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Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterDec 11, 2024, 08:41 PM ET
- Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, in his first public comments since his home was broken into during Monday night’s game, spoke Wednesday about the degree to which he felt his privacy was violated.
Before answering questions during his usual midweek news conference, Burrow issued a statement addressing the burglary that occurred at his Cincinnati-area home while the Bengals were on the road to face the Dallas Cowboys.
“I feel like my privacy has been violated in more ways than one, and way more is already out there than I would want out there and that I care to share,” said Burrow, who implied he was not going to answer any specific questions about the incident.
But in his limited comments on the situation, Burrow agreed that one of the more frustrating parts was the amount of information that is now part of the public discourse.
According to an incident report obtained by ABC News, the break-in was initially reported by model Olivia Ponton, who contacted police after she saw a shattered bedroom window upon arriving at Burrow’s home. A local television station also acquired footage via aerial drones.
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Burrow has gone through great lengths during his career to protect his privacy. But the Pro Bowl QB, who is among the league’s richest and most popular players, acknowledged that even though he understands the attention is part of the job, it doesn’t make things any easier.
“We live a public life,” Burrow said. “One of my least favorite parts of that is the lack of privacy, and that has been difficult for me to deal with my entire career.”
The break-in, which is being investigated as a felony, is one of many similar incidents involving high-profile athletes. In November, a source told ABC News that the NFL and other leagues were briefed by the FBI about targeted burglaries involving notable names such as the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
Burrow declined to comment when asked how he felt about his safety moving forward.
When the Bengals drafted Burrow first in 2020, that’s when he said he began to sequester his personal life from his professional life. Burrow acknowledged the break-in has made that more challenging.
“It’s definitely been difficult this week, but for the most part, I’m pretty good at it, considering during the season, you don’t really have a personal life,” Burrow said. “It’s kind of all football. Obviously, things come up that you don’t expect, and when those come up you try to do your best to handle them quickly and be able to move on from it and focus on ball.”
Even though the Bengals (5-8) are staring at a bleak playoff outlook heading into Sunday’s road game against the Tennessee Titans (3-10), Burrow is in the midst of a career year. He currently leads the NFL in passing yards (3,706), passing touchdowns (33) and is second in Total QBR (74.1), trailing only Buffalo‘s Josh Allen.
On top of the home burglary, Burrow is also dealing with a left knee injury he sustained in Monday’s 27-20 win at Dallas.
Cincinnati held a walkthrough Wednesday night. Had it been a practice, the team estimated Burrow would have been a limited participant. But after the session wrapped up, he said it wasn’t a major concern.
“It’s getting better,” Burrow said. “I’ll be ready to go.”
As for preparing to face the Titans and coach Brian Callahan, who was Burrow’s offensive coordinator the past five seasons, he said practicing on a short week is a bigger challenge as Cincinnati tries to end the year with wins amid a disappointing season.
“No one win is going to solve anything at this point,” Burrow said. “There’s not a win out there that can affect a lot of different things right now. So we’re just focused on going out and trying to play play well, trying to find a win on Sunday and continue to try and get better.”
