CINCINNATI — While Bengals QB Joe Burrow is surrounded by cameras every Sunday, you won't find a documentary crew following him around this upcoming season.
The 26-year-old said he turned down the opportunity to be in season two of "Quarterbacks," the Netflix series documenting the lives of NFL QBs.
"Maybe one year," Burrow said in a press conference Wednesday. "I would like to do it maybe a couple years down the road, but I don't think now's the right time."
Burrow said he didn't watch season one, which featured Marcus Mariota, Kirk Cousins and Patrick Mahomes. The eight-episode series followed the three quarterbacks through the 2022 season, documenting not only moments on the field and with the team but with family and friends.
Heading into his fourth NFL season, Burrow said the commitment needed for the show was something he wasn't ready to give.
"The process of doing that show is very intense. There's a lot of time you have to put into that, time that I'm not ready to give right now," Burrow said. "Everybody knows that I'm a very private person, especially in my personal life, and so that's a window into a personal life that I'm not quite ready to share yet."
Former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, who starts for the Chicago Bears, told reporters Tuesday he also declined the offer. "Quarterbacks" executive producer and Hall of Famer Peyton Manning spoke about how he would have felt the same earlier in his career.
"A couple of the quarterbacks early on asked me, 'Peyton, would you have allowed the cameras to follow you around?' And maybe early in my career, because I didn’t really know what all that meant, I probably would’ve said no. But later in my career, absolutely, yes," he said in a release from Netflix.
During his press conference, Burrow spoke about how strange it is for him to see fans screaming for him and asking for his autograph.
"You're just a guy, you know," Burrow said. "So when people react that way, it's always a little weird to me. But when people take the time to talk to me, I think they realize that I'm just a guy and so whenever I can give back to people to support me, I try to do that."
Wednesday was the first day of open practice this training camp. The Bengals said players will sign autographs for fans after every practice. For a list of all open practices, click here.
