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Joe Burrow's last 12 months have been jaw-dropping, perhaps even for him. This time last year, the quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals was recovering from a torn ACL suffered in Week 11 of the 2020 season, which was his rookie year.
Burrow made a recent appearance on the Full Send podcast and reminisced about an incident that happened after winning the national championship in college football as the quarterback for the LSU Tigers.
Here's what the Bengals quarterback had to say about him and others on the football team almost being arrested for smoking a victory cigar after their victory over the Clemson Tigers:
"We were gonna smoke all the cigars in the locker room. We started smoking them and the cops come in because I guess you're not allowed to smoke inside or whatever."
He continued:
"They started trying to arrest people in the locker room after we won the national title. We're like, 'What's going? C'mon.' This was in Louisiana. We played in New Orleans for the national title. They were trying to arrest us."
Needless to say, the cigar was well deserved as the (LSU) Tigers defeated the (Clemson) Tigers by a score of 42-25 in the 2019-2020 National Championship Game.
The win capped off what is often considered to be perhaps the best season by a quarterback in NCAA history. Burrow won the Heisman Trophy, the national championship, the AP College Football Player of the Year Award and numerous others.
He also set the NCAA record for most passing touchdowns in a single season with 60 (the record has since been broken by Bailey Zappe of Western Kentucky, who threw for 62 touchdowns in 2021).
What's in store for Joe Burrow and the Bengals in 2022?
The Bengals were undoubtedly the surprise story of the NFL in 2021. No one was predicting the Bengals to win the AFC outside of Ohio.
There were concerns before the start of last season on whether or not Burrow's knee would be ready for him to start in Week One. He had a successful rehab after tearing up his ACL and MCL in Week 11 against the (then) Washington Football Team.
The Bengals went 10-7 in the regular season, which was enough to win the AFC North division. They then defeated the Las Vegas Raiders and the Tennessee Titans before beating the Chiefs in overtime to advance to Super Bowl LVI, where they faced the Los Angeles Rams.
The Bengals' final drive of the Super Bowl stalled and they lost by a narrow margin of 23-20. So what can fans expect the Cincinnati Bengals to do in the 2022 season?
The only way the team can "improve" upon last season is to get back to the Super Bowl and win it. In the offseason, the Bengals worked to add protection for their quarterback by signing former Dallas Cowboys offensive tackle La'el Collins and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Alex Cappa. Center Ted Carras also joined the Bengals on a three-year deal worth about $18 million.
With several holes in the offensive line now plugged, Joe Burrow and the Bengals are looking forward to recapturing the magic of 2021 and taking it just one step further.
If that happens, fans can expect to see Burrow lighting up another victory cigar.
Poll : Can the Bengals make it back to the Super Bowl this season?
Yes
No
63 votes
