Bengals Joe Burrow invites his former coach to Super Bowl LVI
Joe Burrow continues to turn heads both on and off the field for all the right reasons. In his latest move, he invited his former coach to the Super Bowl.
These days it seems the Bengals QB has no haters as he prepares for the Super Bowl. Now his former high school coach has been added to the list of people who have nothing but love for the rising star.
Joe Burrow invites his former coach to the Super Bowl
Athens High School head football coach Nathan White was sitting at home last Sunday when his phone started to ring. On the screen he could see a familiar name and a smile came to his face. Calling him was a former player of his, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. The Bengals newest star had a question for his former coach, 'Did he want to go to the Super Bowl?'
"He called and said, 'Hey coach, if you're not busy this weekend, I have a couple extra tickets if you and Sarah want to go,'" White said. "So I said yeah, 'I think we can make that happen.'" White couldn't hide his excitement as he continued, "To think about sitting there and watching an Athens Bulldog in the Super Bowl is mind boggling to me."
Joe Burrow back in the day
It was back in 2014, when Burrow as a sophomore, led the Athens Bulldogs to Ohio's state championship. To this day Burrow continues to speaking lovingly about the city that he holds close to his heart. That love is definitely reciprocated as evidenced by the fact that Cincinnati. Gov. Mike DeWine temporarily renamed three state parks Monday in honor of the Super Bowl-bound Bengals. Burrow himself has seen the Burr Oak State Park in southeastern Ohio renamed as "Burrow Oak State Park" in his honor. Speaking to reporters earlier in the week, Burrow was humble in his words. "They helped make me who I am today, I wouldn't be here without all the people that supported me in Athens. I hope I'm making everybody proud."
Joe Burrow's former coach shows his love
Speaking on his former charge, the Bulldogs' coach was nothing but appreciative of the player that Burrow has become. "He has really pulled us along on this journey," White said. "And you know, a lot of people around here really have ownership in the run...the fact that he has brought up this area and that was his way of kind of telling us, 'Come on guys, let's go for the ride.' The excitement around here is indescribable."
White who was the quarterbacks coach during Burrow's time in high school continued, explaining that it was quite something to see the young quarterback go from strength to strength. First the Heisman trophy then a national championship and now a win away from leading the Bengals to their first ever Super Bowl title. "I always tell people Joe was named his senior year 'Mr. Football' player of the year in Ohio. And the fact that Athens High School had Mr. Football in Ohio, I still almost can't wrap my head around that," White said. "So I'm still kind of trying to come to grips with all that stuff that happened. I feel like to win the Super Bowl...I'm just not there yet to even realize what it means. I think it might hit me in 10 years and 20 years, who knows?"
"Having a former player ask you if you want to go to the Super Bowl is something that I truly never dreamed up," White said. "We're so lucky to get to experience this a little bit with Joe."