Background and career
Joseph Lee Burrow (born December 10, 1996) is an American professional football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). After three seasons of college football with the Ohio State Buckeyes, he played two seasons for the LSU Tigers, winning the Heisman Trophy and the College Football Playoff National Championship in 2019. He was selected by the Bengals first overall in the 2020 NFL draft.
Burrow had a breakout season in 2021 when he led the Bengals to their first playoff win since 1990, ending the longest active drought in the four major North American sports, and an appearance in Super Bowl LVI, and was awarded Comeback Player of the Year. In 2023, Burrow signed, at the time, the largest contract in NFL history in terms of annual salary and led the Bengals to their first consecutive division title in franchise history. Despite Cincinnati missing the playoffs in 2024, Burrow led the league in passing yards and passing touchdowns and was awarded his second Comeback Player of the Year Award. Burrow has been nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "Joe Brrr" by sportswriters and other players for his calmness under pressure.
Burrow was born in Ames, Iowa, on December 10, 1996, the son of Robin and Jim Burrow. Jim is a former football player and coach whose career lasted over 40 years. Burrow was born while his father was on the coaching staff at Iowa State University. According to a 2019 Sports Illustrated story, "The Burrow athletic lineage dates back nearly a century." In the 1940s, his paternal grandmother set a Mississippi state high school record with an 82-point game in basketball. His paternal grandfather played basketball at Mississippi State; his uncle, John Burrow, played football at Ole Miss (the University of Mississippi); and two older brothers also played football at Nebraska.
He attended the 2002 Rose Bowl at age five, because his father was an assistant coach for the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Not long after, he began playing in youth football leagues. Unlike his father, uncle, and brothers, who all played on defense, Burrow started out as a quarterback, because his first youth team had no one else who could play the position. The Burrow family moved to North Dakota in 2003 when his father was hired as the defensive coordinator at North Dakota State University in Fargo. One day, while Jim was visiting his office, future Central Michigan head coach Dan Enos commented that the seven-year-old Joe had a future in football. The Burrows spent two years in Fargo before Jim accepted the defensive coordinator position at Ohio University in Athens.
Burrow attended Athens High School (2011–2014) in The Plains, Ohio, leading the school to three straight playoff appearances and the school's first seven playoff victories in school history. During his career, he passed for 11,416 yards with 157 passing touchdowns and rushed for 2,067 yards with 27 rushing touchdowns. He was awarded the state's Mr. Football Award and Gatorade Player of the Year award as a senior in 2014. He and his Bulldog teammates went 14–1 that season. He was also a standout basketball player, and was named first-team all-state at point guard his senior year. Burrow was rated as a four-star football recruit, and was the eighth-highest ranked dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2015, according to the 247Sports Composite. He committed to Ohio State to play football on May 27, 2014.
How Joe Burrow makes money
Burrow signed his four-year rookie contract, worth $36.1 million, on July 31, 2020. On September 7, 2023, Burrow signed a five-year, $275 million contract extension, surpassing Justin Herbert to become the highest-paid player in NFL history on an annual basis, with an average annual salary of $55 million.
