LSU Quarterback Joe Burrow Starting to Change One Analyst's Opinion of Him
It's no secret that Fox Sports national analyst Colin Cowherd hasn't been Joe Burrow's No. 1 fan. Cowherd has spent the better part of the last four months talking about how terrible the Cincinnati Bengals will be, not necessarily because of Burrow but because of the many holes he feels the team still needs to plug.
As a result, he thinks Burrow's rookie season will suffer. Arm strength was always Cowherd's biggest point of contention when it came to evaluating Burrow's long term NFL potential.
On Friday, the radio host started to shift gears on Burrow as a franchise quarterback, but not because of anything Burrow has proven on the field in training camp, which has been nothing short of spectacular to this point. Cowherd's switch has everything to do with what made Burrow an instant success in Baton Rouge, his confident, unshakable demeanor.
"I’ve been on Joe Burrow for six months. He follows me on social media. He retweets me. He never fires back," Cowherd said Friday. "Because Joe Burrow’s self-esteem is not tied to what I think of him. Joe Burrow’s self-esteem is tied to what Joe Burrow thinks of himself.”
Cowherd compared his critique of Burrow to another quarterback he's been particularly hard on the last few years since entering the league, Cleveland Browns Baker Mayfield.
“When I poked Baker Mayfield in the ribs - police video, his height, poked him in the ribs, kind of a reach - oh it bothered him,” Cowherd said. “He fired back every time. Every time."
The change of heart stems from Burrow retweeting a video of Cowherd's from a few days earlier. Cowherd made the point that Burrow doesn't get bothered by what others think of him. He'll take the negative and turn it into internal motivation, not letting it ripple into how it affects his performance on the field.
The early signs of training camp have been overwhelmingly positive. In his first NFL scrimmage, Burrow went an impressive 6-for-6 for 69 yards and a touchdown on his opening drive. A few days later, the rookie went 16-of-20 with two touchdowns.
"Joe Burrow - never fired back, not once. And that's important in the NFL. Because in college at LSU, he rarely trailed in football games. They always had more good players, even against Alabama. It's a much easier life." Cowherd said. "The NFL's hard. You get hit more. It hurts more. And his team is lousy. And he's gonna lose a bunch of games. Joe Burrow gets it. Not bothered by me. Doesn't give a rip. Doesn't care. I love it. He's telling me - Burrow's all on the stuff that matters. Bengals. Teammates. Football. Playbook. Confidence. That's what it's about. I may just start saying nice stuff about Joe Burrow. I like him. Not a peep. His self-esteem is not tied to what others think of him. It's what he thinks of himself, and I love that."
