Make some room for a new member of a super-elite triple crown club, Cam Newton. Joe Burrow is moving in.
In 2011, Newton became the first player in football history to win a Heisman Trophy, win the national championship, and then immediately go on to be the No. 1 overall pick of the NFL Draft in sequence. The former Auburn quarterback took the Tigers on a magical run to the SEC title and a BCS national championship while taking home Auburn’s third Heisman Trophy in program history. The Carolina Panthers kept the story rolling a few months later by taking Newton with the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, making him the franchise quarterback for (nearly) the next decade.
While there have been a couple of Heisman Trophy winners since Newton to be chosen with the top overall pick (Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, both of Oklahoma), and a few others have obviously been drafted elsewhere, Newton remained in a club all to himself. Until now.
LSU’s Joe Burrow was selected with the top overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft on Thursday night by the Cincinnati Bengals. This is just the latest chapter of Burrow’s remarkable story. Like Newton, Burrow went on a historic run with LSU last season to run away with the 2019 Heisman Trophy en route to an SEC title and, later, a College Football Playoff national championship.
As if the SEC needed anything else to brag about when it comes to the NFL draft. Now the conference has been home to the only two players to pull off this triple crown of football achievement.
NOTE: Florida State fans have been vocal in reminding me about Jameis Winston. Winston did win the Heisman Trophy and a national championship before later going on to be the No. 1 overall pick, but he played one more year of college football before turning pro after winning the Heisman and the national championship. The headline has been adjusted to attempt making this a bit more accurate. Apologies from the writer to Florida State fans. And Winston.