Just under a month after his Heisman win and speech in which he helped the Athens County Food Pantry receive over $500,000, Joe Burrow gave Athens County another reason to celebrate.
Louisiana State University and Athens County-native Joe Burrow took home the National Championship title on Monday night. That was not only a big moment for LSU and the state of Louisiana, but it was also one of the most important events to ever take place for Athens, Ohio.
Burrow grew up in The Plains, a village near Athens, and even attended Athens High School where he threw for over 11,400 yards in his high school career. He also earned himself the Mr. Ohio Football award while falling just one game short of a Division III title.
His journey from growing up in Athens to earning a championship title in Louisiana wasn’t a very easy one. He spent 2016 and 2017 as a backup quarterback for Ohio State before he transferred to LSU and earned himself the starting job. He ended up throwing for over 5,500 yards in 2019 alone.
His impact on Athens (and all of Southeast Ohio) goes far beyond the donations or the on-field success; he showed the world that he can be a voice for his hometown. Burrow realized that he has a platform where he can make a difference, and he took advantage of it.
Joe Burrow is not only an icon for Athens, but for Ohio University as well. Regardless of how they feel, every student is a part of the Athens community. For now, Athens is home, so rooting for the hometown hero is a must.
Apart from rooting for Burrow for obvious reasons, one of the major reasons many OU students cheered him on is because it was the closest Ohio University will get to the feeling of winning a national championship for at least a very long time.
OU has never been known for football, and its program has only spent nine weeks in the top 25 total throughout the team’s history. No one knows what the future holds for OU football, but the likelihood of the Bobcats becoming a true playoff contender is very low.
So, while Joe Burrow didn’t win a championship for OU, he did the next best thing: he won a championship for Athens. Students at OU should be (almost) as happy as students at LSU are for this win. Athens is now the hometown of a Heisman-winning quarterback who went undefeated his senior year. Now he’s taken down Clemson, one of the most successful teams in the past couple years, to win a national championship.
Ohio University and the Athens community may never get to experience a moment like this again. Burrow’s success on and off the football field has been so impactful to Southeast Ohio, and his legacy will continue to live on for years to come.
Joey Perkins is a freshman studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Joey? Tweet him @JoeyPerkins_.
