NEW ORLEANS (AP) - LSU record-setting quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow has been named the recipient of the Manning Award for the 2019 season.
The award, which is administered by the Sugar Bowl and was announced on Wednesday, is presented to the nation’s top college quarterback and is the rare national honor that takes postseason performances into consideration.
Burrow already was viewed as the top quarterback in the nation before the College Football Playoff and only built on those credentials during LSU’s 63-28 semifinal victory over Oklahoma and 42-25 national title triumph over Clemson.
“He’s just come so far,” Archie Manning said of Burrow, a 2018 graduate transfer from Ohio State who attended the Manning Passing Academy as a counselor last June. “Joe was certainly impressive in our camp. … And then when the bell went off in the fall, Joe and the rest of the LSU offense just got better week after week.”
Burrow, who also won the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards, and was a unanimous first-team All-American, passed for an LSU single-season record 5,671 yards and NCAA record 60 touchdowns this past season. His completion rate of 76.3% was second-highest in NCAA history, narrowly behind Colt McCoy’s record 76.7% in 2008.
The Tigers finished 15-0, the best record in the 126-year history of LSU’s football program.
“It was a super special season and that’s something that nobody can take away from us,” Burrow said on a conference call from his hometown of Athens, Ohio. “And I think what made it even more special was how close we were off the field. I think that had a big part to play. … We trusted each other. We were best friends in the locker room and you could see it on the field.”
Burrow said being associated with the Manning name is a “huge honor,” noting that the Manning family has been “incredible to me” since he got to know them last summer. He said Peyton Manning checked in periodically by text and Archie did so almost weekly.
Burrow is widely expected to be the top player taken in the 2020 NFL draft.
“Joe checks all the boxes, I think, to be successful in the National Football League,” the elder Manning said. “First of all, you’ve gotta have a good cerebral approach to the game and some don’t. Joe gets it.
“The next thing is you have to be accurate with the football,” Manning added, calling Burrow “unbelievably accurate.”
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