Joe Burrow once again showed that he understands the importance of his offensive line better than almost anyone. Beyond wins and losses, the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback has kept a tradition that is now part of the team’s internal culture: rewarding his protectors with unique gifts. This time, he took the gesture to a completely different level by gifting authentic dinosaur, bear, and mammoth fossils, surprising even veteran players in the locker room.
The 2025 season was meant to be a redemption year for the Bengals after a disappointing 2024 campaign. The team opened with two encouraging wins, but the outlook changed dramatically when Burrow suffered a turf toe injury. The issue sidelined him for three months and shaped the rest of the season. When he returned, Cincinnati was already racing against time with little margin for error. A 39–34 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 14 ultimately pushed the team to the brink of elimination.
Despite the on-field setback and another year without playoff football, Burrow did not break his Christmas ritual. According to ESPN, the quarterback spent more than $100,000 on authentic fossils, a decision that reflects both his financial power and his unconventional personality. To deliver the gifts, Burrow invited his offensive linemen to his home in Cincinnati, where they encountered a scene rarely seen in the NFL.
A gesture that defines Burrow’s leadership
According to a Firstsportz report, when the players entered the residence, they found “a series of ancient bones mounted on displays inside Burrow’s home.” The gifts were chosen based on arrival time and the age of each piece. Bengals center Ted Karras selected a woolly mammoth tusk, an artifact archaeologists estimate to be around 30,000 years old.
“I think it speaks to his intelligence, his interests, and his desire to do something unique. I thought it was really special,” Karras said about the quarterback’s gesture. His reaction captured the impact of the initiative within the group, even if fossils are far from a conventional present.
Joe Burrow loves fossils ❤️
He gifted his offensive linemen authentic dinosaur, bear and mammoth fossils for Christmas 🎄More from @Ben_Baby ➡️ https://t.co/9kH8WPPC1v pic.twitter.com/JXckPbhvSG
— ESPN (@espn) December 27, 2025
Burrow’s interest in natural history is nothing new. During the preseason, fans gained insight into his hobbies through the Netflix series Quarterback. Cameras followed him throughout training camp and captured conversations that revealed his enthusiasm for museums and fossils.
“There’s a fossil that proved [Charles] Darwin’s Theory of Evolution… It’s called the Archaeopteryx. There are like 12 in the world, and we got to see one of them. It’s like a fossil library that they don’t show to others,” Burrow said in one episode while recalling a visit to the Cincinnati Museum Center’s Museum of Natural History and Science.
This was not the quarterback’s first extravagant gift. In 2024, Karras and his teammates received authentic Japanese katanas shipped from the Land of the Rising Sun. The details reinforce Burrow’s image as a creative leader, aware that chemistry off the field often translates into protection on it.
