NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Joe Burrow Is a Loser
And that’s why we love him
Joe Burrow is a phenomenal loser. He’s the kind of teammate who places the blame for a painful loss on nobody but himself. When asked about his teammate Joseph Ossai’s late penalty that put the Kansas City Chiefs in field goal range with mere seconds to go in the AFC Chamionship, Burrow simply said, “There were a lot of plays other than that that could’ve turned the tide in the game and won us the game.”
He didn’t pin the loss on the refs, arguably the Chiefs’ 12th man all night long. He didn’t pin it on Ossai, as at least one of his teammates seemed to do in the heat of the battle. He coolly summed it up as a team loss in one of the ultimate team games.
What endears us to players like Burrow is their ability to win, and lose, with the same grace. We’re all in this together. Everybody shares the credit, everybody shoulders the blame.
Clearly, Burrow knows how to win. His 26 victories as a Bengal starter are the proof. But arguably it’s how he has approached the 22 losses that has endeared him to his teammates, his head coach, and a steadily growing throng of fans in and out of Cincinnati.
Cincinnati loves winners. But what it loves even more is scrappy players whose hustle, determination, and ability to lose without blaming others makes their teams better. That, in a nutshell, describes Joe Burrow.
Based on the outcome of his first three years in Cincinnati, the Bengals are going to have to open up the coffers like never before to make this Burrow’s long-term home. But they’ll do it gladly because he’s such a fine loser.
