Richard Zippert doesn’t normally go to Cat’s Eye Saloon on weekday evenings.
The bar owner doesn’t need to be at his workplace on typical slow nights in Athens, where the college students are normally focused on school work and locals, called “townies,” are mostly spending the night at home.
Monday, however, was a rare exception for Zippert.
Dozens of townies flocked to Zippert’s bar to witness one of the most historical sports nights in the history of Athens, the hometown of 2019 Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow.
The star-studded quarterback, who helped inspire over $500,000 of donations after mentioning Athens’ poverty struggles in a Heisman speech that will resonate with the city for an eternity, piloted LSU to a College Football Playoff National Championship when the Tigers took down Clemson 42-25 some 954 miles away at Mercedes Benz Superdome.
The townies, many of whom watched Burrow when he was the starting quarterback at Athens High School, weren’t going to miss a second of the action together from their favorite watering hole.
Neither was Zippert.
“A lot of these guys have been coming here since he transferred to LSU,” said Zippert, who has worked at the bar since 1984. “A lot of their kids went to school with him at Athens High. (The crowd) here has definitely gotten bigger.”
Townies slowly filed in an hour before kickoff to celebrate the final college performance from Burrow, who won Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year his senior year and led the Bulldogs to the state championship.
Most of them will say that Burrow’s ascension to the elite levels of college football was no surprise. His style of play is no different than what townies saw when they watched him play at Athens High’s R. Basil Rutter Field, which will soon include the name “Joe Burrow Stadium,“ and his deep-ball ability — which he wasn’t afraid to show Monday in the biggest game of his life — has always daggered opposing defenses.
The townies packed inside Cat’s Eye, however, couldn’t help but think back to Burrow’s state championship game, when Athens fell 56-52 to Toledo Central Catholic in the Bulldogs’ first ever appearance in the state championship.
Burrow, who mentioned the loss in his postgame interview Monday as confetti fell inside the Mercedes Benz Superdome, certainly hasn’t forgotten about the game. The townies haven’t, either.
“Joe doesn’t want to be second place. He’s a first-place guy,” said Randy Wolfe, 58 and a lifelong Athens townie, moments before the bar erupted as Burrow heaved a 52-yard touchdown pass.
Then, Wolfe came to a realization. It’s an obvious one, but it’s what every townie has been thinking since Burrow’s stardom emerged in the fall.
For Athens, moments like this will never happen again.
“This is a once in a lifetime thing,” Wolfe said. “These people … I mean, it’s just crazy.”
They’ve embraced Burrow just as much as Burrow has continued to embrace Athens. One townie, John Ellis, brought a Crock-Put full of jambalaya to the bar. The 51-year-old sported a grey LSU T-shirt and has lived in Athens since he was born.
He’s never seen the community come together so closely. The passion inside Cat’s Eye on a Monday night proved it.
“I think for the greater Athens community, I think he’s been…” Ellis said before pausing, staring at the TV and thinking about the best word possible.
“Truthful. From his heart,” Ellis said. “It’s been a godsend to the community. It’s going to be a legacy that will live for a long time.”
As TVs displayed Jimmy and Robin Burrow, Joe’s parents, embracing and shouting as the clock ran down to LSU’s victory, the townies roared with them. Some of them knew the Burrow family themselves — a portion of them traveled to Vanderbilt to tailgate with the Burrow family when LSU visited in September.
The cheers, hi-fives and hugs didn’t stop until the postgame ceremonies were over. The townies will always share a bond over Burrow. Their local hero will forever be a national legend.
“Can you believe it?” one avid townie shouted. “A kid from Athens just won the Heisman and the f*****g championship.”
Clarification: The article has been updated to clarify that Joe Burrow did not personally raise the funds, but helped to inspire it.
