosa with Burrow’s older brothers Jamie and Dan, and their parents, Jimmy and Robin. Saltzman was on the receiving end of Burrow’s passes at Athens, but still was slack-jawed at witnessing his former QB going 31-of-39 for 393 yards and three scores with no interceptions. 

“I was like, ‘Man, who does this against ’Bama?’” Saltzman said.

For family and friends, Burrow’s ascension to Heisman favorite and potential   top draft pick makes perfect sense. Yet, as Burrow stands on the precipice of leading LSU to a SEC title and possible national championship, just how his career has fallen into place seems inexplicable.

“I’m not a guy who goes to church every Sunday,” Adams said recently from his office off of the Athens Middle School gym. “I don’t say this to everyone. But it’s almost divine intervention.”

Whether at Tony’s Tavern, Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism or the halls of the middle school, people are talking about the community’s favorite son. They put up marquee signs, like the ones at Gigi’s Diner and a drive-thru liquor store; and they plant purple-and-gold flags in front of their houses. 

The local Walmart now sells LSU gear. That’s a detail that Joe’s friends love to share.

“How nuts is that?” Saltzman said.

Athens is a postcard college town in the heart of a very poor part of Appalachia. The scenery is beautiful, from foliage in Wayne National Forest to the gorge and waterfalls of Old Man’s Cave. But southeast Ohio has poverty rates more than twice the national average, and Athens County is the most impoverished in the state, with 31.2 percent of residents living below the poverty line.

In the center of this struggling region sits Ohio University, which employs 4,125 residents, more than the county’s next 14 employers combined. The 20,000 students who rotate in and out of town nearly outnumber the 24,000 townsfolk. This mix of stable university jobs amid economic strife, of transient students living among generations of families, creates a unique community.

“It’s really tough to explain Athens,” Saltzman said. “I talked to Trae about this, because he goes to another very wealthy high academic school, and there’s really no way for people to understand what it was like growing up in Athens. I just tell them we’re from a small town and leave it at that. But it was a cool place to grow up.”

Adams, a native of the area, has become a bit of an amateur sociologist, watching how kids interact as they negotiate their early teenage years.

“It’s an interesting dynamic, how some kids can relate across the board, and other ones kind of stay in their safe zone,” he said. “From the time that Joey came in here, in regular phys-ed class, he had a way to cross all those different boundaries. And even more, he was very sympathetic to those that weren’t as athletically gifted or affluent. He had a little bit of a soft spot for those guys and would always pick them to be on his team.”

Like any gym teacher worth their whistle, Adams likes to keep teams even. But when they did three-on-three basketball, Burrow asked to choose his team.

“He picked two kids that are probably the least athletic in his class,” Adams said. “Well, they win every game.”

So the next game, Adams changed the rules. Burrow couldn’t score two baskets in a row.

“He’s tossing the ball off,” Adams said. “Nobody sets picks in middle school. He’s setting picks, this, that and the other. They clean house, right? They win every game.”

Adams smiled as he recalled this story, clear as day almost a decade later. The next time Burrow’s team played, he wasn’t allowed to score at all.

“And, by God, he got those two kids to play their butts off,” he said. “And he’s setting screens and giving them little cherry-pick shots off each side of the basket. They won every game.”

This year’s LSU squad has just one other player from Ohio. Last year’s had none. Burrow came into a proud program without much of a college reputation. He was an Ohio guy who didn’t win a job at Ohio State and now had to transfer. Knowing this, Saltzman said he was curious to learn how Burrow won over his new team in Baton Rouge. 

“It’s interesting hearing about how he went into a big-time program like that and established himself as a leader. How do you do that?” Saltzman said. “He won every sprint over the summer and then people see, ‘Oh, you’re tough,’ and then he can start to give them his personality and then become friends.

“He’s great at that stuff. When you go to the NFL, how do you go to a new locker room and be the guy? And that’s something I think he’s super natural with.”

The house on the outskirts of Athens is on a quiet, well-kept street that would fit into any American suburb. A small LSU flag is planted next to a faded Ohio one in the front yard. A football wreath and a purple LSU banner adorn the door.

Many coaches at Ohio University live in The Plains, a few miles north of town and campus. The Burrows settled here when Jimmy got the defensive coordinator job under Frank Solich in 2005, toting along their elementary school son. It’s important to remember Burrow isn’t just some local kid gifted with a big arm, a predestined gift from the football gods. No, Burrow was bred for this. Wherever he lived, from Iowa to Nebraska to North Dakota to Ohio– he was going to prosper.

“He grew up in it,” Solich said. “He grew up in that kind of atmosphere.”

The Burrows are a college football family. Jimmy, a Mississippi native, played in the mid-70s at Nebraska as Johnny Rodgers won a Heisman. His two older sons (Joe’s half-brothers) played football at Nebraska too, and Jimmy coached there for two years when Joe was just four and five years old. There should be a picture, somewhere, of a young Joe and 2001 Heisman winner Eric Crouch, Jimmy said, he just has to look for it.

“He’s got football in his blood,” Williams said. “His brothers were really good athletes. His dad was. Grandparents were. He’s just got it in him, and he really eats, sleeps, breathes it.”

What was a young Joe Burrow like? Were the signs there?

“I remember thinking this is just an intense little kid,” Saltzman said. “He was just super-serious and he had a mentality that was a lot different from the little guys running around playing basketball.”

“He was competitive,” Jimmy Burrow said. “You know, when you’re not supposed to be keeping score in those early soccer games, and he would know exactly the score and you know he likes to compete and he likes to win. And I think that’s OK. That’s a good thing.”

Athens High always has Ohio University coaches’ kids suiting up, but many don’t stay. They show promise as sophomores then a parent gets a new job. None, however, were as good as Joe Burrow. 

Solich stayed at Ohio for 15 years, recently breaking the Mid-American Conference’s record for wins. Jimmy Burrow was at his side until this year.

“My parents would tell me, ‘You know Joe’s dad will probably find another job,’ ” Ryan Luehrman said. “And eventually, he’s here for the long haul.”

Solich embraced a family atmosphere. If OU was on the road for a Saturday game, he would let Jimmy Burrow and defensive line coach Jesse Williams, Trae’s dad, meet up with the team later so they could watch their sons play for Athens High. The mid-week “MACtion” games made it a little tougher because of the mixed-up schedule, but Burrow doesn’t think he missed more than a couple of his son’s games during his junior and senior seasons.

“I wasn’t like a helicopter dad or you know, a taskmaster,” he said. “I didn’t say ‘Hey, you gotta come watch this tape.’ I’d say, ‘Hey, I’m gonna watch your game, you wanna watch with me?’ And he usually would, and I would point out little things like protecting the ball and making good decisions.”

Jimmy retired after last season so he and Robin, a nearby middle school principal, could spend this year following their son at LSU. He expected to host tailgates and spend hours driving through the South, both of which he’s done. What he didn’t account for was the barrage of text messages.

“If I don’t turn my phone off here, it’s going to be crazy,” he said mid-interview. “You’d realize what I’m doing these days.”

The elder Burrow has become de facto spokesman for his son, and his days are packed with interviews. He does a weekly hit on a Baton Rouge radio station. Last year, he refused almost all interview requests so as not to take away attention from the Bobcats. Now, he’s like a tour guide of his son’s life.

“Last night it was ESPN, you’re here, CBS is here in the morning,” Burrow said from his kitchen. “ESPN is here again tomorrow afternoon. The Washington Post was here last week.”

When Ohio played in nationally televised “MACtion” games this season, the ESPN producers asked if Jimmy would be around. He was interviewed in back-to-back games as the announcers were thrilled to talk about Joe and LSU and not, say, two MAC teams.

A shrine to the family’s athletic achievements sits in the basement of the Burrow house. Jerseys are tacked up on the brown paneled walls, including Jimmy’s from the Packers and the Canadian Football League and the elder Burrow boys’ uniforms from Nebraska. A poster of Joe in a basketball uniform lays on the ping-pong table.

At the far end of the room near the TV and video game system are the trophies and plaques. The Ohio High School Athletic Association doesn’t make a trophy for its Mr. Football award, so Jimmy made one himself, a football on a pedestal.

In the upstairs living room is Joe’s Fiesta Bowl MVP trophy, one that Jimmy didn’t make to order. He lugged that home from Phoenix in his backpack and let the airline workers take pictures with it. Now it sits by the fireplace.

The photographer taking pictures of him mentions she’s from Cincinnati. Jimmy smiles. The Bengals are in line for the top pick in the draft. The drive from Athens to Cincinnati is a lot shorter than the drive to Baton Rouge.

Before he was Burrow’s offensive coordinator, Nate White was a quarterback at Athens High in the late 1990s, when a four-win season was considered a success. 

“We weren’t very good at all,” said White, who took over as head coach of Athens High this season.

After an uneventful career as a backup quarterback at nearby Marietta College, White got his first high school job at Tri-Valley High School in Dresden and started running a veer offense, something fairly typical in the world of Ohio prep football. But he eventually transitioned into an offense with spread concepts.

When he was hired at Athens before Burrow’s sophomore year, White approached Adams about running a spread-based offense. Adams had already started tinkering with those concepts and gave him the go-ahead. It would prove fateful for Burrow, who was already progressing as a quarterback. 

That summer, Burrow had led Athens’ 7-on-7 team and White saw him slicing apart teams. White was building a playbook that wasn’t overly complex, but it required an accurate quarterback.

“It was the middle of July and I remember saying, ‘This kid is really good,’” he said.

He also had two tall receivers in the Luehrmans, another solid wideout in Saltzman and Williams, the new kid in town, in the backfield. It was an unusually talented core of players.

