2020 Gumbo Final - Book - Page 67
A Winner Among Us
Story: Alexandra Cox
Photo: Todd Van Emst/Heisman Trust
Design: Chloe Bryars
C
Burrow holds the largest margin of victory in the
history of the Heisman voting
ool, calm, and collected. That has been Joe Burrow
throughout his whole collegiate career. The only
time you will catch Burrow filled with emotions is
on the field. “There’s the Joe you guys see that
talks to you and then there’s a Joe that steps
across the white lines, and those are two different
people,” he said in an interview prior to the
Heisman Ceremony.
So there was no expectation of emotion in the
PlayStation Theater on a Saturday night in New
York City when the Heisman Trust presented
Burrow its 85th Heisman Award. But on the
night that Burrow’s name was etched into the
brotherhood of the greatest collegiate football
players, he still found to be serene, for a moment.
The 2019 Heisman Trophy Winner accepted his
award with the same grin that the college football
world has come to know and love. The world then
got to see a side of Burrow that not many have
seen before off the field, an emotional Joe Burrow.
“That’s the first time in 23 years that I have cried.”
Burrow said following the ceremony. While Burrow
broke all the passing records at Athens High
School, others in the poverty-stricken town went
hungry. Not many people make it out of Athens, yet
there was Burrow, a shinning example representing
success from a small-town on the edge of
Appalachia, a notoriously poor part of the country.
“Coming from southeast Ohio, it’s a very, very
impoverished area and the poverty rate is almost
two-times the national average. There are so many
people there who don’t have a lot. I’m up here for
all those kids in Athens and Athens County, who go
home to not a lot of food on the table, hungry after
school. You guys can be up here too.”
But despite all Burrow’s accolades as a
quarterback at Athens High School, he was
not recruited by his father and brothers’ alma
mater, Nebraska. Burrow spent his next three
years at Ohio State without playing, adding to
the frustration before finally getting a chance to
compete for the starting quarterback job. But a
broken hand in spring practice led to him finishing
behind Dwayne Haskins as the starter. This led
Burrow to what became a monumental decision in
college football, transferring to LSU.
Burrow started his legendary speech thanking
his offensive line, name by name. He mentioned
them all, a moment of gratitude that did not go
unnoticed. However, he struggled to start speaking
before stepping away from the podium, holding his
face in his hands, and spending several moments
to compose himself.
Overtaken with emotions several times, Burrow
then took his thank you tour to his head coach Ed
Orgeron. “You have no idea what you mean to my
family. I didn’t play for three years, and you took
a chance on me. I am forever grateful for you,“
he said to Orgeron who sat with eyes filled with
moisture.
Not short on thank yous, the graduate transfer also
mentioned how special it was to share this season
and this moment with his father, who recently
retired from being the defensive coordinator at
Ohio University after 14 years. This move was
designed to allow Jimmy Burrow to watch his son’s
last season in the purple and gold. Burrow thanked
Louisiana and LSU, for taking him in and making
him one of their own.
Continuing to make history, Burrow now holds
the largest margin of victory in the history of the
Heisman voting by getting 1,846 points.
Burrow now joins the late Dr. Billy Cannon in
being the only LSU Tigers to have received this
prestigious award. Despite winning it 60 years
apart, Burrow and Cannon’s family now share
an unparalleled bond that will last a lifetime, for
Burrow and for many, many Tiger fans.
On May 20, 2018, about a month
after the LSU Spring Game,
LSU’s 1959 Heisman Winner,
Billy Cannon, passed away. A
few days prior, an unknown
backup quarterback from
Athens, OH transferred to LSU in
hope of resurrecting his career.
His name was Joe Burrow.
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