On Thursday, April 23, 2020, LSU’s national championship-winning quarterback Joe Burrow partnered with Lowe’s Home Improvement to call several employees in his hometown of Athens, Ohio to surprise them and show appreciation for them working during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. These calls were conducted in advance of him becoming the #1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. See the video here.

With each call made, Burrow surprised each worker he spoke to with an offer to host them at one of his future games, no matter which NFL team he ended up playing for.

The Cincinnati Bengals have landed Burrow as their next franchise quarterback. The night after the calls to the Lowe’s employees, speculation that had gone for months ended when the Bengals, of Cincinnati, Ohio (Burrow’s home state), chose him the LSU powerhouse as their first overall pick in the NFL draft. This year’s draft happened virtually due to the ongoing pandemic, and clips of Burrow were shown as he celebrated with his family from his home in Athens County, Ohio and adorned a Bengals hat.

Shortly after being added to Cincinnati’s roster, Zac Taylor (head coach), stated that Joe Burrow would be expected to compete for the position of quarterback. Although current quarterback Andy Dalton is entering the final year of his contract, Taylor wouldn’t go so far as to name Burrow as the team’s starter in week one. One of the biggest challenges, Taylor Said, for Burrow and other incoming rookies is adapting to the speed in the NFL. Even players like Burrow who played college ball at the highest level can struggle to adapt to the breakneck speed.

This audition to be starting quarterback position was an understanding that Burrow shared, stating, “That’s exactly how I expect to do it as well. I’m going to come in and compete and try to be the best player I can be.”

Coming off a historic season at LSU, during which he threw for an record 60 touchdowns, he captained the Tigers to a national championship. He also won the Heisman Trophy and completed 76.3% of his passes .

The Cincinnati team made it clear before the official draft that they intended to officially draft Joe Burrow. According to reports, Burrow was officially welcomed to Cincinnati by Bengals’ president Mike Brown on Wednesday when he sent a letter that said, among other things, that he is anticipating “building championship football teams with (Burrow) for many years to come.” In addition, Burrow and his parents were sent No. 9 Bengals jerseys by Mr. Brown. This will be the number that Burrow will be wearing in Cincinnati, and this was also the number he was wearing during his recorded breaking year at Louisiana State University.

Joe Burrow said he will have to adjust to missing the mental prep he would’ve gained during minicamps for rookies and other such events that would’ve helped him prepare to compete for the starting position. These events have been postponed because of the pandemic. Instead, Burrow has revealed the off season process for him will include studying the playbook and getting comfortable with calling plays in the huddle.

“You have to be stern in your voice, because if you are in there wavering and wobbling and fumbling over words, all the guys are going to be like, ‘What is this guy doing in here, Coach? Get him out. Get someone else in,'” Burrow said. “So, that’s something I’m going to be really focused on.”

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