With world divided, Joe Burrow's message helps bring people together
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is known for his intangibles. Anyone that paid attention to college football last season has heard about his leadership, confidence and how good of a teammate he was during his collegiate career.
The most recent example of Burrow's leadership didn't have anything to do with football. The 23-year-old posted a 154 character tweet that addressed a major issue that America has dealt with for many years.
"The black community needs our help," Burrow wrote. "They have been unheard for far too long. Open your ears, listen, and speak. This isn’t politics. This is human rights."
Speaking out about race isn't something that most quarterbacks do, especially when they're white. Instead of remaining silent, the rookie spoke out about racial injustice.
It was a concise and clear message for his followers. It's been retweeted over 99,000 times and has nearly 441,000 likes.
Bengals legend Willie Anderson and former Steelers safety Ryan Clark praised Burrow for speaking out.
"I think it's playing well all over the country quite honestly with NFL players and with citizens in general," Bengals play-by-play announcer Dan Hoard said in an interview with NFL Network. "It shows one of the reasons why the Bengals drafted Joe Burrow. He is a leader. It was true at LSU. I'm confident it's going to be true in Cincinnati.
"The part that I thought was the most powerful were the words 'open your ears, listen and speak.' So many of us, myself included, haven't always spoken when we felt that it was important to do so and I think Joe Burrow is going to do that about this issue and about many others during his NFL career."
Burrow carries himself with a confidence. He knows who he is and he's comfortable in his own skin.
"I’m just unapologetically myself," Burrow said on draft night. "I think that’s a good thing and people respect that.”
This isn't the first time Burrow brought up important issues in the community.
His Heisman Trophy acceptance speech helped raise over $500,000 for the Athens County Food Bank.
“It was pretty overwhelming," Burrow said after seeing all of the donations that supported his hometown. "It’s tough when you’re in the middle of the season to think about it because you’re so focused and dialed in on just winning football games. But after the season and especially during this quarantine, I think it really hit me how many people it has helped because a lot of paychecks aren’t coming in right now and that food bank money, that food pantry money is helping a lot of families during this tough time.”
Discussing social issues and race can be uncomfortable, but Burrow is unfazed by it. He knows who he is and who he wants to become.
His goal is to be a great football player. He also wants to make a difference in the community.
This country is divided in many ways. NFL players come from all different backgrounds and they're many different races.
Having a leader like Burrow is important for any organization, but it's even more vital for a young team like the Bengals.
There are many different perspectives in an NFL locker room. Guys come from all over and are expected to play as a team. That's a challenge for every NFL team.
Burrow is comfortable being the spokesperson. He's OK with discussing the tough issues publicly. He's a leader that will get his teammates to follow him, even though he hasn't taken an NFL snap.
“I’m fairly good at connecting with a lot of different people," Burrow said. "I’m a Southeast Ohio kid. I think my high school kind of prepared me for it a little bit. We’re not super racially diverse, but we’re very socioeconomically diverse, so you get [to know] a lot of different kinds of people. And I think that allowed me to connect to a lot of different people, and that really helped me when I was at Ohio State. And going down to LSU, I’ve been able to connect with people from rural Virginia, people from inner-city Chicago, New Orleans, rural Louisiana — so I think that’s something that I do very well.”
Most of the quotes from Burrow are from draft night. He made those comments long before George Floyd's tragic death. He said those words before any protests were scheduled.
He kept his word.
The past few months have been hard for everyone in America. The past eight days have been even more difficult.
Burrow didn't shy away. He stepped up and did exactly what he said he would do when his team and the country needed him.
Here's to hoping that his words not only resonate with the public, but also help America change for the better.