“We went to the state championship with two running plays,” White said. “We had zone and we had quarterback trap off of zone. The rest was passing stuff.”

Even the passing plays were basic. But like any good offense, the key was Athens could expertly execute just about every play out of multiple formations.

“Very rarely in high school football is everyone covered,” White said. “You watch high school games, there’s always someone open but it takes a special kid to always find the guy.

“In practice, I’d say why didn’t you throw it to this? Joe would essentially say, I don’t know this well enough yet. We’ve got to talk. We’d stop right there and fix it. Just the poise and confidence to say, ‘I don’t know this well enough. I don’t want to do anything else until I get this.’ As a 15-, 16-year-old kid, that’s so rare.”

Burrow threw for 4,437 yards and 63 touchdowns his senior year. His 11,428 passing yards are the fourth-highest in Ohio history, and his 156 touchdowns are the third-highest, behind the famous (in Ohio football circles anyway) Mauk brothers, Maty and Ben.

In 2014, Athens High scored a state-record 861 points, 57.4 a game, just 4 points shy of the school’s 22-3 basketball team. Yes, Burrow led that team in scoring with 19.3 points per game. 

They beat Wellston 82-7 and followed that up with a 77-14 win against River Valley. They scored more than 60 points in a game six times, putting up 66 on the road in Zanesville. Their home games had a circus-like atmosphere, Saltzman said, and opponents were beaten before taking the field.

“I remember there were legit teams where these kids would put Sharpies in their socks, so when we’re in the handshake lines at the end of the games, Joe could sign their gloves and stuff,” Saltzman said. “I was like, this is absurd.”

“We were always kind of chasing the perfect game, where we’d score every drive and complete every ball,” White said. “It sounds crazy to say, but that was really the way he prepared and it rubbed off on everybody.”

Did it ever happen? 

“We had a few where we scored every possession,” he said.

Williams, who played running back at Athens, could only remember one time when his quarterback was flustered. It came during a playoff game their senior season.

“The only time he’d ever been confused on what signal our coach was giving, I got confused,” Williams said. “I was like, Joe doesn’t know, then maybe I don’t know,” Williams said. “And the coach was freaking out, ‘Why aren’t you all running the play?’ 

“And Joe was like, ‘Dude, I don’t know what he’s talking about.’ I said, all right, I’m going to run a little swing and just throw it to me. He snaps the ball, looks at me, and then runs 70 yards for a touchdown.”

The ball would’ve been fine in Williams’ hands. His father was a well-traveled college assistant coach who had landed in Athens for Trae’s sophomore year. Fast and strong, Trae was a natural fit in White’s offense at running back and ran for 5,435 yards and 96 touchdowns in three years at Athens.

“If you called inside zone, Trae Williams was 70 yards and gone,” White said. “That might have happened 40 times in three years. He made calling plays easy. Just call ‘zone’ and he might score.”

Williams committed to Ohio as a running back, but backed out to attend Northwestern as a defensive back. Solich thought he had Williams, and he made sure the Bobcats were first to offer Burrow.

“Obviously it became clear that he was going to head to a Power 5 program and that Ohio State was very interested in him,” Solich said in his office recently. “And we understood his decision. So we were patting him on the back and following his career from that point on.

“If Ohio State hadn’t made an offer,” Jimmy Burrow said, “we still thought maybe he would have chosen Ohio, as opposed to a lot of the Power 5 schools. Just because he loved the Bobcats so much.”

Athens High lost Burrow’s first game as a starter when he was a sophomore, but then won every regular-season game heading into his senior season. Granted, the competition wasn’t stiff in the Tri-Valley Conference, and when Athens faced better teams, it had lost in the regional finals in 2012 and 2013. That left the team feeling as if it had something to prove in 2014.

“Before the year, Joe and Trae called everyone together,” Adam Luehrman said. 

“I remember Joe was like what’s our goal for this season,” Ryan Luehrman said. “And I said regional championship. He asked, ‘Why not further?’ And I was silent. You got me there. Yeah. Why are we limiting ourselves?”

Adams had already set up a test that would push his team. That spring, he got a call from Reno Saccoccia, coach of the Steubenville High Big Red, who was looking for a midseason opponent. If Adams’s team wanted a challenge, here it was: In the previous 10 seasons, Steubenville had a record of 115-16 and two state titles. The school was also embroiled in the aftermath of a sexual assault by two football players in 2012, a case that became a touchstone across the country and that cast the community’s legendary rabid support of football in a different light.

Athens knew that Harding Stadium at night would not be an easy environment.

“Steubenville was a measuring stick for us,” Saltzman said. “Let’s see if we’re the real deal. We’ve been playing in southeast Ohio killing people, let’s go play an historic program and show all of Ohio what we’re made of.”

Steubenville is an old steel town along the Ohio River, about three hours from Athens. If you followed the Athens team bus north, you’d drive the Lou “The Toe” Groza highway through Martins Ferry, the focus of the poem that opens up the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Friday Night Lights.

Athens needed this win for more than just street cred. A weighted playoff points system and Athens’ weak conference made running the table the only certain path to the playoffs. The Athens players remember the atmosphere when they arrived at Steubenville’s packed stadium: a loud marching band, home fans overflowing into the visiting bleachers and a fire-breathing horse sitting atop the scoreboard.

“For a high school stadium, what an intimidating place to play,” White said. “I remember (aside) from the 40 to the other 40 on our visiting side were home fans. It was not ideal.”

“I realized exactly what we were stepping ourselves into when we got to Steubenville,” Adams said of a key detail left out of his conversations with Saccoccia. “It was homecoming. But apparently Coach Reno also didn’t realize what I was bringing on the bus.”

Despite a few uncharacteristic mistakes, Athens led 29-27 at halftime, helped in part by two long scores: a 70-yard zone run up the middle by Williams and a 48-yard sideline catch and tightrope act by Ryan Luehrman. With rain about to pour, Adams felt like he needed to fire up his team in the visiting locker room.

“I paced a lot, like all coaches do,” Adams said. “And, I went back outside to check conditions one last time. And, the rain was blowing horizontally, I mean, it was 20-, 30-mile-an-hour winds. And I said, ‘Boys, you know, if you’ve ever wanted any more adversity, man. You have got it. It is all here tonight.’”

What was his speech like? Memorable, even five years later.

“At halftime,” Saltzman said, “I was sitting next to Joe and Trae, and Coach Adams is like ‘All right boys, we gotta do this for coal country. We’re from coal country and they’re from steel country. We’ve got to show them what’s up with the coal guys.’ And we’re getting hyped up and Trae looks at me and Joe looks at me and we’re like, ‘Hey, wait a minute, we don’t come from coal mining families. But we’re still going to do this shit.’ We were going crazy, like ‘We have to do this for the coal miners!’”

Athens still led by two going into the fourth quarter, then scored 22 unanswered points as Burrow threw a 43-yard touchdown to Adam Luerhman before scoring on a 48-yard keeper to seal a 58-42 win. In the crucible of his high school career, Burrow threw for 360 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 83 yards and two more scores.

“I don’t know if it was Joe’s best night numbers-wise,” White said, “but it was probably his most dominant performance in high school.”

Dmitri Collaros, now a second baseman at Division III Otterbein University, was the Big Red quarterback that night. He knows a pro quarterback when he sees one (his older brother Zach won the 2019 Grey Cup as the starter for Winnipeg), and was amazed at not just the throws he saw from Burrow, but the elusiveness, the toughness. He saw defensive linemen and linebackers bounce off Burrow when he ran the ball. On one fourth-quarter carry, it took a gang of five Big Red defenders to stop Burrow’s forward progress 20 yards downfield. They never brought him down.

Five years later, Collaros jokes that he was a cocky high schooler and when they watched tape of Burrow before the game, he told teammates, “I’m better than this guy.” 

He wanted to believe it, too. Even after the game, he jokingly repeated his bluff, until one of his coaches called him out.

“He said, ‘Can you take a three-step drop and throw a 15-yard out to the opposite hash mark?’” Collaros recalled. “I said, ‘No.’”

How many high school quarterbacks can?

No matter what happens this December in New York City, there will likely never be a person who has been named Mr. Football, Gatorade Player of the Year, Heisman Trophy winner and Gridiron Glory Player of the Year.

Because Burrow never won the Gridiron Glory award. Not as a sophomore or a junior (when he won his first Gatorade award) or even as a senior, when he was named the best player in the entire football-crazy state.

Gridiron Glory is a weekly TV show put on by broadcasting students at Ohio University. It’s a staple of southeast Ohio football.

But the player of the year award was, until 2015, voted on solely by fans, and as Karli Bell, a former student who worked on the show in 2014, explained, fans of other schools would vote more often than ones in Athens. That’s how Hunter Sexton, the quarterback of Jackson High, beat Burrow for this award his senior year.

In fact, Burrow wasn’t even up for the award because the Gridiron Glory staff oddly nominated the whole Athens offense. Sexton, who put up around 1,500 combined yards compared to Burrow’s 5,000 or so, is now a relief pitcher at Marshall. And, yes, he gets a kick out of beating Burrow for the award. So do his friends.

“They joke about it,” Sexton said. “They ask why I didn’t end up playing football in college.”

Sexton’s team at Jackson was no joke, though. Two of his teammates that year went to Division I schools after Jackson went 10-0 in the regular season and won a playoff game.

“We were the two top teams in that part of the state,” he said. “Just to see that sort of talent and know he was going to OSU. It’s kind of awesome I ended up winning.”

While his friends joke that he could’ve won the Heisman, Sexton appreciates the differences between him and Burrow as teenage quarterbacks. 

“I mean, honestly, you could tell he was on another level,” Sexton said, echoing a refrain you hear from practically every quarterback who had to match up against Burrow. 

