Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is one of the NFL’s most important people heading into 2022.
So says Peter King, who just dished his latest most influential list. At NBC Sports, he listed the 22 most influential people heading into next season and not only placed Joe Burrow 12th, he was even comfortable signing off on a Joe Namath comparison:
“The reason why I think Burrow has shot to the top of NFL Q ratings is not only his ability and his Gen-Z-appealing fashion sense, but also his attitude. He really has some Namath in him, the ability to play like the ultimate tough guy and at the same time having an I-could-care-less-what-you-think-of-me attitude. He doesn’t get nervous or tight in big moments. And if his line could have blocked Aaron Donald down the stretch of Super Bowl LVI, he would have had the time to win it. Whether he’d have made the plays necessary to win, that would have been on him. But he just didn’t have enough time.”
It all checks, too. Burrow’s got the elite fashion sense while helping out a friend’s business with his viral outfits. We’ve seen him laughing off late shenanigans from the likes of T.J. Watt while pointing at the scoreboard, too.
Never mind, of course, the never-razzled on-field play that helped him reach the Super Bowl before ever having a totally normal offseason.
Viewed through these lenses, it’s pretty clear Burrow indeed has the upshot of being one of the faces of the NFL in the coming years.
