Hard to be mad about samurai swords.
We’re just a couple of days away from Christmas, so NFL quarterbacks are handing out their gifts to the offensive linemen who protect them week in and week out. (No word on whether Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams got presents for his offensive line or not…60 sacks already this year? Sounds like he needs a guard dog for Christmas).
We’ve already seen some QBs go all out for their teammates. Patrick Mahomes surprised his guys with a nice little package of gifts that included a Yeti cooler, Lucchese boots, and a Rolex watch. And Brock Purdy gifted his offensive line with brand new Toyotas, which altogether were probably worth more than his entire $900,000 per year salary.
But Joe Burrow may be the winner of this year’s gift exchange.
The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback gifted each of his linemen with authentic samurai swords.
The buzz here in the Bengals locker room is Joe Burrow’s Xmas gift to the offensive line — custom Japanese Samurai *Katana* swords which date back to the 1600s.
Karras, Brown Jr. & Co. pretty pumped about it.
— Charlie Clifford (@char_cliff) December 19, 2024
As it turns out though, the swords weren’t what his teammates had originally requested.
Speaking about the unique gifts yesterday, Burrow said that his guys were wanting some new guns to add to their collection – but Burrow said he wasn’t sure about that:
“Well, they wanted guns. And I was like, ‘I don’t know about guns, guys.’
So I was in the weapon mindset and I was like, ‘What’s a cool weapon?’ And samurai swords, I think, are pretty dang cool.
Nicole, she works for me, she was able to find them for me, and so she did a great job of finding the best ones out there. I think the guys are excited about it.”
“Samurai swords, I think, are pretty dang cool.”
– Joe Burrow https://t.co/Fg8WkNJ6gS pic.twitter.com/DlkAFlOdFd
— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) December 23, 2024
Can’t be too mad about a samurai sword…
Left tackle Orlando Brown was pretty pumped about the gift, calling it the ultimate sign of respect.
“Joe does a great job at buying gifts that are extremely meaningful. The fact that he bought me a sword, it’s the most ancient form of respect.”
Epic gift alert: Joe Burrow gifted his offensive linemen authentic Japanese Katana swords.
They are all unique. Each sword comes with its own story, from certain towns or battles. He put them all in a room and had them pick theirs out.
“Joe does a great job at buying gifts…
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) December 19, 2024
Burrow sourced the swords from Collectors Armoury California, which currently has swords listed on their website dating back to the 1600s and ranging in price from $2,000 all the way up to $32,000. But the owner, Joseph Bell, told ESPN that he knew he had to make sure to find some special swords for Burrow to gift:
“I was able to call in a couple of favors and get a few other swords from other people.”
Not a bad gift.
It’s not the first time Burrow has flexed some of that record-setting five year, $275 million contract that he signed last year.
During an episode of in-season Hard Knocks, Burrow revealed that he had purchased an authentic, movie-quality Batmobile that was up for sale for $3 million:
“Have I told you a bought a Batmobile? I don’t get it for like a year, but I bought it. I think I gotta go all in and go for the expensive Batsuit. Some armor.”
"Have I told you I bought a BatMobile?" 😂 @JoeyB#HardKnocks In Season with the AFC North on @StreamOnMax pic.twitter.com/PxJJdDkhqx
— NFL (@NFL) December 4, 2024
Gotta think it’s pretty nice to have the kind of money that you can just drop on cool shit like a Batmobile and samurai swords whenever you want.
