Earn Your Stripes
Joe Burrow running sprints with the boys in his golf cart is what true leadership looks like
Late in Super Bowl LVI, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow went down awkwardly. He popped up and hobbled to the sideline, sending shivers down the spines of Bengals fans who were only just recovering from Burrow’s gruesome ACL injury in 2020. Burrow would go on to finish the game, however, and afterwards he was diagnosed with a sprained MCL that wouldn't require surgery. Apart from losing the Super Bowl, it was as good of news as the Bengals could have hoped for given the circumstances.
In the offseason, Burrow healed up, playing some golf, crashing some weddings. You know, the usual. But then, just as training camp was about to get underway, Burrow developed appendicitis, and instead of letting it linger, he decided to have immediate surgery to remove his appendix in hopes to be ready for Week 1. That, of course, meant that Burrow wouldn't be grinding through two-a-days in the brutal August sun this year, but in a show of solidarity with the fellas, he grabbed his golf cart on Thursday and decided to “run” a few wind sprints anyway …
Let’s have a former Cincinnati Bengal legend do the honors, shall we?
This is A+ leadership from Burrow. First man into the breach, last man down with the ship, even if he’s just had his guts pulled out. Burrow could have been inside sitting in the air conditioning, playing Xbox and enjoying a nice plate of chili spaghetti. Instead he was out there with the guys, doing his level best to suffer alongside them. That’s exactly what you want to see out of your starting quarterback, especially when you consider who is under center for the other Ohio football team at the moment.