Joe Burrow and His Rise to Fame from AHS to LSU & Beyond?
The college football world loves Joe Burrow.
(Update: 3/20) Athens High School graduate Joe Burrow has gone from local legend to Heisman Trophy winner and national champion!
The Athens High School Joe Burrow product has gone from local legend to Heisman Trophy candidate this year. And in 2020, his legend may just continue to grow. It wasn’t long ago that Burrow was a local middle school football and basketball player. People around town knew him as a nice kid and a good athlete. They also knew him as the son of Ohio University football coach Jimmy Burrow. The biggest hope was that Joe might one day be one of the best Athens Ohio quarterbacks.
His freshman year of high school, he did not start varsity but did earn minutes on the field. As a sophomore, he took over as quarterback and led the team on a historic run. The prolific offense scored points at a record pace, and the Bulldogs rolled over most of their opponents. The team took over the Tri-Valley Conference and became regulars in the football playoffs.
In Burrow’s senior year, the team made it to the State Finals, before losing a very close game. Burrow was tremendous in the championship game, which was one of the best football games the state has ever seen.
Starring in college and then on to the NFL
Burrow won numerous player of the year honors, and was recruited by Ohio State University. He red-shirted his first year with the Buckeyes and then was the backup to star J.T. Barrett his second year. In his third year, he was slowed by an injury and was still a back-up.
Burrow transferred to Louisiana State University (LSU) for the 2018 season. At LSU, he led the Tigers to a better-than- expected record of 10-3. The team finished No. 7 in the country, in a large part due to Burrow’s strong play.
In his senior season at LSU, Burrow led the Tigers to a historic national championship. The team was undefeated, and is now known as one of the best college football teams ever.
For Burrow, the season just added to his amazing story. His 2019 season is being called one of the greatest ever for a college football quarterback. He made astounding plays each game and was the runaway winner of the Heisman Trophy. He also received numerous other awards for his outstanding play.
And while he made history on the field, he also had a major impact off of the field. Burrow took time in his Heisman Trophy speech to mention Athens Ohio and the poverty in the area. That speech led to a campaign to raise money for the Athens County Food Pantry. That campaign received an incredible outpouring of support from across the nation and raised more than $500,000.
Now, NFL draft experts expect Burrow to be the number one choice in the NFL draft.
It’s quite a rise for the former Athens star, and southeast Ohio now has more LSU fans than ever before. The region is sure to have plenty of fans of whatever team drafts Burrow next year, too.
The Burrow fans include your friends here at University Rentals. We wrote this blog post because we are proud of our hometown and we are fans of the best college football quarterback in America.