Saints and LSU fans, you are in for quite the treat with two of the most popular sports figures to ever pass through Louisiana sat down for a riveting interview. Legendary Saints quarterback and future Hall of Famer Drew Brees sat down with Joe Burrow on NBC Sports prior to Super Bowl LVI to discuss his journey to get to this moment.
The conversation touched on a number of topics including Burrow's childhood and how tough the early part of his college career was despite putting in the same amount of time and effort at Ohio State.
"I worked the same way that I do now but I wasn't seeing the product on the field," Burrow told Brees during via NBC Sports. I was getting better at practice but at some point I've gotta go show it on the field."
Burrow then credited former Tigers coach Ed Orgeron for a lot of his success in Baton Rouge.
"I got my chance at LSU and it really couldn't have worked out better. Coach O was great for me. Everything he told me in recruiting ended up happening. I battled through a lot of injuries and I'd say those injuries were the most significant moments. I've been resilient."
Burrow admitted when he first got to campus, it took a while for things to start clicking after sitting on the bench for three years at Ohio State, but after a monster performance against the Tigers bowl game against UCF, Burrow claimed he started to find his footing during the offseason.
"The last two games of my junior year at LSU. We played Texas A&M at Texas A&M, threw a lot of touchdowns, ran for 100 yards and I felt 'ok I'm starting to get back to it.' Then in the Fiesta Bowl I threw for 400 something yards and going into that offseason I realized I was getting better and I was gonna have a full spring ball with all of these guys."
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When Brees asked Burrow if there are any similarities between his two seasons in Cincinnati, leading the Bengals to the Super Bowl leading and his two years with LSU and winning a national title, Burrow said he was comfortable with his surroundings in Cinci due to having played with a lot of guys on the roster. He even added that the locker room is very similar to how it was at LSU.
“It’s felt pretty similar. We have a lot of the same players. Ja’Marr (Chase) is here, Tyler Shelvin is here, a lot of guys I played with at Ohio State as well. The surroundings for me when I got here were very familiar, I knew a lot of people,” Burrow said. “Then, our locker room is really, really close, and it was the same way at LSU. And I really think that’s what’s put us over the edge.”
The two quarterbacks have had numerous conversations prior to their Super Bowl interview, first meeting each other prior to the 2020 National Championship game.
Burrow isn't the only player on the Bengals roster to have connections to Louisiana. There are six players that have played their college ball at either LSU, Tulane, and Louisiana Tech, five are Louisiana natives, and multiple players have had stints on the Saints. Eli Apple, Vonn Bell and Trey Hendrickson are all starting Sunday for Cincinnati.
The Bengals head into Super Bowl LVI as four-point underdogs against the Los Angeles Rams according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. EST.
Follow Jasper Jones on Twitter: @jonesj2342
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