Bengals QB Joe Burrow Nearly Traded Football For Banking

Had the stars not aligned for Joe Burrow, Cincinnati's superstar quarterback may have been behind the counter instead of under center.

Burrow explained to NBC Sports' Chris Simms that he strongly considered another career path while he was stuck on the bench at Ohio State. "There were times when I started updating that resume," Burrow admitted to Simms.

That resume would've likely been handed to the Human Resources department within a bank. "I was thinking about being an investment banker or something like that," Burrow added.

As Burrow tells it, during his three seasons at Ohio State he began to doubt if football was in his future. As a Buckeye, Burrow backed up J.T. Barrett for two seasons and then Dwayne Haskins for a third.

“I was putting in the same work that I always put in, but I wasn’t playing. Of course, there was self-doubt in that moment," said Burrow. "I mean, when you don’t play for three years – you’re putting in the work, you feel like you’re practicing well and can go out there and make plays but you don’t get the opportunity to show what you can do – it’s frustrating."

That frustration led him to transfer to LSU where he would win both a National Championship and the Heisman Trophy. He was then selected by the Bengals with the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, signing a $36.1 million contract.

Either way, he ended up cashing checks.

 

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