Joe Burrow explains his flag football passion, aspirations, and what part the Bengals play in all of it
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow turned heads while playing in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. Burrow explained to local media members this week what it all means for him.
Joe Burrow is a big supporter of flag football. He wants to play on Team USA in the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, and showed this past March why he has a case to make the squad.
Burrow turned heads while playing in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. He put up points with DeAndre Hopkins, and sparked a bit of fear going to the ground multiple times. He talked about the event and his passion for the sport during his first press conference of the offseason earlier this week.
Joe Burrow’s connection with Fanatics
Burrow has developed a relationship with Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, which helped him emerge as a face of the event. Tom Brady was the quarterback for Founders FFC, and Burrow has also gotten to know him pretty well over the years.
Combine connections with a passion for growing the sport to more people in more places in the world, and Burrow was elated to be a part of it all.
“Obviously I have a good relationship relationship with Michael [Rubin] at Fanatics and with Tom [Brady], and flag football means a lot to the league,” Burrow explained. “And they’re trying to push that internationally, and obviously, with the Olympics coming up, they’re trying to make that more and more popular. That’s, for me, an exciting thing to be a part of, trying to grow football, whether it’s flag or or tackle football, and I think one will go with the other. If one gets popular, the other one will as well. And I want to be a part of that.”
Burrow vying for Team USA in 2028?
Los Angeles will be the host city for the first Summer Olympic Games featuring flag football. Burrow is building his resume to be in town for history, but there’s still a ways to go before anything becomes finalized in two years.
“Yeah we’ll see, we’ll see,” Burrow said. “Timing is everything, and those conversations kind of started this year, but you know, there’s a long way to go until we get there. It’s something that I’d like to do, depending on obviously timing and how people here feel about it, but that’ll be a conversation for a later date.”
“People here” being the Bengals, of course. Burrow clarified director of player personnel Duke Tobin and head coach Zac Taylor were part of the conversation about him playing in Fanatics’ game, and that will continue to be the dynamic.
“Those conversations are great,” Burrow said. “There were no qualms about me doing that, but if there were, then I wouldn’t have done it. So, there’s constant dialog with Duke, and Zac, and everybody about things that I want to do, things that maybe I should or shouldn’t do. There’s constant dialog with them.”
The greater goal
Representing the country would be a surefire way for Burrow to be an ambassador of the sport like he’s wanted to do from an early point in his career, according to him.
Not only for his brand, but for the team he represents as well.
“The first couple years when you see how the league pushes certain teams and puts certain teams in big spots,” Burrow explained. “Why they do what they do, studying that, and the teams that are in those positions year in and year out, there’s a reason for it. And that’s a position that I want the Bengals to be in.”
The Bengals are more in the spotlight because of Burrow. That spotlight can grow with him staying on the field, playing at a high level, and growing his overall stardom.
Winning the Super Bowl as well, but that goes without saying.
Cincinnati appears more than okay with Burrow branching out into football’s non-tackle variant, and Burrow’s goals with the sport are just as clear. Expect to see him wearing flags again.