Athens had to come back from a 17-7 halftime deficit against two-time defending state champ St. Vincent-St. Mary to make it to the 2014 state championship game. SVSM quarterback Dom Davis looks back and remembers how calm Burrow and Athens remained coming out for the third quarter.

“You had that feeling of impending doom coming out of halftime,” he said. “Maybe we just pissed him off. The second half was all him. It was a one-man wrecking crew.”

Davis said during the game he stood on the sideline waiting for Burrow to make a mistake, to throw off his back foot into coverage, something. But even when Burrow did make a play under duress, Davis remembers him putting the ball where only his receiver could catch it. Burrow would pick apart a defense with quick slants, screens and hitches “and then all of a sudden, they throw a 30-yard bomb and it would be a completed pass.”

Athens won, 34-31.

“It’s an hour bus ride home,” Davis said. “And I was thinking that dude will end up winning the Heisman and be the first pick of the draft. I thought he was that good.”

Now, five years later, he watches LSU games like everyone else, appreciating what he saw then, what he sees now and whether he’s going to prove prophetic. 

“I played against Joe freaking Burrow,” he said.

The eye test favored perennial football power Toledo Central Catholic in the 2014 state championship game .

“The biggest thing I remember pregame is looking at their team and our team and getting the vibe that everyone in the stadium thinks this is not going to go well,” White said. “It kind of looked different.”

The Division III state championship game was at Ohio Stadium. Burrow had verbally committed to the Buckeyes the spring of his junior year, but signing day was months away. So the recruiting was still ongoing.

“It was very cold,” Jimmy Burrow said. “(Ohio State’s offensive coordinator) Tom Herman sat with us during the game and we had to give him a blanket.”

A little more than 10,000 people filled Ohio Stadium that day, and Athens had a sizable contingent, and not just from the town. On the bus ride out of southeast Ohio, Burrow and his teammates saw rivals rally in support. 

“Logan High School put up a banner on the overpass on Rt. 33 going up to Columbus,” Ryan Luehrman said. “It was amazing, there was a whole convoy of fire trucks.” 

In a show of solidarity, Sexton, still basking in his Gridiron Glory, showed up in Columbus with his Jackson teammates. They weren’t alone. It felt like all of southeast Ohio was following Athens High.

“Football in Athens historically hadn’t been very popular,” Adam Luehrman said. “But I remember the state championship game, there were so many rows of people, alums in their old varsity jackets, it was a sea of gold and green.”

On the field, the game was as advertised, a shootout between two teams of distinct styles. State championship records fell. Toledo Central Catholic old-schooled its way to 501 rushing yards. Athens threw for 446 yards and six touchdowns. 

According to the game story in the Columbus Dispatch, only two second-half possessions didn’t result in points, including Burrow’s second interception of the season. But Toledo Central Catholic had the last opportunity, and scored an 8-yard touchdown run with 15 seconds left for a 56-52 win.

“That game is such a blur now,” Ryan Luehrman said. “Those last few plays, those were the slowest seconds of my life. It was a heartbreaker. It took me a long time to quit replaying it in my head.”

“I still haven’t watched it,” Adam Luehrman said. “I watched plays when I did my highlight reel, but I haven’t watched the final plays yet.”

Adams said he was nervous about what his players would say in a press conference after the game. But they handled it well. As Jimmy Burrow recalls, his son said, “it’s the worst day of his life.”

“Coach (Urban) Meyer, on our official visit, which might’ve been like a week or two later, said that the most impressive thing about the whole game was Joe’s interview after the game,” Jimmy Burrow said. “He had watched the press conference and he thought Joe handled it the way you would want someone to handle it.”

Burrow signed with Ohio State the following winter. He redshirted, excelling off the field in Columbus and in the weight room, but when it came time to earn a starting job, a hand injury in August 2017 hurt his chances. Before his redshirt junior year, with a degree already in hand, he would be eligible immediately if he decided to transfer. 

When it came time to choose, Jimmy said OU came up again, but considering that the Bobcats had a solid returning starter in Nathan Rourke, the coach in him didn’t feel comfortable pushing it. And Ohio didn’t really fit with Joe’s vision. He wanted to win a national championship, not a MAC title.

That he chose LSU over Cincinnati was a bit of a surprise, though, given the Tigers’ longtime infatuation with the run. But Ed Orgeron promised they’d open up the passing game, which he did this season with the addition of passing guru Joe Brady. 

“Rarely is Joe is overly excited,” White said of Burrow. “But this summer he was drawing stuff on board to show me what they’re doing. ‘We’re going to throw it around and be one back or empty.’ He was very confident they were going to change.”

LSU becoming a high-octane passing team is about as shocking as Athens High going to the state championship. In 13 games last season, Burrow threw for just 2,894 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions. 

On Nov. 30, through 12 games, Burrow set the SEC single-season record for passing (4,336 yards), tied the mark for passing touchdowns (44) and still threw only six picks. His accuracy has been even more impressive than his totals — his completion percentage has shot from 58.7 percent in 2018 to a nation-leading 78.3 percent this fall. 

“It literally looks like high school football in the SEC, which is bananas,” said Saltzman, who attended a number of games in person this season. “This guy is literally throwing the same completion percentage in the SEC as he did in high school against the TVC. It’s hilarious.”

Crazy as this seems, are the people who knew him then surprised by the heights he’s reached now? No, not really.

“He’s a genius,” said Williams, who texts regularly with Burrow and his other Athens teammates. “He knows everything. These are the same things that I’ve seen him do when I was literally right there beside him.”

“I remember the first summer I came to Georgetown,” Saltzman said. ”It was Joe’s redshirt freshman year at Ohio State, and we were talking about good people we played with. My friends from New Jersey played against guys like Jabrill Peppers. I was like, ‘You know what guys, I’ll tell you what right now, the quarterback I played with is going to win the Heisman before it’s all said and done.’ They were like ‘Nah, no shot, who is this kid?’ I was like ‘Just wait on it.'”

Had Burrow succeeded like this at Ohio State, the results would’ve seemed more in line with all of those expectations like Saltzman’s. But in some ways, Burrow dominating at a place like LSU makes it even sweeter.

“It’s still absolutely a pinch yourself, can’t believe it’s happening kind of deal,” White said.

“It’s been a complete joy for me,” Adams said. “I’ve had all the time in the world to really just bask in these games.”

Whenever Burrow comes back to Athens, Ryan Luehrman said they mostly lay low at the twins’ apartment. When they don’t, like when they went to a high school road game last season, Burrow is hit with a barrage of selfie requests.

Burrow will never be just a kid from Athens again. As the stars align, the demands will only grow. A Heisman, the postseason, the NFL draft. Even after his first season at LSU, when he started all 13 games, he still lived a relatively normal life by college football standards.

“I went down to Baton Rouge over the summer,” Saltzman said, ‘and we were driving around and Joe’s like, ‘Man, I’m in Louisiana. How about that?’ Yeah, I never would’ve thought. This is pretty crazy.”

Solich has seen it all. He succeeded legendary Tom Osborne at Nebraska and won a Big 12 title two years later and averaged nine wins in six years. The fan base still turned. When he first got to Athens in 2002, he said there were OSU flags everywhere. But they were eventually replaced by OU ones as his program started winning every year. He knows that fan bases are rarely built overnight, which makes those LSU flags around town all the more remarkable. Next fall, those LSU flags will likely be replaced. Perhaps by Bengals flags.

But before Burrow thinks about the NFL, he has unfinished business. The key to Burrow’s decisions to both attend Ohio State and transfer to LSU were predicated on the chance to win a national championship. Now Burrow’s two schools, his past and his present, are first and second in the college football playoff rankings. And if Burrow ends up playing the Buckeyes for a national title?

“If that happens,” Adams said. “Every goddamn one of the stars aligned.”

(Top photo of Joe Burrow at Athens High: Trisha Smathers / TS Photos)

Get all-access to exclusive stories.

Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.

Jon Greenberg is a columnist for The Athletic based in Chicago. He was also the founding editor of The Athletic. Before that, he was a columnist for ESPN and the executive editor of Team Marketing Report. Follow Jon on Twitter @ jon_greenberg

Why is Christian Science in our name?

Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.

The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.

Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.

Your subscription makes our work possible.

We want to bridge divides to reach everyone.

Get stories that empower and uplift daily.

Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads .

Select free newsletters:

A selection of the most viewed stories this week on the Monitor's website.

Every Saturday

Hear about special editorial projects, new product information, and upcoming events.

Select stories from the Monitor that empower and uplift.

Every Weekday

An update on major political events, candidates, and parties twice a week.

Twice a Week

Stay informed about the latest scientific discoveries & breakthroughs.

Every Tuesday

A weekly digest of Monitor views and insightful commentary on major events.

Every Thursday

Latest book reviews, author interviews, and reading trends.

Every Friday

A weekly update on music, movies, cultural trends, and education solutions.

The three most recent Christian Science articles with a spiritual perspective.

Every Monday

Why Joe Burrow's Heisman Trophy speech changed lives

Joe Burrow is great on the gridiron. But Heisman Trophy winner made a more lasting contribution to thousands of hungry kids in Ohio. 

• By David Clark Scott Audience Engagement Editor @davidclarkscott

December 18, 2019

Louisiana State University quarterback Joe Burrow won the prestigious Heisman Trophy this weekend. But what he did Saturday night was arguably way more impressive than anything he’s done on the gridiron.

With help from fans, he’s raised $430,000 for hungry kids in Ohio.

In accepting college football’s most coveted award, Mr. Burrow said this: 

“Coming from southeast Ohio it’s a very impoverished area and the poverty rate is almost two times the national average. There’s 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.”

