Former Bengals Athletic Trainer Details Her Surprise Starring Role in Viral Joe Burrow 'Fossils' Scene

Last month, Whitney Desotell received an ambiguous text from a friend with a two-word message that could be construed as exciting – or terrifying.

“You’re famous.”

Similar texts continued to buzz her phone.

“I didn’t know what they were talking about at first,” Desotell said. “But as soon as I saw the word ‘fossil,’ I knew exactly what the conversation was and remembered that day.”

A former seasonal athletic trainer for the Cincinnati Bengals, Desotell unwittingly landed a starring role in one of the more popular moments from the Netflix documentary “Quarterback” thanks to her proximity to Joe Burrow when he decided to declare his love of fossils and his excitement about a trip to the natural history museum the previous day.

The scene from Episode 3 was clipped and shared on Instagram, Tik Tok and other social platforms, racking up hundreds of thousands of views, with Desotell counting seemingly everyone she knows among those who saw it.

Joe Burrow: Big Fossil Guy 😂

📺: Quarterback Season 2 NOW PLAYING on @netflixanz pic.twitter.com/odtJeKjgwH
— NFL Australia & NZ (@NFLAUNZ) July 12, 2025

But it wasn’t just friends and family members who celebrating her appearance.

Desotell’s bemused look as Burrow continued to talk and her lack of engagement in the conversation turned her into a celebrated figure in some of the comments.

“It’s not like we’re told not to talk to the players, but that’s just kind of my style and a professional courtesy knowing that practice is the time for the players and coaches to perfect their game,” she said. “I try to keep the conversations to a minimum, which is what I was doing there, like, ‘OK, let's end the conversation.’”

Desotell, who has a Master’s degree in athletic training from Florida International University and currently works for IMG Academy in Florida, said she was especially wary around Burrow because even though she didn’t know he was going to be on “Quarterback,” she caught on that on Wednesdays there were a lot more cameras, and he would always wear a wireless mic pack.

But the training room was a safe space, and it’s always been more of a relaxed environment where a lot of conversations happen between the players and staff.

And with his calf rehab in 2023 and wrist recovery in 2024, Burrow spent a good amount of time in the training room during Desotell’s two seasons with the Bengals.

“So I knew that he had a lot of specific interests and a lot of knowledge about odd things,” she said. “But I was not expecting to talk about fossils that day.

“When he asked, ‘When aren’t fossils on your mind?’ the answer for me is ‘hardly ever.’”

At one point in the clip, Burrow is walking to his right to get where he needs to be for the next drill but has his head turned all the way to left, continuing to talk to Desotell about fossils.

“It was at that point I realized he really wanted to have this conversation,” she said. “He was clearly very excited about the fossils, and I was trying to imagine in my mind what the museum was like.”

Eventually, Desotell responded and asked Burrow “Did they have any eggs?”

“Watching the clip now, it looks so stupid, but I was just trying to be partially engaged in the conversation,” she said. “That was the best I could come up with.”

In addition to the original clip circulating widely on social media, one user created a cartoon version of the scene in which Burrow is on a knee talking to Desotell as she repeatedly gives him more water.

“The cartoon was funny with the excessive amount of water he was drinking,” she said. “It’s amazing how something like that can pick up on social media and spread.”

The only thing that bothered Desottel more than her “eggs” question were the references to her as a water girl in the comments.

“But some people pointed out that I was an athletic trainer and not a water girl, and I thought that was pretty cool that awareness is spreading for people to know that we’re there for medical coverage, and hydration is just a small part of that,” she said.

Appearing as an anonymous participant in a viral clip with an internationally known athlete could lead to some nicknames beyond “water girl.”

Such as, perhaps, “fossil girl.”

“No one’s called me that yet,” she said. “I hope they don’t. But honestly, it would be better than ‘Did they have any eggs?’

“That’s gonna haunt me forever,” she laughed.