Joe Burrow reveals bizarre reason he bought his Cincinnati Bengals linemen samurai swords for Christmas
Joe Burrow has revealed he landed on buying his offensive linemen samurai swords as Christmas gifts as a compromise from what they really wanted from their quarterback Santa - guns.
Burrow rejected the idea of firearms as gifts but got the vibes of what those who protect him at practices and every Sunday wanted. The signal caller found a way to not sacrifice his principles and still make the big boys happy.
After last Thursday's practice, Burrow presented the authentic Japanese Katana swords.
Each sword has a unique design and comes with a back story from a certain town or battle, per The Athletic.
Burrow put them each in a room and let the linemen pick theirs out. There's no word for those who were married what their wives' reactions were to coming home with a weapon.
'I was like, "I don't know about guns, guys,"' Burrow revealed. 'And, 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. I think guys were excited about it.'
Joe Burrow explained the decision to buy his linemen samurai swords as Christmas presents
The linemen have given glowing reviews of the presents, as Burrow handed them out last week
Burrow revealed he had someone on his team find the swords and get them delivered to his house in time for the holidays.
The reception from the Bengals' linemen of the gift? Glowing reviews any Etsy seller would dream of.
'Joe does a great job at buying gifts that are extremely meaningful,' Orlando Brown told the Athletic. 'The fact that he bought me a sword, it’s the most ancient form of respect.'
'[It's] my favorite gift I've ever gotten by far because it's so different,' Alex Cappa told ESPN.
'When I'm 45 and someone asks me, "What's the story about that?" I'll end it with, "And Joe Burrow gave it to me." And that might be the coolest part,' Matt Lee added.
Fans were blown away by Burrow's choice of gift for his offensive linemen, with many branding it 'bada**' on social media.
'This is absolutely epic,' said another fan.
One Bengals fan joked: 'We have linemen show up this weekend missing fingers I’ll be mad!!'
Katana's were the weapons of choice of Japanese samurais generations ago and have found their way into popular culture in a few ways.
In the movie series 'Kill Bill', Katanas play a critical role in the storyline, made by a character based on real-life samurai Hattori Hanzo.
A Katana is also memorable in the series '24', as Jack Bauer's final kill of villain Cheng Zhi takes place with the sharp sword.
Of the hundreds of kills the character played by Kiefer Sutherland performs in the series, the finale is the only one to feature the federal agent using a Katana.
At 7-8, the Bengals are close to being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. That's plenty of time coming up to enjoy the swords.