The speech prompted Athens resident Will Drabold to set up a fundraising page on Facebook. In three days, more than 12,000 people have donated funds to support the Athens County Food Pantry.

But perhaps more important than the money raised is the shift in attitudes among children living in the Appalachian foothills of Ohio. Mr. Drabold told the Columbus Dispatch that his wife, a teacher, said that one of her 3rd graders declared with pride “I go to the food bank.” This isn’t pride in hunger. Rather, it’s a child’s understanding that they aren’t defined by poverty. They can overcome it and help others, just like Mr. Burrows.  

And that, said Mr. Drabold, is the lasting gift: “None of these kids, who are in the same classrooms Joey was, will ever forget this.”

Help fund Monitor journalism for $11/ month

Already a subscriber? Login

Monitor journalism changes lives because we open that too-small box that most people think they live in. We believe news can and should expand a sense of identity and possibility beyond narrow conventional expectations.

Our work isn't possible without your support.

Unlimited digital access $11/month.

Digital subscription includes:

• Unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.
• CSMonitor.com archive.
• The Monitor Daily email.
• No advertising.
• Cancel anytime.

Related stories

Progress watch meal programs and food banks chip away at us child hunger, first look why the fed chair cares about the plight of the poor, kyle kashuv case: what does forgiveness mean in modern america, share this article.

Link copied.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

Subscription expired

Your subscription to The Christian Science Monitor has expired. You can renew your subscription or continue to use the site without a subscription.

Return to the free version of the site

If you have questions about your account, please contact customer service or call us at 1-617-450-2300 .

This message will appear once per week unless you renew or log out.

Session expired

Your session to The Christian Science Monitor has expired. We logged you out.

No subscription

You don’t have a Christian Science Monitor subscription yet.

Women's gymnastics finals

Men's gymnastics finals

DIII men's volleyball | Round 2

Baseball bracket predictions

Wayne Staats | NCAA.com | April 24, 2020

12 great moments from joe burrow's lsu career.

Joe Burrow went from Ohio State transfer to a Heisman winner at LSU in two seasons, a remarkable finish to a career that ended with an FCS-record 60 touchdown passes in the 2019 season and a College Football Playoff national championship. And now Burrow is the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Here are 12 of Burrow's top moments with the Tigers.

Joe Burrow at LSU: 12 standout moments

First start for the tigers — sept. 2, 2018.

Def. No. 8 Miami, 33-17

In his first start with LSU after transferring from Ohio State, Burrow led the Tigers to a 24-point halftime lead before the big win against preseason top-10 Miami. Burrow was 11-for-24 for 140 yards in the win.

Game-winning drive at Auburn — Sept. 15, 2018

Def. No. 7 Auburn, 22-21

The Tigers earned another top-10 win, this time thanks to a 42-yard Cole Tracy field goal on the final play of the game. LSU trailed 21-10 before rallying. In the fourth quarter, Burrow found Derrick Dillon for a 71-yard strike to take it to 21-19. Then, with LSU down two points on its 24 and only 5:28 remaining, Burrow led his team on a 14-play, 52-yard drive to set up the Tracy field goal. Burrow finished 15-for-34 for 249 yards and a touchdown.

The game-winning field goal from @cole__tracy is the 2018-19 Play of the Year! #LSUMikey pic.twitter.com/kjtBkxlgsl — LSU Tigers (@LSUsports) August 26, 2019

Down go the Dawgs — Oct. 13, 2019

Def. No. 2 Georgia, 36-16

LSU picked up a notable win against No. 2 Georgia in an impressive 20-point victory. Burrow completed half of his 30 passes but reached 200 passing yards and rushed for 66 yards and two scores. The Tigers went 4-for-4 on fourth-down conversions.

Ending UCF’s unbeaten run — Jan. 1, 2019

Def. No. 8 UCF, 40-32

Burrow’s big game halted UCF’s 25-game win streak in a 40-32 win in the Fiesta Bowl. Shaking off a hit after an interception, Burrow regrouped to pass for 394 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. The victory gave LSU a 10-win season (10-3) and a top-10 final national ranking.

Outscoring Texas — Sept. 7, 2019

Def. No. 9 Texas, 45-38

In a showdown with Texas star QB Sam Ehlinger, Burrow won the stats and the game in Austin. Burrow threw for 471 yards and four touchdowns — including 15-for-18 for 251 yards and two scores after halftime. After the game, Burrow met with Longhorns coach Tom Herman, who recruited Burrow at Ohio State when Herman was an assistant there.

UNBEATEN: Every undefeated national champion since 1936

Top-10 SEC triumph — Oct. 12, 2019

Def. No. 7 Florida, 42-28

Two 5-0 teams met in Baton Rouge, but Florida couldn’t keep pace with the Tigers. Burrow had as many touchdown passes as incompletions (three), going 21-for-24 for 293 yard and three touchdowns.

Beating ‘Bama — Nov. 9, 2019

Def. No. 3 Alabama, 46-41

The losing streak to the Tide ended at eight, with LSU hanging on for a 46-41 win. Burrow went 31-for-39 for 393 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 64 yards as he won a battle with Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa.

Career night at Ole Miss — Nov. 16, 2019

Def. Ole Miss, 58-37

Yes, Burrow had two interceptions. Yes, Ole Miss rushed for 402 yards. But Burrow and LSU still won by 21 points on the road. This time, Burrow passed for a career-high 489 yards and five touchdowns and even completed 17 passes in a row to set a school record. He also broke the school record for pass yards in a season (Rohan Davey in 2001). Three of the touchdowns went to Ja’Marr Chase, who had eight catches for 227 yards and three touchdowns.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS: All-time college football title history

SEC Champions — Dec. 7, 2019

Def. No. 4 Georgia, 37-10

Joe Burrow's final game before winning the Heisman couldn't have gone much better — or have been more of a coronation ceremony. Completing 28 of 38 passes, Burrow had 349 passing yards with four touchdowns in a rout of the No. 4 Bulldogs. The highlight was when he spun and stepped away from pressure before throwing on the run and finding Justin Jefferson for a 71-yard play.

The Heisman is his — Dec. 14, 2019

There was no doubt about this. Burrow won the highest percentage of first-place votes, the highest percentage of possible points and appeared on the most ballots ever. His margin of victory (1,846) broke the old one held by O.J. Simpson in 1968 . Burrow became only the second LSU player to win the Heisman after Billy Cannon in 1959.

It Lives Forever pic.twitter.com/I8Xn7qnFsR — LSU Football (@LSUfootball) December 15, 2019

Crushing Oklahoma in the CFP semifinals — Dec. 28, 2019

Def. No. 4 Oklahoma, 63-28

The game was seemingly over before it really got started. LSU led 49-14 at halftime and cruised to a big win. Playing for the first time since taking the Heisman, Burrow went 29-for-39 for 493 yards and seven touchdown passes while also rushing for another score. Justin Jefferson was his top target. The two connected 14 times for 227 yards and four touchdowns. Burrow's seven TD passes tied the record for a bowl game — and they all came in the first half.

Even when chased toward the sideline, Burrow had answers.

Like a video game pic.twitter.com/GeQ1yuVMQ3 — LSU Football (@LSUfootball) December 28, 2019

Winning the CFP National Championship — Jan. 13, 2020

Def. No. 3 Clemson, 42-25

Facing a 10-point deficit to the defending national champions, Burrow and LSU responded with a dominant run to pull away for the program's first title since the 2007 season. The Tigers piled up 628 yards as Burrow ended his college career 31-of-49 for 463 yards and five touchdowns along with 58 rushing yards and a touchdown.

NATIONAL TITLE: How Burrow, LSU beat Clemson for the crown

Here's every 2024 HBCU football homecoming and classic in the FCS

FCS and HBCU football prospects to know in the 2024 NFL draft

Making sense of FCS conference realignment

Colleges with the most overall No. 1 picks in NFL draft history

17 of the best walk-ons in college football history

The longest college football field goal: What we know

Here are college football's 9 all-time winningest teams

College football national championship history

Follow fbs football.

Latest Weather Blog

Joe burrow's lessons in leadership learned at lsu now paying off in super bowl run.

Joe Burrow may not have learned to throw a spiral while on LSU's campus from 2018 to 2020, but he did learn some occupational skills that are proving to be just as important as he makes his Super Bowl run with the Cincinnati Bengals.

"I take none of the real credit for his ability to throw a football or his athleticism or his elite nature for that, but I do get to claim to be the instructor of record for the leadership development courses that he took as a student pursuing his Master's degree here at LSU," said Leslie Blanchard, who taught Burrow in three different graduate level classes at LSU.

Blanchard, the executive director of the Leadership Institute of LSU, was Burrow's online professor as he started and finished his Master's degree while playing football for the Tigers during that national championship run.

She knew right away when Burrow showed up on her class roster who he was and what it meant to have him in their program.

"I was born and raised in South Louisiana. I am an LSU football girl, so I knew who he was when I got the the roster," Blanchard said. "There's elective coursework that you can take within the master's degree program he pursued and he chose leadership. So you can tell based on that his intent was was likely to develop alongside his athleticism was to develop his leadership skills as well."

Blanchard added that Burrow applies the lessons learned in the program to both his team building and speaking engagements.

"There's both art and science to leadership. The science of it is being able to have an evidence base and a research base and being able to teach and replicate what it looks like when it's well done well, and then the art to it is that everybody does it differently, what it looks like when it's done, well looks different for you and for me and for Joe. And so he was able to marry those two things really well. He did the work, he replicated the science, he dug deeply into the content, but then he also brought his own special thing to it."

