PITTSBURGH — More than a quarter of a century ago, Joe Burrow’s father was on the coaching staff of the Iowa Barnstormers. The Barnstormers quarterback at the time was Kurt Warner, who had a successful NFL career that eventually ended in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. During Sunday’s game between the Steelers and Bengals, Burrow matched Warner’s mark for the third fewest games required to complete 10,000 career passing yards.
Patrick Mahomes (34 games) continues to hold the record for fewest games required to reach 10,000 career passing yards. Justin Herbert is the second fastest to reach the mark in 35 games.
Burrow came on and required 166 yards to rush for 10,000 yards in his 36th regular season game of his career. The Athens, Ohio native matched Warner’s record on a 17-yard completion against Tee Higgins by 1:35 in the first half. It was part of a great first half for Burrow, who threw two touchdown passes to run back Samaje Perine.
Burrow, 26, has had an extremely productive start to his career. Burrow, last year’s comeback player of the year, led the NFL in graduation rate in his second NFL season. He led the Bengals to the franchise’s first playoff win in 31 years, their first-ever road playoff win, and their first Super Bowl finish since January 1989.
Warner racked up 10,000 yards in his career in the 2001 season, when he won his second MVP award in three years. A former Arena Football League and NFL Europe quarterback, Warner took the league by storm in 1999. That season, he won league and Super Bowl MVP honors while leading the Rams to the franchise’s first Super Bowl, a 23-16 win over the Titans.
Warner inadvertently offered Burrow a perspective after the most important game of Burrow’s life up to that point in his career. During some breaks in the two weeks between last year’s AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl, Burrow watched an NFL Films documentary about Warner. In the locker room after the Bengals’ loss to the Rams, Burrow thought of something from the documentary that shaped his post-game perspective.
“They lost one,” Burrow said, referring to the Super Bowl that Warner and the Rams lost to the Patriots 20 years ago. “Later on in the documentary, he said they were letting it burn too much that they weren’t celebrating what they had accomplished.
“Of course it hurts but we had a great year. We didn’t come out of that last game like we wanted but I think we still have something to celebrate.”
Burrow hopes to keep the Bengals relevant for years to come. In doing so, Burrow will undoubtedly continue to climb up the NFL record books.