The Joe Burrow/Bengals controversy, it seems, has been put to rest. At the combine on Tuesday, the LSU quarterback told reporters that he’ll play for “whoever drafts” him.
“Yeah. I’m not going to not play. I’m a ball player,” Burrow said (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Field Yates). “Whoever picks me, I’m going to show up.”
Burrow has been the apple of the Bengals’ eye from the get-go. Still, questions have lingered about his desire to play for the Bengals, who have long been mired in a slump and held back by internal discord. Under new head coach Zac Taylor, the Bengals completely flopped – they went 0-11 to start the year and finished out with 2-14. Of course, that’ll often be the case for any team with the top pick, but the Bengals didn’t have many bright spots and haven’t looked the part of a contender in a long time.
This offseason, Burrow has been working out with former Bengal Jordan Palmer, the younger brother of longtime franchise face Carson Palmer. The elder Palmer has been critical of the organization in the past and occasional quotes from Burrow led many to believe that he had been warded off of the Bengals.
“You want to go No. 1. But you also want to go to a great organization that is committed to winning. Committed to winning Super Bowls,” Burrow said earlier this winter.
Burrow may still have concerns about the direction of the franchise, but he doesn’t sound inclined to pull an Eli Manning, even though he has the same agent.
Now the media manifested story can be put to rest
So he’s not a douchebag like Eli
Just a different kind of douchebag.
Yeah I could never respect Eli for what his daddy and him did. If you don’t like how the game is played do something else. Hard to feel sorry for someone making millions to play a game.
I’m sure Eli is broken up that you won’t forgive him
Smart guy: the higher he is picked, the higher his guaranteed payday as a rookie. Might be the last one a football player ever sees. Might be the only one Joe Burrow needs to make a life.
The first five picks pick up a signing bonus of $20 million with a total value of contract up to $35 million. Pick number ten takes signs for just $11 million with a total first contract value of less than $20 million. Pick twenty signs for $7 million on a $12 million contract.
Draft position matters and Burrow has figured it out. Acting like a prima donna can see the most talented quarterback in the draft fall slip to number 23 (2005, Aaron Rodgers) while watching clever and easy to work with Alex Smith go number one.
Eli sucks. He screwed San Diego.
San Diego screwed itself by running its organization poorly.
What now media ? What are you going to blow out of proportion now … what a bunch of nonsense. All the blow hards on ESPN and the poor guys writing all these articles , Joe won’t go! … good grief.
ALL MSM are LIARS … they LIE about Politics constantly.
FAKE NEWS
He has a point however, I wouldn’t want to play for a Paul Brown Owned Organization either because I don’t think he is dedicated to winning a Super Bowl.
Yeah, Paul Brown doesn’t even watch the games. Of course he’s been dead since 1991 but regardless, his commitment to a super bowl just is not there
Zing!
Paul Brown is spinning in his grave realizing Mikey Boy is clearly the son of the milk man.