“I wouldn’t say that it was hot. It was a nice little breeze,” Joe Burrow quipped, describing his bold fashion choice at Paris Fashion Week back in June. The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback turned heads and raised eyebrows when he strutted down the runway in a backless black jacket, sans shirt.

Burrow’s daring ensemble wasn’t just a random pick. The NFL star explained on ‘The Rich Eisen Show’ today that he was given options. “They gave me the choice to wear a shirt under it or no shirt under it,” Burrow revealed. “I thought no shirt under it looked better than the shirt under it, and they agreed, so we went with that.”

This wasn’t just any fashion show. Burrow and his former LSU teammate, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, were part of Vogue World: Paris at Place Vendome. The event, held on June 23, 2024, was a star-studded affair that merged sports with French fashion history.

Burrow’s black Peter Do blazer with satin lapels, worn without an undershirt and featuring a stylish open back, was more than just a fashion statement. It represented a growing trend where NFL players are becoming cultural influencers beyond the gridiron. “I think the crossover between fashion and sport is going to continue to grow,” Burrow told Vogue back then.

The quarterback’s foray into high fashion wasn’t without its critics. Burrow admitted on “Pardon My Take” that he’s been “roasted in just about every group chat I could possibly be roasted in.” But for Burrow, it was about more than clothes. “I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and grow as a person,” he explained to Vogue.

Burrow’s unlikely journey to fashion icon

But if you’d told Joe Burrow as a young child growing up in Ohio that he would one day be walking down the runway in Paris, he would not have believed it. “When I was little, I would have told you there’s no chance that I would ever do that in a million years,” he said on The Rich Eisen Show

Joe Burrow, born and raised in Athens, Ohio, a “very small, tight-knit community” certainly would’ve never dreamt of becoming a fashion icon. “I wouldn’t exactly say that dreams like that are super available in a situation like that, ” Burrow observed.

Still, here he was, sharing space on the catwalk with Kendall Jenner, Pharrell Williams, and Jared Leto. Burrow’s rise from small-town passer to NFL superstar and now fashion god embodies the dream every fan has within him. It shows just how far desires and openness to new things can take someone.

Despite the teasing from friends, indeed Burrow’s Paris excursion seems to have only expanded his horizons. Who can say? Perhaps we’ll be treated to some Paris-inspired touchdown celebrations this season. If nothing else, as he proved on the runway, Burrow’s not about to turn his back on social media.

As we eagerly anticipate Joe Burrow’s fashion play this season, why not dive deeper into the world of football? Don’t miss our latest Think Tank exclusive interview with Doug Sanders. It’s a goldmine of insights on the current NFL season, the evolving landscape of college football, and the game-changing impact of NIL deals.