New book details Joe Burrow's journey on the gridiron

Smathers was Burrow’s first football coach and lives in The Plains, right next to Joe Burrow Stadium. His garage, affectionately known as The Dawg Pound, houses an impressive collection of Joe Burrow photos and memorabilia. The photos were taken by Sam’s daughter, Trisha Doudna, who served as the chief photographer for the book.

From Bulldog to Bengal covers all of Joe’s on-field youth, high school, college and professional accomplishments. But more than anything, this book focuses on Joe’s hometown relationships and how growing up in Athens County formed him into the person and leader he is today.

A portion of the sales of the book will go to The Joe Burrow Foundation.

Matt McAdow: This week, I was kindly joined by both Scott Burson and Sam Smathers for a Q&A. Scott and Sam have been in many headlines recently, as their new book, “From Bulldog to Bengal” will soon be released. Scott is a university professor and an author. He previously spent time as a senior managing editor in the 1990s. Sam was Joe Burrow’s youth football coach from third through sixth grade. He has a personal relationship with the Burrow family and remains connected with Joe, as they both are Athens locals. Talking football as well as their new book was a joy this week and I was glad to get the opportunity to “get the word out” regarding their work.

Q&A with Scott Burson:

Q: How long did it take you to write this book and what inspired you to share Joe’s story?

A: “The research and writing took about six months. I interviewed around 60 Athens County people, including family, friends, teammates, coaches, and teachers. There are nearly 800 citations in the book, but the book is written for the average fan. It covers Joey’s early years all the way up to the 2022 record-breaking season. While all of the on-field accomplishments are included, the major theme from cover to cover is family, friendships, and community. The book explores how these life-long relationships have helped form Joe into the leader, player and person he is today. Joe’s parents, Jimmy and Robin, have been very supportive of the book. They sat down for several hours of interviews, provided photographs, and read through the manuscript as I was writing it last summer. A portion of the sales will go to the Joe Burrow Foundation.”

Q: Can you tell me a story from the book?

A: “Well, there are so many anecdotes and stories in the book. When I was on Dan Hoard’s Bengals Booth Podcast (https://www.bengals.com/audio/bengals-booth-podcast-what-about-now), he told me that he plans on using many of these stories in future radio broadcasts. One I really like is when Joe and his friends were playing travel baseball in elementary school. They rarely lost a tournament, but on this particular day they were convinced that they had been cheated by the umpires out of a championship.

“When the Athens All-Stars were presented their runner-up trophies, one kid threw his in the dugout trash can. Another one broke it over his knee. Joe, on the other hand, was completely stoic. No emotion. Later that night, Robin called the coach and said, ‘I don’t know if I should be proud or disturbed, but Joe has been in his room for the last two hours dismantling that trophy piece by piece by piece. He then tossed it in the trash can.’ I think that gives us all a pretty good idea of what Joe thinks about second place. He has a winner’s attitude and he won’t be satisfied until he’s at the top of the NFL mountain.”

Q&A with Sam Smathers:

Q: Tell us about your relationship with Joe. When did you know he was going to be special? When did you know he would become one of the best QBs in the world?

A: “I had been coaching Athens Youth Football for many years before Joey’s group came through our program. I had never seen the football IQ Joey possessed at his age, hence why he became our quarterback. His fifth- and sixth-grade years we installed shotgun snaps and opened the offense up with a lot more passing. We had an exceptional group of kids those years, probably the most athletic group ever. By the end of his sixth-grade season, Joey was so accurate in the passing game we installed many different passing plays. I knew then if this group of boys stayed together through high school, we would be one of the best teams in school history. By Joey’s senior year at LSU, that is when I knew he was one of the best QBs in football. He continues to impress people at the highest level, and if I know Joe, he won’t stop until he is the best QB ever.”

Q: Do you and Joe still stay in touch?

A: “Joey still texts me from time to time and stops by the Dawg Pound during the off season. He invited my wife and me to a Bengals’ game this past year and we sat with Robin and Jimmy in Joey’s suite. He told me, ‘Coach, you should never have to pay to watch me play.”

Q: What has Joe meant to Southeastern Ohio? How often did you see him during his years in Baton Rouge? What are a few memories from Joe’s years at LSU?

A: “When Joey went to LSU, I didn’t get to see him as often. He came back before his senior year to throw with the Luehrman twins on the high school field across the street from my house. I went over and talked for a bit, gave hugs, and wished him well for the year. Joe’s senior year, when Vandy was put on the schedule, we knew this was our only hope to see him play. I think half of Southeastern Ohio went to the game and no one was in Athens County to turn off the lights!

“There was another time he came back from LSU during a Friday night game with our rival Nelsonville-York, just seven miles up the road. They asked him to come to the center of the field for the coin flip (and we were at their stadium). Joey signed autographs from both sides the whole game. Not sure if he watched any of it! Each week I would cook, smoke and fry something for the LSU game. The Dawg Pound became LSU Tiger North! It became bigger each week, more people, more food. What a memory!”

Sam Smathers and Scott Burson will be giving a talk about what went into writing From Bulldog to Bengal from 2 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 13, at The Little Professor Book Center on Court Street. They will sign books after the talk.

"From Bulldog to Bengal: The Joe Burrow StoryThrough the Eyes of His Hometown" ($24.95 Orange Frazer Press) can be pre-ordered through either www.orangefrazer.com or www.amazon.com. Books will begin shipping in mid-April.