LSU Quarterback Joe Burrow Sees Bengals Jersey Sales Skyrocket to Top-10 in League

Burrow’s No. 9 ranks No. 8 in jersey sales of 2020 offseason

A year ago, Joe Burrow was fielding questions at the Manning Passing Academy about his fourth round draft stock and if he pays any attention to those kind of projections.

A candid Burrow told Larry Holder of the Athletic quite simply, no.

"Honestly, no," Burrow said. "I'm just focused on winning as many games as I can this year and then I'll focus on that after the year."

If you had told that version of Burrow that a year later his NFL jersey would be among the top-10 selling jerseys of the 2020 offseason, he wouldn't have believed you. In fact, Burrow said as much in an interview with Sports Illustrated national writer Albert Breer before the draft.

“Absolutely not,” Burrow said. “I knew that I was gonna play really well my senior year. And I was going into it thinking I was one of the best guys in the country. But I know what recruiting is, and I know how the draft is. It’s always interesting seeing where people go and seeing who ends up panning out. So I knew I had a chance to be a really good pro. But I didn’t think I could do anything to get myself up to the No. 1 pick in the draft."

There are only three players that have sold more jerseys than Burrow's Bengals jersey; Miami's Tua Tagovailoa and Tampa Bay's Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. 

Burrow's black Bengals' jersey ranks No. 8 behind various Tagovailoa and Brady jerseys as well as Gronkowski's "pewter alternate." The LSU quarterback was taken No. 1 overall in the 2020 draft back on April 23 after a historic season that saw the Tigers go 15-0 and throw a college football record 60 touchdown passes.

“I fully expected and knew that I was going No. 1. But that three and a half minutes that [the Bengals] were on the clock was like the longest three minutes of my life," Burrow said in a recent interview on the "Pardon My Take" podcast. 

That's quite the change from the rising senior that was answering questions of how to improve his mid-round draft stock at the Manning Passing Academy. 

There's a reason his jersey is selling at such a high rate and it has to do with a lot more that popularity or talent, it has to do with hope. Because Burrow will now be tasked with putting an NFL franchise that hasn't won a playoff game since 1991 on his shoulders.

It's a challenge he embraces and just like fans in Baton Rouge know all too well, will do everything in his power to build a consistent winner in his homestate of Ohio.

"I’m not going to sacrifice my standards of play, and I expect to go out and win every single football game, but you also have to be realistic," Burrow said. "I’ve gone through ups and downs. And through the entire process, I’ve just kept working hard, and kept faith in that preparation and that hard work to get me to this point. And that’s exactly what I’m going to keep doing through the ups and downs this next year and the years to follow.”