Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow spoke with Vanity Fair’s Nick Remsen about attending the Kentucky Derby, the Met Gala and more.
The headline of the article was about how Burrow “had his mind on football on the way to the Met Gala 2026.”
Five of the most interesting things to emerge from Burrow’s Vanity Fair interview:
Burrow said he’s ‘really excited’ about the Bengals’ offseason moves.
“We need to get better, so it was exciting to see the initiative from everybody in the organization to realize that we’re in this exciting stage,” Burrow said in the interview. “We’re in our primes playing great football. Finding guys like Dexter (Lawrence) and Bryan Cook and Boye (Mafe), to, you know, really solidify that defense so the young guys can also kind of rise up. We’re really going to try to achieve what we want to achieve.”
Burrow is well-aware of how Lawrence can affect a game.
When the Bengals and Giants last met in October 2024, Lawrence sacked Burrow once and added a QB hit in the Bengals’ 17-7 win.
“Soon, it’s going to be our job to go out on the field and execute,” Burrow said.
Burrow went to the Kentucky Derby because his parents ‘always wanted to go.’
Video circulated on social media of Burrow looking stunned − even disappointed − at the conclusion of the Kentucky Derby.
Perhaps it’s because the horse Burrow bet on, Renegade, finished in second place, “by a freaking nose,” as Burrow put it.
The following day, Burrow attended the Miami Grand Prix, Formula 1’s first North American race of the season.
Burrow said he considers fashion to be fun and a ‘nice change of pace from the world of sport.’
Burrow offered more details about why he enjoys the fashion world.
“It’s fun for me to be able to try to merge the two and try to build within both industries,” Burrow said in the interview. “The whole dynamic between sport and fashion is exciting to me. It started out with … with really just playing with colors, playing around, and it has evolved to this.”
Burrow also has spent time building Lego sets and playing the piano.
Burrow said he “was excited about the new Pokémon collab (Lego) did,” and added that he hasn’t started on those yet but has worked on a Lego set that looks like a painting of a galaxy.
Burrow explained, as he has previously, that he started playing the piano as he recovered from a torn ligament in his wrist, resulting from a 2023 hit against the Baltimore Ravens by Jadeveon Clowney.
Burrow sees athletics as a ‘kind of performance art, in a way.’
“Our art is shown and created through our bodies and our movement,” Burrow said.
Remsen also included a quote along those same lines from Burrow that was included in Sports Illustrated’s ‘Sports and Style’ issue.
“There’s a lot of creativity in what we do,” Burrow said in that article. “It’s definitely different realms, but there are very creative people in both. It feels like a natural merging.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Joe Burrow’s Vanity Fair interview | 5 things to know
Reporting by Dave Clark, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
