Joe Burrow may not be the greatest athlete to come out of Ohio (see LeBron, Curry), but back in his high school days, he sure felt like he was LeBron James.
The Bengals quarterback is probably the most popular athlete in the moment in Ohio after leading Cincinnati to an improbable Super Bowl last season.
Coming off a horrific leg injury, nobody expected Joe Burrow to be this good in just his second season, but he proved why he deserved to be the number one overall pick in 2020.
Burrow led the Titans through the gauntlet of AFC title contenders, including upsetting the reigning AFC champs Kansas City Chiefs. The Bengals ultimately fell in the Super Bowl to the star-studded Los Angeles Rams, but they were within a field goal of winning that game.
Expectations are high for Burrow after an incredible sophomore jump, and he’ll be up to the challenge to show that the Bengals belong with the rest of the AFC heavyweights.
Burrow, like many other NFL athletes, used to play multiple sports back in his high school/college days. Burrow was seriously considering a career in basketball at one point in his life.
Burrow’s favorite sport has always been basketball, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sustain a career in the sport which is why he picked up football. Well, that and the fact that he was good at it. However, Burrow has had his struggles with football.
He received limited offers from big time schools, and it wasn’t until he joined LSU where he found a really good groove and was able to showcase his talents.
The last time @JoeyB played the Chiefs in the regular season, he went off to clinch the AFC North.
🟠 30-39
🟠 446 yards
🟠 4 TDsThey’ll face off again in Week 13 next season. pic.twitter.com/qydpdEK8zj
— NFL (@NFL) May 21, 2022
Burrow was also on the varsity basketball team as a freshman in high school, and he was strongly considering dropping football to focus on basketball full time.
“Almost quit football to play basketball,” Burrow recalled. “I was the starting point guard as a freshman at my high school on varsity basketball, and I was playing freshmen football. I was kind of starting to lean toward basketball. All of a sudden, I had this awesome sophomore season in football, and I thought I’m pretty good at this football thing, so I might as well focus on this.”
Burrow’s decision was definitely the right one, but there was definitely a time when he considered himself to be a legend in basketball.
“I was kind of the LeBron of my little league,” Burrow noted. “We didn’t exactly have the stiffest competition, but I kind of did everything. The LeBron of Southeast Ohio.”
Joe Burrow’s looking to go 20-0 🐅 pic.twitter.com/FQfzE93xwk
— PFF (@PFF) May 19, 2022
Well, Burrow has made a name for himself in Ohio, only through his quarterbacking. The young signal caller threw for 4,611 yards and 34 touchdowns last season, numbers he’ll look to improve upon this year.
