Inside Joe Burrow's rise to football stardom - ESPN

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. No big smiles. No small talk. No «we should hang out sometime.» He's there for business, and at that time, LSU had an insular, veteran locker room that had zero interest in an outsider who wasn't even trying to be friendly and deferential.

So on this day, Burrow arrives at an edgy team facility for a player-led workout. Before the Tigers go out on the field, word spreads that the captains want Burrow to address the team. Tensions have skyrocketed around the idea of the new, chilly quarterback disrupting what was supposed to be a competition between vets Myles Brennan and Justin McMillan. McMillan seemed to have the slight edge coming out of spring ball and is well-liked by teammates as a career grinder on the precipice of his big chance.

«I'd say the mood was 95% against Joe,» says former LSU tight end Thaddeus Moss. «He is a great guy, very personable and cool once you get to know him. But he was very, very