If the Cincinnati Bengals select Joe Burrow with the first overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, the former LSU star has no intention of trying to force his way to another team.
While speaking with reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday, Burrow said he would never refuse to play for a team that drafted him. That almost certainly means he will be a Bengal in two months.
Burrow said he wanted to be “non-presumptuous” about being the No. 1 pick but suggested that the narrative that he didn’t want to go to Cincinnati wasn’t his intent.
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) February 25, 2020
Burrow on the Bengals: “I’m not going to not play. Whoever picks me, I’m going to show up.”
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) February 25, 2020
So much for the idea of Joe Burrow not wanting to play for the Bengals.
Burrow: “I’m not going to not play. I’m a ball player. I’m going to show up.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 25, 2020
Because the Bengals have been such a bad team for so many years, many have speculated that Burrow could pull an Eli Manning, who refused to play for the San Diego Chargers when he was drafted and forced his way to the New York Giants. A recent comment Burrow made about having leverage heading into the draft created a stir, but he likely is just trying to avoid sounding like it is a certainly that he will be taken No. 1. Burrow said Tuesday that the idea of him possibly avoiding Cincinnati is a media fabrication.
Joe Burrow on the speculation that he did not want to play in Cincinnati: “You guys (in the media) kind of took that narrative and ran with it. There has never been anything like that from my end.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 25, 2020
Members of Burrow’s camp have reportedly been annoyed over the talk that the QB could pull an Eli, and there’s no reason to think it is going to happen. It probably helps that Burrow is from Ohio, so playing for the Bengals would give him a chance to rescue a tortured franchise and play pro football in his home state.
