Those close to Joe Burrow open up on what kind of competitor he is

Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks recently released Move the Sticks 360: A deep look at Joe Burrow.

This features interviews with Burrow’s family, former teammates from both LSU and Ohio State as well as Jordan Palmer, Kirk Herbstreit, and Urban Meyer. These interviews said a lot about what type of competitor and leader Burrow is.

If you haven’t seen the video of Burrow competing in a tire-pull drill at Ohio State, check it out below. Running back J.K. Dobbins talked about how competitive Burrow was in this drill and how hyped up he was afterwards, but what stood out to me was defensive end Chase Young’s comment when asked if quarterbacks normally competed in these drills.

“No, but Joe a different dude”

College Gameday’s Kirk Herbstreit called Burrow a “mean dude” with a “killer instinct.” He said that Burrow competes “wanting to not just beat you, but steal your soul from you... He wants to ruin everything about you and the defensive coordinator.”

When asked about how Burrow came in and became a leader at LSU, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire said that he won their respect when he was tested by another team leader and top five draft pick in 2019.

“Devin White was chirping at him in practice and Joe started coming back at him.”

White was testing him, and in that moment, he won not only the respect of the star linebacker but of the entire team.

This fearlessness is something that wide receiver Justin Jefferson notes as one of Burrow’s best leadership qualities. He says that Burrow was not nervous even on the biggest stage.

Jordan Palmer loved what he saw in the tire pull video, but that is not the only place he sees the competitive fire in Burrow.

“If you are a competitor it’s in every phase,” said the former Bengal and current private quarterback coach for Burrow.

After talking about how he teaches all of his quarterbacks the importance of competing in the classroom, Palmer went on...

“...when you get your Master’s and you know you’re going to the league you’re not doing it to further your education and set yourself up for success to go sell insurance down the road. That’s not why you’re doing it. You’re doing it because, well, if I have a chance to get my Master’s and no one else is, I want to do it.

Both his father, Jim Burrow, and former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer talk about how Joe was a multiple sport athlete.

“He definitely never liked to lose,” Burrows’ father said. “He had a baseball game, championship. One of his best friends who he did every sport with. We were walking off the field, and I saw him drop his trophy second place trophy in the garbage can. His parents kind of got on him, and I’m thinking “Well, at least Joe isn’t doing that.” So I got home, and he went up stairs and wasn’t saying very much. I walked upstairs. We were going to talk about the game. Maybe pump him up a little. He had dismantled the second place trophy.”

Maybe it was constantly competing in different sports that brought out this side of him.

This is the competitor who will be taking the reigns of the Bengals offense soon and you can be certain that he is not going to be okay with going 2-14 or getting beaten in the first round of the playoffs.