Who is Joe Burrow’s family? Parents, siblings, girlfriend, kids…
Joe Burrow, at the age of 25, is already playing his first Super Bowl. He comes from a family full of athletes who are thrilled to see his rise to success.
Joe Burrow is one of the youngest quarterbacks to play in a Super Bowl, behind Ben Roethlisberger (23), Patrick Mahomes (24), and Tom Brady (24). His family are not surprised by his success, but his parents did admit it was “a bit of a surprise” that their son and the Bengals made it all the way to the Super Bowl in just his second season as quarterback.
Burrow’s parents
Burrow was born to Jim and Robin Burrow in Ames, Iowa. His father, Jim, was also big into football. He had a successful college career at Nebraska and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 1976 NFL draft. He only played three games with the Packers, transitioning to a successful career with the Canadian Football League. After his career as a player, he moved on to a coaching career. I imagine it’s helpful for a quarterback to have a dad who both played and coaches football. He retired in 2019 and has said his son’s last year at LSU had a lot to do with it, as he didn’t want to miss any more of his games. Burrow’s mother, Robin, is the principal at Eastern Elementary School in Ohio. She’s also a member on the Appalachian Children’s Coalition, an advocacy group for children in the area.
Burrow’s father has said that Joe could have actually made it into the NBA. He was apparently an impressive shooter. His father said he wouldn’t have been surprised if Burrow had become an off-guard, shooting threes in the NBA.
Burrow’s extended family of athletes
Burrow’s uncle, John Burrow, was a football player as well, playing safety at Ole Miss in the 1980s. Both his grandfather and grandmother were professional basketball players. His grandmother, Dot Ford, scored a state-record 82 points in a Mississippi high school game in the 1940s. His grandfather, James Burrow was a star point guard at Mississippi State.
Burrow’s siblings
Joe has two older brothers, Jamie and Dan, who played football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, like their father Jim. Both his brothers played on defense.
Jamie, the oldest of the Burrow brothers, was one of the elite players from 1997 to 2001 and earned the starting Mike linebacker title for Nebraska. He was also named the Bronko Nagurski National Player of the week by the Football Writers Association of America and the Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player of the year watch list in 2001.
Joe’s other brother, Dan, was known as one of the best in both high school and college. Though he also retired from football after college, he and Jamie both continue to inspire Joe and come to all the important games that he plays.
Burrow’s girlfriend
Joe will be supported tonight by his girlfriend, Olivia Holzmacher. The couple have been together for more than four years, since their college days. Since then, she’s been by his side supporting him, from the Heisman Trophy to his NFL debut and now his first Super Bowl appearance. She even had a cardboard cutout of herself at the games during the pandemic when she couldn’t be there in person.