Only a few years ago, the college football world saw the single most incredible season any individual has ever had. That season was the 2019 year of Joe Burrow. 

Burrow, or more fondly known as Burreaux, was never supposed to be this good. First being a backup at Ohio State, he finally decided to transfer to Death Valley in hopes of getting more playing time and showing how he should be a draft prospect. 

Even so, he almost did not transfer to LSU. It was down to the Tigers and the University of Cincinnati, where he could stay in this home state and he already had some familiarity with the head coach. Luckily for football fans everywhere, other than the ones he diced up all season, he ultimately chose to go to LSU. 

While everyone will remember his 2019 season, it was not the first year for Burrow in the purple and gold, as he transferred ahead of the 2018 season. In that year, he led the Tigers to a 10-3 season and had an underwhelming year.

He finished 2,894 yards and just 16 touchdowns. Nothing spectacular and surely not enough to leave for the draft. Luckily for the Tigers, he made the right decision to return for his final season.

All credit is not Burrow’s, however, as in 2019, the team hired Joe Brady as the passing coordinator, who helped reinvent the offense around the generationally talented wideouts of Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. 

They entered the season ranked No. 6 with high expectations. Even so, Burrow did not even crack the top 20 in preseason Heisman odds, according to 24/7 Sports. 

After a quick warm-up in week one, the Tigers went on the road to take on No. 9 Texas. In front of the College Gameday broadcast and nearly 100,000 fans, they took the win 45-38 and had momentum for the rest of the season. 

For Burrow, it was his real coming out party, as on the road he went 31-39 for 471 yards and four scores. 

It was the first of seven wins over ranked opponents on the season and the Tigers proved to be legit. They would beat No. 7 Florida, No. 9 Auburn and No.3 Alabama in the regular season on their way to an SEC championship berth. 

In that game, they would match up with No. 4 Georgia, and despite it being played in Georgia, they dominated from the first whistle and won 37-10. 

In the first round of the playoff, they had No. 4 Oklahoma and the offense showed out. They would take the win 63-28 and were one game away from being crowned the best team in the nation.

For that title, they faced off against No. 3 Clemson and in New Orleans, Joe Burrow showed out in a 42-25 win and generated what was called the “coldest” video of all time. The video shows Burrow celebrating, cigar in mouth, showing why his nickname was Joe Cool. 

His championship performance was championship-worthy, as he went 31-49 for 463 yards and five TDs, dominating and dazzling with spectacular throws and elite decision-making. 

In 15 games and 15 wins, Burrow completed 76.3% of his passes and had 5,671 yards and 60 TDs. Impressively, with throwing 527 pass attempts, only six of those were intercepted by opposing defenses. 

On the ground, he added an additional five scores and his 65 total scores firmly cemented his season as dominant in all aspects. 

His rating of 202.0 is the third highest of all time, but at the time, it was the highest ever. 

Deservingly so, he was the Heisman winner and would become the first overall pick in the next NFL draft. Since being drafted, he has suffered a torn ACL and then came back to lead his team to a Super Bowl appearance just a few years later.

His story is not done, but he had the single most incredible college football season ever and his professional potential has come to fruition, at least for a small portion of time.