Leading up to the 2020 NFL Draft, people are torn on whether or not Joe Burrow should go to the Cincinnati Bengals. Steve Bartkowski, a former No. 1 pick himself, advised Burrow to ‘pull an Eli Manning' in the draft.
“They’re Ohio guys,” Bartkowski said via Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I might’ve offended them by telling them that, [but] if it’s the Bengals, I think I’d pull an Eli Manning on that one. I said, ‘You’ve got a chance to do that. That’s happened.’ [John] Elway kind of set the tone, then the Mannings delved into it after Eli was picked by San Diego.”
Back in 1975, Bartkowski was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the No. 1 pick in the draft. Before Bartkowski arrived in Atlanta, the Falcons failed to win more than nine games in their nine years of existence.
Even in Bartkowski's 11 seasons with the Falcons, the franchise won more than nine games just once. Now, the former NFL quarterback is hoping that Burrow prevents himself from going to a downtrodden franchise.
Of course, “pulling an Eli Manning” is referring to the 2004 NFL Draft. At the time, Manning was drafted by the then-San Diego Chargers with the first-overall pick. However, Manning and his family weren't fans of the Chargers' organization.
Therefore, Manning manufactured a trade to the New York Giants and the rest is history. Ahead of the draft, Burrow understands that he has leverage if it comes down to him needing to go elsewhere.
With two months to go until the draft, there are plenty of things that could take place for Joe Burrow. If Burrow and his family are against going to Cincinnati, we could see a repeat of the 2004 NFL Draft in 2020.
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