The quarterback was an afterthought less than two years ago: now he is the star of LSU’s successful national championship campaign
It looked like Mardi Gras come early: purple and gold confetti on green turf, laws fallen by the wayside for this one night, at least. Down here in New Orleans they’re always more like suggestions anyway: a red light means pause, sip a beer in the passenger seat, and no smoking in the Superdome means light a fat cigar. So there was Joe Burrow on Monday night, still in uniform but taking a few long puffs before detailing exactly how he and his LSU team, college football national champions now, had just dismantled Clemson, 42-25.
Barely an hour earlier, Burrow threw his 60th touchdown pass of the season, setting a new NCAA single-season record. The quarterback had rebounded from a first quarter in which LSU punted on their first three drives to finish with 463 passing yards, five touchdown passes and another touchdown run. He won the Heisman Trophy last month, will likely be the NFL draft’s first pick in another three, and on Monday he handed off his cigar for safekeeping before making his public comments. “This is special,” he said. “This doesn’t happen – this doesn’t come around every year. This is a special group of guys that really came together, and it’s as close of a group as I’ve ever been around.”