Trending News

• Gonzales Police searching for three people who stole $1,000 in merchandise from Tanger Michael Kors
• BRPD: Man shot while driving on Old Hammond Highway

Blanchard made sure to not only give Burrow a great start on his leadership building, but to also get something to remember him by, convincing Burrow to sign his three thesis papers for the classes she taught him.

When she posted the signed cover letter on social media, Blanchard received plenty of suggestions on what to do with the papers. 

"I started getting, you know, 'you should frame that.' Of course, that's clear. You should ensure that that was mine. And then people offering me money to read it like I was literally offered to, you know, 'you should publish this.' I'll pay you to read with the leadership that doesn't favor like I'm sorry, first of all it's illegal. And I'm not willing to sacrifice my job for that. Second of all, you see it in action, every day. So actually walking through a thought process, while it's probably really interesting, is also — I don't know — how riveting it actually is."

Desktop News

• Man arrested in first-degree rape, allegedly assaulted victim while wielding axe
• LSU gym's Kiya Johnson returns home to Fort Worth for final match...
• Collective effort creates a championship-caliber LSU gymnastics team
• Constitutional convention looms for state lawmakers
• Interstate sound wall burned from fire caused by homeless encampment

Sports Video

• Baton Rouge Zydeco wraps up inaugural season
• $$$ Best Bets: A Tradition Unlike Any Other! $$$
• Brian Kelly speaks with media Saturday
• LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan

• FanNation FanNation FanNation
• Swimsuit SI Swimsuit SI Swimsuit
• Sportsbook SI Sportsbook SI Sportsbook
• Tickets SI Tickets SI Tickets
• Shop SI Shop SI Shop
• Free Agency
• What's on TV
• NCAAF NCAAF NCAAF
• Home Home Home
• Scores Scores Scores
• Schedule Schedule Schedule
• Rankings Rankings Rankings
• Standings Standings Standings
• Stats Statistics Statistics
• Teams Teams Teams

Joe Burrow's Remarkable Rise Has Been Beyond Even His Wildest Dreams

• Author: Ross Dellenger

When he was a boy, he imagined a different storybook fairy tale.

Joe Burrow dreamed of suiting up for the college football team he had rooted for all his life, where his father and two older brothers had played. He grew up in The Plains, Ohio, became a star quarterback in high school and led his team to a state championship game appearance. In his dreams he would go on to lift the once-proud program that he revered—Nebraska—back to prominence. Maybe, when his imagination got carried away, even to a national championship.

But Burrow’s dream was not meant to be. The Cornhuskers wouldn’t even give him a look. “They were questioning his arm strength and whatever,” says Joe’s brother Dan, a Huskers safety in the early 2000s. “All Joe ever wanted to do was play for Nebraska. It really, really hurt me.”

Burrow went to Ohio State instead, where he sat on the bench for three seasons. When he decided to transfer as a redshirt junior, Nebraska, mired in a dismal stretch, could have landed him again. The Cornhuskers passed. When asked about Burrow at the time, Nebraska coach Scott Frost said, “You think he’s better than what we got?”

And so, the fairy tale would forever remain unrealized. Instead, reality would exceed Burrow’s greatest fantasy.

On a warm November Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., LSU starting quarterback Joe Burrow sat on his nose tackle’s burly right shoulder. His arms stretched toward the heavens as he stared into a sea of cameras and stuck out his tongue. Just moments after the Tigers’ 46–41 win over Alabama, here was the new face of the game: the cartoon-loving, tongue-wagging quarterback who, after being unwanted in Lincoln then unused in Columbus, was now a legend in Baton Rouge .

“It’s been the greatest story in college football,” says Kirk Herbstreit, a longtime ESPN analyst and former Ohio State quarterback who has known Burrow since his teenage years. Consider: The Nebraska legacy snubbed by the Cornhuskers has led LSU to a 11–0 start, the No. 1 ranking and an almost certain berth in the College Football Playoff. The preseason 200-to-1 shot for the Heisman (on Las Vegas sports book betting boards long enough to include him) is now the favorite to become the second Tiger to hoist the trophy, the first since halfback Billy Cannon 60 years ago. The senior who went unlisted on many draft boards last summer has piloted a revolutionary, record-breaking offense so adroitly that he is on the short list to be the top quarterback selected next spring—maybe even the top overall player taken. One veteran NFL scout says Burrow is the most improved player from one year to the next that he’s ever seen.

From Average Joe to possible No. 1 pick? Even Joe Burrow himself wouldn’t have dreamed that up.

At 6' 4", 216 pounds, Burrow cuts the figure of a big-time college quarterback. He may even fool you into thinking he’s already in the NFL, with his businesslike attitude, low voice and intense focus. He was four-star rated at Athens High, guiding the Bulldogs to a Division III state runner-up finish in 2014 as a senior, but his limited arm strength made him less attractive to blue-blood programs. Then Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman, now the coach at Texas, had to persuade his boss, Urban Meyer, to offer Burrow a scholarship after seeing him during a scouting trip.

In Columbus, Burrow had some bad luck. At first he sat behind J.T. Barrett, then behind future NFL first-rounder Dwayne Haskins, but he also broke his right thumb during camp of his second year, eventually costing him a shot at the ’18 starting job. Instead of potentially spending another year on the bench, he announced his transfer in April 2018.

Burrow whittled a list of two dozen interested schools—including Georgia, Alabama and Michigan—to two: LSU and Cincinnati, the latter a favorite to land Burrow because of his relationship with Bearcats coach Luke Fickell, the former Buckeyes defensive coordinator. “I thought he was leaning that way,” says Jimmy Burrow, Joe’s father, a former coach who spearheaded his son’s transfer recruitment.

A visit to LSU changed things . Joe Burrow dined on crawfish at a Baton Rouge restaurant, broke down film with coaches during a four-hour meeting and was wooed by one of the sport’s best known recruiters, coach Ed Orgeron.

“As we leave, Coach O is like ‘Did you get my number?’”says Dan Burrow. “That was cool. We kept in touch throughout that next week. Joe really had to sit down and think about it. He told us he wants to play football at the highest level. ‘If that’s true,’ I told him, ‘there’s LSU and there’s Cincinnati. There’s only one answer.’ ”

Joe arrived in Baton Rouge three months before the ’18 opener, won the job in preseason camp and then finished the year with a furious four-game stretch, completing 67% of his passes for 291.5 yards a game while throwing 10 touchdowns to one interception. The run convinced Orgeron to speed up his plan to overhaul an archaic, run-heavy offense.

From the first snap of 2019, Burrow has flourished in a new shotgun-based, no-huddle spread system implemented this offseason by Joe Brady, a 30-year-old former Saints assistant. The quarterback has already shattered single-season school records for passing touchdowns (41) and yards (4,014) while throwing just six interceptions. He’s the second-most prolific passer in college football (364.9 yards per game) and the most accurate (78.6%), startling statistics for a QB who last year threw for 2,894 yards and 16 TDs while completing 57.8% of his attempts.

“For Joe, [the talent has] been there,” says junior running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. “It just wasn’t displayed a lot because of the offense we were running.”

Says an LSU football staff member, “We were asking him to play Uno when he’s a chess master.” The new offense plays to Burrow’s strength: his mind. His coaches say his football IQ is off the charts.

It was on full display in the final seconds of LSU’s Week 2 win at then No. 9 Texas, when Burrow identified a jailbreak blitz, stepped up into a collapsing pocket and, off balance with a defender in his face, whistled a pass to receiver Justin Jefferson for a 61-yard touchdown on third-and-17. Within hours of LSU’s 45–38 victory , a framed photograph of the play was hung inside the halls of the Tigers’ football operations center.

Burrow’s acumen can be traced back to parents, both of whom are educators. His mother, Robin, is an elementary school principal and Jimmy is a longtime college and high school teacher who played safety under Tom Osborne in Lincoln. The baby of the family—Joey, his family calls him—is a much younger half-brother to Jamie, 40, and Dan, 38. Around the time that Jamie started at middle linebacker for a 2001 Nebraska team that lost in the national championship game, Joey began playing youth football, transitioning from the family forte, defense, to quarterback because the Bulldogs didn’t have any other capable passers.

But just because he played offense did not mean he played soft. “He had no choice,” Jimmy says. “We weren’t going to let him not play physical.”

That mentality persists . Orgeron calls Burrow a linebacker playing quarterback. The coach jokes that he may institute a new pregame ritual to fire up his quarterback: having players bang against him in the locker room.

The Tigers point to the aftermath of LSU’s seven-overtime, five-hour, 74–72 marathon loss at Texas A&M in November ’18 in which Burrow attempted 38 passes and ran 29 times. One minute, he lay on the visiting locker room floor. The next, he was on a table with an IV in his arm and trainers feeding him cookies and applesauce. And then he saw his mom and dad, ushered inside by team personnel for one of the scariest sights any parent could see—their son a literal example of a human body giving out after a football game. The issue was serious enough that it delayed the team’s scheduled departure from Kyle Field, trainers tending to Joe before finally helping him to the bus.

“To see somebody put that kind of effort, desire and passion into a game,” longtime head LSU trainer Jack Marucci says, “it’s probably one of the first times I’ve seen anyone get into that kind of state of fatigue.”

Burrow embraces the grueling side of the game. “I enjoy getting hit sometimes,” Burrow said earlier this season. “It makes me feel like a real football player instead of a quarterback. People can look down on quarterbacks if they’re not taking hits.”

Excluding sacks, Burrow has 52 rushing attempts this year for more than 200 yards. He doesn’t run like your average quarterback, rarely heading out of bounds or sliding. Against Alabama, Burrow converted four third downs on game-securing scoring drives in the fourth quarter, two of them on runs of 15 and 18 yards.

Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports

His ability to withstand body blows endeared him not only to his new LSU teammates but also to the Tigers’ fans. Many faithful don number 9 jerseys with a Cajun-flavored alteration to his last name across their backs: Burreaux. Still, Burrow’s relocation to the Deep South wasn’t seamless. On his first trip to LSU’s dining hall teammates shamed him for eating a salad, instead pushing him to down fried chicken. (Which helps explains why Burrow gained 10 pounds his first six weeks.) The heat forced him to trim his shoulder-length locks and melted his very first pair of cleats, LSU’s outdoor artificial turf climbing well above 100º in the summer.

By the start of this season, Burrow fit in. The win over Texas in Week 2, in which he threw for 471 yards, was the first of four conquests of Top 10 teams. The upset over Alabama propelled Burrow to the top of the Heisman list.

Along the way Burrow has been fueled by the doubters who have dogged him since high school. He admits to keeping a log of the most egregious ones, as well as other slights. “Mental notes,” he says. “I still remember quarterbacks that schools took ahead of me in high school.”

He thinks about being ignored at All-Star events during high school, being neglected by Nebraska and the two failed cracks at the Ohio State starting job. “That really messed with him mentally,” says Dan. “He thought he had won the job.”

Burrow is calm and collected by nature, but sometimes the years of frustration surfaces. During a meeting with a television crew earlier this year, he confronted SEC Network analyst Jordan Rodgers, one of Burrow’s harshest critics over the last year. “The vast majority of fans I encounter have an inflated impression of Joe Burrow,” Rodgers had tweeted in August. “He was good in moments last year, but wildly inconsistent, and frankly very poor against good competition.”

The network meeting this fall came amid Burrow’s rise as the sport’s best quarterback. Cole Cubelic, another analyst present in the room, sensed tension between Burrow and Rodgers. He broke the ice by asking Burrow how much he hated Rodgers. Burrow quickly responded, “I definitely don’t like him,” and the room burst into laughter.

Burrow embraces the lighter side of things: He often sports clothes depicting cartoons— SpongeBob SquarePants , much of the time—and out of superstition wears one sock inside out each game. He holds strong views on the NCAA’s rules against allowing athletes to be compensated. “The system right now is broken,” he says. He is also forthright and open about social issues. During a summer interview with SI, he referenced a tweet from President Trump that directed four U.S. congresswomen to “go back” to their home countries.

“Why does racial inequality have to be political?” Burrow asked. “It’s basic human decency.”

Burrow’s opinions aren’t a talking point when scouts filter through the LSU football facility. According to Kevin Faulk, the former Tigers running back who is now the program’s director of player development, as many as 30 scouts visit each week. Before the Alabama game, seven scouts and a general manager were in one room analyzing Burrow’s film.

Conversations with NFL personnel about Burrow often involve Tom Brady , a teammate of Faulk’s in New England for 12 seasons. Burrow reminds Faulk of Brady in a variety of ways: poise, competitiveness and, most of all, vindictive attitude.

“You don’t think Tom doesn’t remember that he barely got drafted?” Faulk asks. “Joe remembers a whole lot of stuff.”

Burrow can seem focused squarely on football and his own pursuits. He lives off-campus, alone, and admits that there are parts of campus he’s never even seen. Having graduated from Ohio State with a degree in consumer and family finance, Burrow has a light masters-level classload that is online only.

Each Monday at the football facility, he is involved in a film-based exam of the next opponent, a test in which he must identify protection calls he’ll have to make. That means his Sundays are filled with film study. On Mondays and Tuesdays of game week, he meets with Joe Brady and offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger to pitch them his ideas on how to attack the next opponent. He pitches them ideas.

The two coaches trust their quarterback with presnap play calls; he’ll often change receiver routes based on defensive formations. “We might see it better than they do in the box or on the sideline,” Burrow says. “If I see something and want to check a play, I go do it.”

“He’s basically like a co-offensive coordinator,” Herbstreit says. “That’s the NFL model, when you have a quarterback able to invest and communicate at that level. Joe is the cutting edge of that mold. When I watch LSU, it’s not just Joe Brady’s offense—it’s Joe Brady and Joe Burrow’s offense.”

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Huston, a college football historian who runs Heisman.com, compares Burrow’s one-year surge with the 2002 emergence of Carson Palmer, who like Burrow had ho-hum stats as a redshirt junior before scorching defenses in his final season. But while many viewed Palmer as a top-flight talent who had, before his final year, underachieved, that isn’t the case for Burrow. “People last year weren’t asking, ‘What’s wrong with Joe Burrow?’ says Rece Davis, a longtime ESPN analyst and host of the network’s pregame show, College GameDay . “They thought they knew who he was.”

Others compare him with Heisman dark horses of the 1980s—Tim Brown, the first receiver to win the Heisman, or Barry Sanders, who burst onto the scene as a junior. In more recent history, there were unexpected winners like Cam Newton in 2010 and Johnny Manziel in ’12, but because they won the award after their first season as a starter, they weren’t written off as Burrow was after last year.

Over the summer agents and scouts told Jimmy Burrow that his son was a mid- to late-round pick. Now they’re telling him first round. The hip injury to Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa could result in Burrow’s being the first quarterback drafted or possibly the No. 1 overall choice. His stiffest competition may be Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert, as well as defensive lineman Chase Young of Ohio State.

“That toughness and competitiveness gene he has is a very good indicator of how he’s going to do at the next level,” says Daniel Jeremiah, a former NFL scout for the Ravens, the Browns and the Eagles, who’s now an analyst for NFL Network. “You start listing all of his good qualities and you realize how much you like him. You ask, ‘What’s wrong with him?’ Well, he doesn’t have a huge arm. Who cares?”

The biggest debate in the 2019 draft was Kyler Murray ’s height. This time it will be Joe Burrow’s arm.

“I think he’s got the real chance of being the No. 1 overall pick, but it’s still hard to convince some people because a guy doesn’t have the great body or great arm,” says one NFL scout. “He’s not a prototype guy from those standpoints. Maybe the NFL should change its prototype.”

Burrow still has time to improve his draft stock. He has a national title to chase. He may have to beat his former team to do so: Ohio State is No. 2 in the CFP rankings. Burrow remains close with several figures from his days in Columbus, including Meyer, who texts him before and after nearly every game.

For the rest of this season, at least, the Burrow family’s allegiances are to LSU. Before most games, you’ll find Joe’s parents and brothers under a tent in the shadow of Tiger Stadium, a Burrow Gang banner marking their location as they partake of gumbo and jambalaya.

All the members of the family are trying to wrap their minds around this whirlwind. “It blows my mind where it started and where we are today,” says Dan. “I thought he could be here and do it, but it’s mind-blowing for me—he did it. He’s here. It’s real. It’s crazy.”

Matt Porter is in a state of disbelief too. Back in June, Porter, an LSU fan living in Fort Lauderdale, put $50 on Burrow to win the Heisman Trophy at 200-to-1 for a potential payout of $10,000. When Burrow became a serious contender, in late October, Porter’s gambling outlet offered him $3,865.38 to cash out. He passed.

And now? Porter is already making plans to take his girlfriend to the Bahamas.

The long shot is now a veritable shoo-in. And that’s no fairy tale.

For More LSU Coverage, Visit LSU Maven

Latest NCAAF News

Texas Ex Brandon Jones Signs Deal With Broncos

Josh Heupel Sees Strong Future For Vols With New CFP Format

N-Kye Wynn Breaks Down His Kansas Offer

After a Decade In Seattle, Dissly Heads for L.A. to Join Chargers

Oklahoma Releases Official 2024 Spring Roster

• Visit Campus
• Social Media
• Faculty/Staff Directory
• Employment at the University
• Contact the University
• Accomodations
• Virtual Tour
• Media Relations
• The Roar Store
• About the Mount
• The Center for Mission & Belonging
• Administration
• Facilities on Campus
• Community Outreach
• Career Readiness
• Student Employment Resources
• Joe Lion Mascot Program
• Mount Moments
• Campus Icons & Traditions
• Majors, Minors, & Programs
• Academics at the Mount
• Graduate Programs
• Honors Program
• Career & Experiential Education
• Learning Center
• Academic Resources
• Disability Services
• Project EXCEL
• Registrar (Transcripts & Catalogs)
• Three-Year Programs
• Adult Students
• Transfer to the Mount
• Graduate Program Info Sessions
• Meet our Admission Counselors
• Undergraduate Programs - Request Information
• Graduate Programs - Request Information
• Online Programs - Request Information
• Accepted Students
• Financial Aid: Scholarships, Grants, & Loans
• Student Financial Services
• Tuition & Costs
• Forms & Applications
• Policies, Rules, & Regulations
• Student Life at the University
• Campus Activities & Student Organizations
• Life in Cincinnati
• Residence Life
• Campus Ministry
• Wellness, Counseling, & Health Resources
• MSJ Police Department and Campus Safety
• Dateline: Student Newspaper
• Lions on Line: student literary collection
• MSJ Renaissance
• msjlions.com
• Athletics at the Mount
• Intramurals
• News & Events
• Information For

He’s Not Joe Burrow, but…

Mount student josh taylor shares at least two identities with the bengals’ joe burrow: they are quarterbacks on winning football teams and they have pursued degrees in the liberal arts..

Taylor took time out from his busy sports and academic schedule to share some insight with “Dateline.”

What do you most treasure about your football experience at the Mount?

The relationships I have made while being here and playing football. I have met so many different people from diverse backgrounds and learned about different cultures and  have seen the similarities and differences between how I have grown up and lived versus how many of my teammates have. This has been a once in a lifetime experience. I have also met some of my best friends that are now family to me and will be that forever. Those are what I treasure the most. I have been blessed with people that have helped me through the hardest times of my life, while also having those same people there to smile with me through some of the happiest moments of my life.

