Joe Burrow explains thought process behind new haircut: 'I got bored'

Joe Burrow debuted a new look ahead of Cincinnati Bengals training camp.

Sporting a new buzzed, blonde hairdue, Slim Shiesty, Blonde Burrow, Joey Rhodes — whatever you want to call him — Burrow has made the rounds on social media in the 24 hours since he was spotted sporting his new look. In the spirit of journalistic integrity, it took the local Cincinnati media only a few moments to ask him why he changed his look during his media availability after practice on Wednesday.

“I got bored,” Burrow said, shrugging his shoulders.

Surely there’s more to it than that.

“BJ [Hill] said if I buzzed it and bleached it, he would do it too,” Burrow said. “So now everyone has to keep him accountable now. He has to do it in the next week.”

A bleached blonde BJ Hill would be an interesting sight to see. The reaction from social media is sure to be just as interesting as Burrow’s, although the Bengals quarterback admitted he hasn’t seen much of the humorous content the internet has spewed out over the last 24 hours.

From Eminem references, to WWE Champion Cody Rhodes telling Burrow to finish his story this season, and people even compared him to Jonah Hill’s character in 21 Jump Street. The hilarity has been endless, but it doesn’t appear to both Burrow.

His appearance only brings attention toward the Bengals as Cincinnati begins its annual fall training camp. With day one in the books, a healthy Burrow and company will have to put looks aside as they head into the regular season. Looking to find themselves back in the Super Bowl for the second time in four seasons, ther franchise will need Burrow at his best in 2024.

Burrow’s 2023 campaign was littered with injuries. The first occurred before the season began at the start of training camp when Burrow strained his calf running a simple team drill. He missed the rest of training camp and reaggravated the injury in Week 2 of the regular season.

Eight weeks later, Burrow tore a ligament in his throwing wrist against the Ravens. The injury required surgery which promptly ended Burrow’s season. He ultimately only played 10 games last year, tallying 2,309 passing yards and 15 touchdowns compared to six interceptions.

“[If] you don’t play football, people forget about you,” Burrow said earlier this offseason. “If you’re not out there and people aren’t watching you, then there’s nothing to talk about.

“I’m going to give people something to talk about this year. I’m excited about it.”

He’s certainly already doing that with his new hair cut. Now, it’s on him to live up to that claim on the field.