Joseph Lee Burrow (born December 10, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with Ohio State, Burrow played college football at LSU, where he won the Heisman Trophy and the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship as a senior. He was selected by the Bengals first overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. After an injury-shortened rookie season, Burrow rebounded in his second year by leading the Bengals to their first playoff win since 1990, ending the longest active drought in the four major North American sports, and an appearance in Super Bowl LVI. In his three seasons as the Bengals' quarterback, Burrow has led the team to five postseasons wins, the same amount won in franchise history prior to drafting him. Burrow has been nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "Joe Brrr" by sportswriters and other players for his calmness under pressure. Early years Burrow was born in Ames, Iowa, on December 10, 1996, the son of Robin and Jim Burrow. Jim is a former football player and coach whose career lasted over 40 years. Burrow was born in Ames when his father was on the coaching staff at Iowa State University. According to a 2019 Sports Illustrated story, "The Burrow athletic lineage dates back nearly a century." In the 1940s, his paternal grandmother set a Mississippi state high school record with an 82-point game in basketball. His paternal grandfather played basketball at Mississippi State; his uncle, John Burrow, played football at Ole Miss (the University of Mississippi); and two older brothers also played football at Nebraska. He attended the 2002 Rose Bowl at age five, as his father was an assistant coach for the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Not long after, he began playing in youth football leagues. Unlike his father, uncle, and brothers, who all played on defense, Burrow started out as a quarterback, because his first youth team had no one else who could play the position. The Burrow family moved to North Dakota in 2003 when his father was hired as the defensive coordinator at North Dakota State University in Fargo. One day, while Jim was visiting his office, future Central Michigan head coach Dan Enos commented that the seven-year-old Joe had a future in football. The Burrows spent two years in Fargo before Jim accepted the defensive coordinator position at Ohio University in Athens.