JOE BURROW sits in the back of the conference room as the meeting begins. His new LSU teammates are baffled by him. It's the summer of 2018, and they think he either doesn't quite understand how much they don't want him as their quarterback or that he really doesn't care.
Either way, they don't like him, and that's why this players-only meeting is happening. Burrow arrived as a grad transfer from Ohio State a few weeks earlier when he lost a spring battle with Dwayne Haskins.
He's buff and gruff, with players whispering that the Ohio State weight room must be awesome but that they must not teach bedside manner in Columbus.
Burrow gets his own apartment and does almost no commiserating with other players for his first few weeks. In introductions, Burrow would say, «Hi, I'm Joe, nice to meet you,» and that's it.