Cincy Jungle
In an exclusive interview with The Orange and Black Insider, Bengals offensive lineman Trent Brown chatted about a number of topics, including “The Patriot Way” and the G.O.A.T., as compared to the Cincinnati’s signal-caller.
Sometimes a question can be both cringe-worthy, but also simultaneously insightful. This happens often on the national talking head shows, wherein the Question du Jour centers around topics like “Is (X player) elite?” and “Will the (fill-in-the-blank) make the postseason this year?”
But, perhaps one that rings the most true in this vein is the comparison question: “Is (X player) the next (Y player)?”.
Well, fortunately and unfortunately for you all, we asked such a cringe yet intriguing question to recent Orange and Black Insider guest Trent Brown. The big offensive lineman had the pleasure of playing with the great Tom Brady for one Championship season in 2018, as well as with Bengals superstar signal-caller Joe Burrow.
In response to a question that may have been an expected one, Brown had an extremely respectable retort.
“I think they’re both great in their own right and they deserve that respect to be individuals in that way,” Brown said. “I think there are some, just like I told you about ‘The Patriot Way,’ it’s working towards a common goal, guys not afraid to put the work in, not afraid to work hard. So, I think those individuals (Brady and Burrow) aren’t afraid to put the work in, work hard, and aren’t afraid to do whatever it takes to be great.”
Brady’s work ethic is the stuff of legend,s and we know about Burrow’s as well. The Bengals’ quarterback has just wrapped up his second NFL Comeback Player of the Year award, showing his own excellent work ethic in having huge seasons coming off of major, season-ending injuries from the year prior.
“So, I don’t really want to compare them—I’ll just say that the traits of a winner are there.”
While Burrow hasn’t had the same early-career championship-level success of Brady, he’s had tastes of greatness. Burrow led the Bengals to an improbable Super Bowl LVI appearance and a subsequent AFC Championship appearance the very next season.
Speaking of Brown mentioning “The Patriot Way,” that mantra is something that has always been an NFL enigma. It bears different definitions, depending on the current or former New England player, you ask, but there are similar themes.
As noted above, Brown echoed some of those similar sentiments we’ve heard before. Hard work is a centric theme, but Brown expanded upon that, too.
“I think it was a group of guys working towards the same goal, not afraid of hard work, not afraid to practice hard, and really just doing your job—that’s really it,” Brown said. “I think over the years, you could see that it wasn’t a roster full of the best players, but you had the best quarterback to ever play the game, and I think he (Brady) was able to do a lot with a little, at times in...
