When Joe Burrow Was 9, A Sociology Professor Told His Parents He Had The Qualities You Find In “First Responders & Serial Offenders”

Guess it’s a good thing Joe Burrow became a football player?

For any football fans out there, we are now less than 9 WEEKS AWAY from the start of the NFL season. I can’t for that first kickoff, that first crisp breeze of fall air, and that first cold, NFL-season beer to hit my hand. It might seem like it’s still a ways off, but we’ll blink and it’ll be Week 1o of the season.

Just you watch.

If you can’t wait until the NFL season starts to get your football fix, the good news is that Netflix just released their second rendition of the docuseries Quarterback. The eight-episode series follows Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins, Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff, and Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow during the 2024-2025 season.

And Joe Burrow being a part of the show made me think of one of the wilder stories I’ve ever heard about a professional athlete. You see, Burrow has always been a fierce competitor, and long before he won the national title at LSU, he was playing multiple sports as a kid.

One of the sports he played other than football was basketball, and he was evidently great at that too according to a story that sportscaster Trey Wingo told a while back:

“We got this note about Joe Burrow. When he was 9-years-old, he was playing in an AAU basketball game, and his team was down by 8 points with 30 seconds to go. The coach said, ‘We kind of thought it was over.’ But then Burrow scored 9 straight points, including 7 straight free throws to give the team the win.”

Pretty remarkable stuff right there.

But that’s not why I brought the story up. What Wingo says after laying out that “huge, unlikely comeback” part of the anecdote is a bit jarring. After that showing, the coach of Burrow’s basketball team – who was a sociology professor at Ohio University – sought out Burrow’s parents to let them know that something might be wrong with their son:

“His coach was also a sociology professor at Ohio University, and after the game, he went to Burrow’s parents and said, ‘I just want you to know that Joe has the kind of qualities you find in first responders, policemen, and serial offenders.

In other words, his blood pressure doesn’t change whether he’s cutting the lawn or pulling people out of a building. I say this because I work with people and do sociology on crime. Thank God he’s not using his talents for bad because he could be the next Dexter. He is a stone cold killer.'”

@capsoffpodcast This is a WILD Joe Burrow story Read More