Joey cool!

BURROW A BATTLER

- KEITH WEBSTER

LIKE some of the namesakes that went before him – Namath, Montana, Theismann – Cincinnati’s No.9 is no ordinary Joe.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, the baby-faced assassin who admits to a resemblance to Macaulay Culkin when asked who could play him in his life-story movie, has been through a lot to reach the greatest stage tonight.

Leading out the Bengals at SoFi Stadium to take on the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI will place the 25-year-old in exalted company but it has been a long and challenging road.

Raised in a rural, poor area of Ohio, he was cast out of his dream college job at Ohio State University.

Unwanted by the team, he began to consider a career in finance before moving south to Louisiana State University when he showed OSU what they were missing by winning a national championship and being awarded the Heisman Trophy as the best player in college football.