Do you have a favorite NFL quarterback? What do you admire about him?

This is a hard question, because I like a lot of quarterbacks for different reasons. But, if I had to pin down my all-time favorite, Tom Brady would be my pick, not because he has won so many championships, but rather his preparation and discipline that he took so seriously to get him all of those championships. He is one of the best competitors in all of sports, and I would consider myself to be a lot like that. Much like him, I have always been counted out growing up, and he used it as motivation to prove those people wrong. He stayed within himself and did not take shortcuts in the work he had to put in throughout his life while leaning on the people he loved the most to help him break through.

Who is the person (or persons) you look to as a model for your personal life? What values do you share?

One thing that I am most blessed with is having many role models in my life. I am fortunate enough to have many people in all kinds of roles that have helped me grow as a man and continue to grow as I live my life. The qualities and values that I look up to the most come from my late father James Taylor who passed away in 2020, Caleb Corrill who is one of my coaches at the Mount, Tom Albers, and my Uncle Terry Plank, along with many great men and women in my life. These qualities include not taking shortcuts in life. Life is not always fair, and you are going to lose a lot more than you are going to win. What I mean by that is life is not going to give you something just because you think you deserve it. It is up to us to work for those things and go grab what we want, and if we do not get those things, the only option is to keep working to make it happen. I have also learned from them that it is easier to do life with people that you love rather than doing it by yourself. Then the most important quality I have learned this far is to just have fun and smile. Life is too short to constantly worry and stress about things that are out of your control. So, just surround yourself with people that you love, and enjoy the ride!

Bengals QB Joe Burrow earned a master’s degree in Liberal Arts from Louisiana State University, and you are pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts with a history concentration. What are a few courses in this major that you have enjoyed, and why?

I have learned many valuable things throughout my time at the Mount and in the Liberal Arts program. The one class I probably enjoyed the most is Aesthetics: The Philosophy of Beauty with Professor Iris Spoor. The reason why is I took this class a semester after my dad passed so I had time to digest that situation and have a different perspective on the situation, and this class came at a perfect time in my life and where I was at the time. This class was all about finding beauty in every aspect of the world. Whether it was through nature, animals, humans, and situations in our lives. This class helped me to discover that there is beauty in every situation we go through even when we cannot see it in the moment. It definitely did this for me in the mourning of my father because it allowed me to see the beauty in that. It led me to see and reflect on all of the memories I had with my father and be grateful for the time I was able to spend with him.

You will student teach next semester in pursuit of licensure in Adolescent and Young Adult Integrated Social Studies. What goals do you have for that semester?

I am very excited but also a little nervous for the opportunity to student teach. The goal I have for this semester is to put everything I have learned from the great education department here at the Mount into play. I am also really looking forward to being able to get comfortable and confident in finding my own voice and style in my teaching. I have had some practice through my practicums, but being able to take full control over a classroom and apply my own personality to my teaching over a 12-week period is something I am looking forward to.

In photo: Josh Taylor, player #4 on right.

Related News

Jason and Travis Kelce take Cincinnati to ‘New Heights’

Cincy heroes, skyline chili, surprises abound on an unforgettable night at uc.

After a night full of surprises, the biggest one of all was for Jason and Travis Kelce.

The NFL stars and UC alumni brought their “New Heights” podcast to the University of Cincinnati for a live show Thursday night. And while the brothers are proud Bearcats, neither had crossed the stage at commencement to receive their degrees in person.

After an evening full of fun twists and turns and special guests, the Kelces themselves were surprised when President Neville Pinto and Athletic Director John Cunningham came out to host an impromptu graduation ceremony just for them.

It might have been the first commencement where a graduate quoted the Beastie Boys and downed a beer onstage.

Jason Kelce gives a spirited speech at the impromptu graduation ceremony at the end of the event. Photo/Kelly Bennett

Fans pack arena after last-minute venue change

After a venue change to avoid rainy weather in Nippert Stadium, a sold-out crowd of 12,500 students and supporters filled Fifth Third Arena Thursday, with many lining up outside the venue early in the morning to secure the best seats. While the new location doesn’t hold the same significance to the Kelces that Nippert would have, it was a great venue for the lengthy event — doors opened at 5 p.m. and the show ended around 11 p.m.

Fans packed the arena decked out in gear representing the Bearcats, Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals — podcast guest and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow being a draw for many.

Among the students was sophomore Marcus Elliott, who can often be found sporting Chiefs apparel, even when Travis Kelce is not in the same room.

Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

Photo/Sean Hughes/UC Marketing + Brand

Above left to right: Elliott shows his Kansas City pride on Decision Day 2011, in CVG airport and on a service-learning trip in Tanzania.

In 2021 when UC officials surprised Elliott at his home with a full ride to UC , it was clear that while he was excited to be a Bearcat, he’s a Chiefs fan through and through.

He’s a longtime fan of cornerback Darrelle Revis, who ended his career with the Chiefs, and has been following Kansas City ever since.

So there was no way he was missing out on “New Heights.” He describes the experience as surreal.

“The event was great and a lot of fun,” Elliott says. “I went with my friend who is a Bengals fan, and we have a nice team rivalry.”

Travis Kelce (center bottom) takes a selfie with hundreds of students. Photo/Kelly Bennett

Throwback footage of the brothers from their UC days and clips from their podcast played on the jumbotron before the event began. But this audience needed no warming up.

Excitement and Cincinnati pride was palpable.

Academics and student-athletes face off in Great ‘Lombaby’ Games

Around 8 p.m., Travis and Jason took the stage to introduce the first-ever Great Lombaby Games. Jason said he was Inspired by the movie “Revenge of the Nerds” to host a series of challenges for students, jocks versus nerds — or rather, student-athletes versus academics.

Students selected from across majors and sports faced off in pursuit of the Lombaby trophy, a giant, 100-pound baby (and nod to the Super Bowl’s Vince Lombardi Trophy) with a gold cup.

In the tradition of athletic events, the games began with the national anthem. Photo/Kelly Bennett

The arena transformed into something out of Nickelodeon's “Double Dare,” with obstacle courses, a mechanical bull and inflatable pools filled with Skyline chili.

The brothers introduced the two teams of students, who competed in a series of twisted games. Travis and Jason provided live color commentary as students answered trivia questions on a mechanical bull and pinned the mustache on Kansas City coach Andy Reid.

Two students had to run sprints across the court between scarfing cheese coneys — it was their first time trying the Cincinnati delicacy. An unfortunate introduction, indeed.

Ultimately it was the academics who prevailed.

While the podcast recording was the main event, the games were certainly a highlight. The Kelces were clearly having a blast, interacting with students and fans and keeping the energy sky-high.

Team Academics clinches the win. Photo/Kelly Bennett

Photo/Abdoul Sow

Photo/Kelly Bennett

Giving back to students at the heart of the event

The night brought more than just fun and games — it was an opportunity to give back. Organizers say Jason and Travis were adamant about providing free tickets to students (there was an online lottery for tickets) and donating proceeds to UC student-athletes via Cincy Reigns, UC’s official Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) collective.

“Student-athletes specifically benefited from the exposure of Cincy Reigns, and the generosity of Travis and Jason,” says UC Athletics Deputy AD Anthony Di Fino. “They had a firm belief that this event should support NIL to ensure top athletes from around the country can see that Clifton offers a great experience at the highest levels of college athletics.” 

Before the event, the Kelces met with the Bearcats football team and announced a $10,000 scholarship for walk-on defensive lineman Ben Blevins. 

Jason and Travis Kelce presented UC student Ben Blevins with a scholarship check. Photo/Isabella Marley

“Travis and I are incredibly honored,” Jason told reporters that afternoon, “and it’s crazy that we’re put in position to do stuff like this.”

That night they brought Blevins onstage, presented him with an oversized check and played a video message from retired NFL quarterback Drew Brees. 

Brees is a co-owner of Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux Restaurant, which is sponsoring 13 scholarships to walk-on athletes as a tribute to Jason’s 13-year career, which began as a walk-on at UC.

NFL reunions abound for ‘New Heights Live’

After a brief intermission, it was time for the main event. Introducing the Kelces via video was none other than Cincinnati mayor and fellow UC alum Aftab Pureval. 

Pureval and Travis had a bit of a light-hearted spat earlier this year after the mayor playfully trash-talked the Chiefs ahead of their championship game against the Bengals. When the Chiefs won, Pureval walked back his comments and Travis famously called him a “jabroni,” quoting Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. 

“Don't be a jabroni,” Pureval said in the video, “make some noise and let’s welcome ‘New Heights Live!’”

The crowd cheered and pyrotechnics blasted as Travis and Jason came out once again. Jason changed from jeans to shorts for some reason.

Most of us are used to podcasts having ads and this one was no different. The guys promoted the newest menu items from Subway before launching what appeared to be dozens of footlong sandwiches into the crowd with T-shirt guns. Thankfully they turned out to be T-shirts wrapped up like subs, so turkey and lettuce weren’t raining from the sky.

If you did want a free sandwich, their mom Donna Kelce — who’s become something of a star in her own right over the past year — was handing out Subway sandwiches before the event.

The show’s first guest, who was not announced before the show, was Desmond Ridder, a 2022 UC grad, record-breaking former Bearcats quarterback and current QB for the Arizona Cardinals.

Desmond Ridder chats with Jason and Travis during the show. Photo/Kelly Bennett

Ridder dished on his favorite dining hall (Stadium View) and local date spot (Mr. Sushi) before sharing some of his favorite UC memories. 

