Joe Sheisty: The Man, The Myth, The New Legend
- Quincy Corsey
- Feb 8, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 9, 2022
Next to the Cubs in Chicago, the Cincinnati Bengals have had one of the longest playoff droughts in NFL history. Whether they were blown out, robbed, or flat out beating themselves; they have always come up short. That was until Sunday night against the Chiefs, when the tides turned in overtime after an interception thrown by Mahomes. This interception turned into a game winning field goal by the one and only “Shooter” aka Evan McPherson. The Bengals have made it to not only a playoff win past the first round but to the Superbowl. These were the sequences seen at the end of the game. But we are here to talk about the man who even made it happen. The man, the myth, the legend…. “Joe Sheisty” aka Joe Burrow.
Before all the glamor and glimmer we have witnessed, Joseph Lee Burrow was something heard of in the movies. One could call him Troy Bolton because of the athletic and academic accolades that he had achieved while in high school and college. Born in Ames, Iowa; Joe spent his dynamic years in Ohio at Athens High School in the city of Athens. As a descendant of a family with athletic talent, he was destined for hard work. This work manifested into success that some people mistake for the magic they see today.
Besides his older siblings Dan and Jamie playing football at the University of Nebraska, Joe’s father played at Nebraska, the NFL and coached at various schools. These schools range from Iowa State all the way to Ohio University as their Defensive Coordinator. Joe’s grandfather also played basketball at Ole Miss to further show where Joe comes from. Despite all of this, Joe had an athletic run of phenomenal proportions before even touching the tiger striped helmet.
When Joe was at Athens High, he was a multi-sport athlete that played Point Guard and Quarterback at the school. While this is average for most star athletes in high school, Joe’s high school career in these sports were extraordinary. Burrow earned first team all state as their starting PG and had a monster 4 years at QB with numbers of 11,400 combined yards and 157 touchdowns according to his “bengals.com” personal bio. After his run at Athtens, he attended college at The Ohio State University as a back up behind J.T Barrett and graduated in three years with a Bachelors in Consumer and Family Financial Services. He ended his time there with 287 yards with only 10 incompletions. When he received wind of Dwayne Haskins (who is now the starting QB for the Pittsburgh Steelers after Big Ben’s retirement) was picked to start for OSU by Urban Meyer, he decided to attend graduate school and play the rest of his time at Louisiana State University. The legend of Joe Sheisty was born.
After his first game, Joe was named the SEC offensive player of the week. Along with a 10-3 record in 2018, Joe had 2,984 passing yards with 16 TDs and 399 rushing yards and 7 running TDs. Even with that impressive (first transfer) season, he doubled his yardage sequentially. He ended this year with a perfect season and acquired the second Heisman for LSU since 1959’s Billy Cannon. The time he put in at LSU gave people big expectations of what is to come for his NFL career in 2020.
In April of 2020, Burrow was picked 1st overall by the Bengals and elected captain in his rookie year. Joe in his first few games went on to make history as the first NFL rookie to throw for 400 yards, three passing TD and a rushing TD. As bright as the times seemed to be for him, things took a turn for the worst. He tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament, minor damage to the MCL and PCL in a game against the Washington Football Team in November of 2020. After the successful operation, Joe got back in the saddle for this past season and came with a chip on his shoulder. He shocked the world with the upsets in his conference playoffs that lead him to be the underdog and fan favorite to win it all.
After all is said and done, Joe has shown to be something straight out of EA's NCAA Football Road to Glory mode. He is an undeniable phenomena that can only be explained by witnessing something and someone betting on themselves. He reminds me of someone else that happens to be from Ohio that had all odds against him to do something legendary. Not Roger Clemons but the two walking NBA legends we are seeing right now, LeBron James and Stephen Curry. He is coming into his own imprint on the Rushmore of Ohio sports. Superbowl 56 l is on February 13th and for the adventures of Joe Sheisty, it doesn't get more storybook than to end like that.
SOURCES: https://playersbio.com/joe-burrow/
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