ATHENS COUNTY, Ohio — Long before being a Bengal; before winning the Heisman and before winning a national championship at LSU, Joe Burrow was a Bulldog.
“I never dreamed in my wildest dream that I would ever coach a player that would play in the Super Bowl and then would call and see if I wanted to go,” Nathan White said.
Before White became the head football coach at Athens High School he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach starting in 2012. That year, Burrow was a sophomore. The next two years White says Burrow, who easily could have made it all about his own ability, harped on the successes of others.
“Since day one he has made sure to thank teammates and coaches and absolutely cared about his guys on the team,” White said.
To a high school athlete, the NFL is a pipedream.
There was something about Joe, though.
White remembers one day when Burrow was working on plays with his running backs when another coach made a joke asking Burrow if he had future plans of coaching.
“And Joe kind of stopped and looked at me and looked at coach and he just said ‘Well, yeah, when I’m done playing’,” White said. “Meaning, I’m not done after college.”
Fast forward less than a decade later and Joe Burrow certainly isn’t done.
This weekend his Cincinnati Bengals are taking on the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 56. White and his wife, like always, were planning on hosting a watching party.
At least that was the plan until his phone rang this past weekend.
“Joe called on Sunday afternoon [and] said coach I came up with two more tickets if you and Sarah want to go,” White said, smiling. “Obviously, I said yeah, we’re going to take you up on that.”
That’s Joe, White says; always thinking about and appreciating others. It’s why White says, sure, Joe’s a Bengal, but he’ll always be a Bulldog.