Super Bowl 2022 - Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow surprises former high school coach with tickets

Sitting at home last Sunday, Athens High School head football coach Nathan White saw his phone light up with a familiar name on the other end — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. He smiled. He was always happy to hear from one of his former players.

Burrow had a question for White: Would he like to go to the Super Bowl?

«He called and said, 'Hey coach, if you're not busy this weekend, I have a couple extra tickets if you and Sarah want to go,'» White said. «So I said yeah, 'I think we can make that happen.'»

«To think about sitting there and watching an Athens Bulldog in the Super Bowl is mind boggling to me.»

In 2014, as a sophomore, Burrow, led the Athens Bulldogs to Ohio's state championship. Burrow has talked appreciatively about his connections to the city, roughly 2½ hours from Cincinnati. Gov. Mike DeWine temporarily renamed three state parks Monday in honor of the Super Bowl-bound Bengals.

Burr Oak State Park in southeastern Ohio is renamed «Burrow Oak State Park» in honor of the team's quarterback.

«They helped make me who I am today,» Burrow told reporters this week. «I wouldn't be here without all the people that supported me in Athens. I hope I'm making everybody proud.»

And people in Athens have followed every step.

«He has really pulled us along on this journey,» White said. «And you know, a lot of people around here really have ownership in the run… the fact that he has brought up this area and that was his way of kind of telling us, 'Come on guys, let's go for the ride.' The excitement around here is indescribable.»

White was then the quarterbacks coach on Burrow's high school teams. In an interview with ESPN, he paused to reflect on all his former quarterback has accomplished: the Heisman trophy,