When he received a scholarship offer to UC, Ridder was at Churchill Downs in his native Louisville, Kentucky. It was loud amongst the crowds and horse racing, and he needed to find a quiet spot to take the important call. 

“That happened to be a porta-potty,” he said. 

Next to the stage was Bengals offensive lineman and Travis’ former Chiefs teammate Orlando Brown Jr. He shared his football journey from a 6-foot-6, 400-pound eighth grader to a Super Bowl champion. 

The arena erupted for the final guest of the podcast, Joe Burrow.

The juxtaposition of Burrow’s chill demeanor (there’s a reason they call him Joe Cool) with the hyped-up party-boy energy the Kelces bring made for many entertaining interactions, particularly between him and rival Travis.

The guys pulled up some of Burrow’s old tweets, prompting him to share his opinions on everything from NFL taunting (there shouldn’t be a rule against it) to aliens (they exist, but he wants to see proof).

Joe Burrow and Orlando Brown Jr. join the guys for the show. Photo/Kelly Bennett

Burrow recalled being moved by Jason’s speech after winning Super Bowl LII. Around that time, Burrow was leaving Ohio State to consider other options, and Jason texted him, encouraging him to consider UC. Ultimately Burrow ended up at Louisiana State University, but he never forgot the kindness Jason showed him during what Burrow described as a difficult time.

One special guest not in attendance was Taylor Swift, whose relationship with Travis has been headline fodder for the past several months. The superstar still had a presence at the event, though, from fans sporting her merch to Swift’s songs playing throughout the evening — Travis even danced to her hit, “Shake it Off.” Within 48 hours of the UC event, the couple was spotted in the crowd at the Coachella music festival in Indio, California. Swift even sported a New Heights hat.

The sweetest sendoff: A surprise graduation ceremony

As the show came to a close, Athletic Director John Cunningham came out to thank the guys for an evening to remember, hinting at one last surprise for them and their families.

“You’re both graduates of the University of Cincinnati, but neither of you have participated in a ceremony,” Cunningham said.

President Neville Pinto then entered the arena in full commencement regalia, garnering perhaps the loudest cheer of the night and certainly the warmest welcome a university president has ever received.

Caps and gowns were brought out for Jason and Travis, and parents Donna and Ed Kelce joined their sons onstage.

It was a perfect end to a phenomenal event.

Anthony Di Fino UC Athletics Deputy AD

Cue the confetti! Photo/Kelly Bennett

Travis claimed that he was not allowed to walk at his graduation ceremony in 2012 because of an outstanding equipment issue — he lost his helmet and was unable to turn it in. Leadership presented him with that missing helmet onstage.

“To all my fellow students, before we make this thing official, I thought I’d give you guys some advice:

“You gotta fight for your right to party!”

After the quickest commencement program of all time, the brothers turned their tassels and accepted their diplomas — one from the College of Arts & Sciences for Travis and one from the Carl H. Lindner College of Business for Jason.

“Don’t forget to get your degrees on the way out,” Travis said.

He's just being Travis. Photo/Kelly Bennett

The surprise was a highlight for the Kelces and spectators alike.

“My favorite part of the night was seeing the Kelce brothers graduate,” says student Marcus Elliott. “That was an extremely special moment.”

“It was a perfect end to a phenomenal event,” adds Deputy AD Di Fino.

As the confetti fell, both Jason and Travis teased a return visit in the future:  “Let’s do this thing again soon!”

Judging by the raucous response from the crowd, Cincinnati is certainly game.

The Kelce brothers share an emotional moment with their parents. Photo/Kelly Bennett

After the event, Travis, Jason and Joe Burrow were spotted together at Uncle Woody’s, a stalwart watering hole just off campus.

Even days later, the impact and buzz from the night can still be felt on campus.

“The energy remains high and the excitement from the event is still lingering,” says Di Fino. “The amount of fans, staff and those that had no connection to campus who traveled in have not stopped reaching out letting us know it was one of the best events they can remember being a part of. For the 12,500-plus in the building, certainly it will be a memorable Bearcat moment. It has raised the bar for future events.”

Featured image at top left to right: Ed, Travis, Donna and Jason Kelce celebrate the brothers' impromptu graduation ceremony. Photo/Isabella Marley

Become a Bearcat

Whether you’re a first-generation student or from a family of Bearcats, UC is proud to support you at every step along your journey. We want to make sure you succeed — and feel right at home.

• Alumni Association
• College of Arts and Sciences
• Student Experience
• Lindner College of Business

Related Stories

April 16, 2024

UC alumni Jason and Travis Kelce returned to UC for an unforgettable evening that included the Great "Lombaby" Games, a live recording of their podcast "New Heights," special guests Joe Burrow, Orlando Brown Jr. and Desmond Ridder and a surprise commencement ceremony.

'Unforgettable weekend': GameDay, Homecoming help Bearcats make memories

November 9, 2021

The University of Cincinnati was in the national spotlight with ESPN’s College GameDay and Good Morning America featuring the UC Bearcat football team's rise in football ranking. UC defeated the University of Tulsa on the football field during Homecoming.

UC alumni find the loves of their lives at UC

February 10, 2023

For four UC alumni couples, a love that began in college continues today, enriched and beribboned by Bearcat ties that lovingly bind.

• Victor Mukhin

Victor M. Mukhin was born in 1946 in the town of Orsk, Russia. In 1970 he graduated the Technological Institute in Leningrad. Victor M. Mukhin was directed to work to the scientific-industrial organization "Neorganika" (Elektrostal, Moscow region) where he is working during 47 years, at present as the head of the laboratory of carbon sorbents.     Victor M. Mukhin defended a Ph. D. thesis and a doctoral thesis at the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia (in 1979 and 1997 accordingly). Professor of Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia. Scientific interests: production, investigation and application of active carbons, technological and ecological carbon-adsorptive processes, environmental protection, production of ecologically clean food.   

Title : Active carbons as nanoporous materials for solving of environmental problems

Quick links.

• Conference Brochure
• Tentative Program

Some results uranium dioxide powder structure investigation

• Processes of Obtaining and Properties of Powders
• Published: 28 June 2009
• Volume 50 , pages 281–285, ( 2009 )

Cite this article

• E. I. Andreev 1 ,
• K. V. Glavin 2 ,
• A. V. Ivanov 3 ,
• V. V. Malovik 3 ,
• V. V. Martynov 3 &
• V. S. Panov 2  

116 Accesses

7 Citations

Explore all metrics

Features of the macrostructure and microstructure of uranium dioxide powders are considered. Assumptions are made on the mechanisms of the behavior of powders of various natures during pelletizing. Experimental data that reflect the effect of these powders on the quality of fuel pellets, which is evaluated by modern procedures, are presented. To investigate the structure of the powders, modern methods of electron microscopy, helium pycnometry, etc., are used. The presented results indicate the disadvantages of wet methods for obtaining the starting UO 2 powders by the ammonium diuranate (ADU) flow sheet because strong agglomerates and conglomerates, which complicate the process of pelletizing, are formed. The main directions of investigation that can lead to understanding the regularities of formation of the structure of starting UO 2 powders, which will allow one to control the process of their fabrication and stabilize the properties of powders and pellets, are emphasized.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Investigation of the Properties of Uranium-Molybdenum Pellet Fuel for VVER

L. A. Karpyuk, V. V. Novikov, … O. A. Bakhteev

Investigation of the Influence of the Energy of Thermal Plasma on the Morphology and Phase Composition of Aluminosilicate Microspheres

V. V. Shekhovtsov

Evaluation of the Possibility of Fabricating Uranium-Molybdenum Fuel for VVER by Powder Metallurgy Methods

A. V. Lysikov, E. N. Mikheev, … D. S. Missorin

Patlazhan, S.A., Poristost’ i mikrostruktura sluchainykh upakovok tverdykh sharov raznykh razmerov (Porosity and Microstructure of Chaotic Packings of Solid Spheres of Different Sizes), Chernogolovka: IKhF RAN, 1993.

Google Scholar  

Andreev, E.I., Bocharov, A.S., Ivanov, A.V., et al., Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved., Tsvetn. Metall. , 2003, no. 1, p. 48.

Assmann, H., Dörr, W., and Peehs, M., “Control of HO 2 Microstructure by Oxidative Sintering,” J. Nucl. Mater. , 1986, vol. 140,issue 1, pp. 1–6.

Article   ADS   CAS   Google Scholar  

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Elektrostal’ Polytechnical Institute (Branch), Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, ul. Pervomaiskaya 7, Elektrostal’, Moscow oblast, 144000, Russia

E. I. Andreev

Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (State Technical University), Leninskii pr. 4, Moscow, 119049, Russia

K. V. Glavin & V. S. Panov

JSC “Mashinostroitelny Zavod”, ul. K. Marksa 12, Elektrostal’, Moscow oblast, 144001, Russia

A. V. Ivanov, V. V. Malovik & V. V. Martynov

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. V. Glavin .

Additional information

Original Russian Text © E.I. Andreev, K.V. Glavin, A.V. Ivanov, V.V. Malovik, V.V. Martynov, V.S. Panov, 2009, published in Izvestiya VUZ. Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya i Funktsional’nye Pokrytiya, 2008, No. 4, pp. 19–24.

About this article

Andreev, E.I., Glavin, K.V., Ivanov, A.V. et al. Some results uranium dioxide powder structure investigation. Russ. J. Non-ferrous Metals 50 , 281–285 (2009). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1067821209030183

Download citation

Published : 28 June 2009

Issue Date : June 2009

DOI : https://doi.org/10.3103/S1067821209030183

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• nuclear fuel
• uranium dioxide
• uranium protoxide-oxide
• crystallite
• agglomerate
• conglomerate
• surface morphology
• ADU-ammonium diuranate
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research