QB Unsolved Mysteries! What's Up With Joe Burrow? And What Do the Dolphins Do with Tua?

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2:06Welcome to the Ringer NFL Show. I'm your host, Sheil Kapadia. Today we are doing QB Unsolved Mysteries. We've got two. One, what is going on with Joe Burrow? We got to talk about that big story around the NFL. And then the second unsolved mystery, what do the Dolphins do with Tua Tungavailoa after Monday night's performance and Mike McDaniel's comment? So to talk about those two unsolved mysteries, we've got on Detective Billy Gill from The Ringer. We're going to try to figure out those two situations. Let's take a break. We come back and talk quarterback unsolved mysteries. This episode of The Ringer NFL Show is presented by State Farm.

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3:25All right, we are back here with Billy Gill doing Unsolved QB Mysteries, Billy. And the first one is what in the world? Oh, look at that. He's got the magnifying glass, a reason to watch on YouTube or Spotify. The first one is what is going on with Joe Burrow? So let me give the quick timeline here for the people. And then I want your theories on this. So real quick, the timeline, he starts the season, injures the toe in week two, has the long rehab process, comes back Thanksgiving night. It's a celebration. He's playing great against the Ravens. They win that game. And then week 14, he plays mostly great against the Bills, but has two interceptions late and they lose.

4:04And that's when things take a turn. You know, he has this midweek press conference where he's saying, I have to have fun playing football and some other stuff we can get to. and then after that, he plays one of his worst games against the Ravens. Afterwards, he's distraught. He's blaming himself, saying no one can win with the quarterback playing that way and this has led to all kinds of theories. Does he want out of Cincinnati? Does he want to be traded? Does he not like the coach? Is this an Andrew Luck situation? Is it something different? Billy, where are we? Because this is truly an unsolved mystery.

4:36I haven't heard a theory that I'm like, oh, that makes sense.

4:40Sheil Kapadia:Wow, Sheel. You did, if I may say, an incredible job of painting the picture and setting up this story because that was so much of the notes that I said, I don't know how many people have the context because this was kind of a story that broke in the middle of last week and some people covered it, some people didn't. We didn't really know what was going on. So you start looking into this because his comments are kind of like, I don't know if I'm really having fun. I don't know if I'm still kind of, he was kind of hinting at like, I don't know if my heart is still in it, which led people to believe, hey, you know what, is this an Andrew Luck situation?

5:12Sheil Kapadia:like you asked. And then I thought, you know what? Is it possible that maybe we're overlooking something here? Is it possible that we're digging too deep? Because he made reference in that to, you know, I'm not feeling great. I got a lot going on. And they said on the field or off the field. And he said a little bit of both. Yeah, that caught my attention as well. What does that mean? A little bit of both. So then you start, your mind starts racing. What could be happening off the field that we don't know about? And obviously you hope for nothing too serious to be going on off the field, but you go back to two years ago when he had that weird situation where he had that break in at his house while he was in the middle of playing a game.

5:53Sheil Kapadia:And at the time he was reportedly engaged to Olivia number one. According to Pac-Man Jones, we knew him and Olivia number one were dating going back to college. Pac-Man let it slip. Yeah. Pac-Man let it slip that he thought that they were engaged. And then there was never any confirmation. That break-in happened, but we find out that Olivia number two is actually in the house, not Olivia number one, who he was engaged to. The next year they quietly break up and now there's speculation that Olivia number two and him are in a relationship. They've been seen together. At the time of the break-in, Olivia number two is the one that reported it.

6:28Sheil Kapadia:And then they ask him, who is Olivia number two? This person's named Olivia, but that's a different last name. That's a different person. And this one, I believe, is a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. Like, why was this person at your house? And then it was like the classic, oh, that's just one of my employees. It's like, okay, like, I get it, Joe. Like, you're rich and famous. We don't all have, like, swimsuit models as our employees. Like, it was still kind of like a weird situation. So that was going off behind the scenes. But we don't know a ton of what was going on off the field besides that, right?

6:57Sheil Kapadia:So then I just started looking. And you know what I noticed, Sheel? What's that? So this interview happened, and this could be a very basic, maybe oversimplification, and hopefully Joe's not going through anything and we're not dismissing anything that he's going through. But this press availability, this interview happened on December 10th, last week on Wednesday. Right? And why is that date significant? And you know why the date December 10th is significant, Sheil? I don't. The 10th. December 10th is Joe Burrow's birthday. Oh, yes. So Joe Burrow's birthday, December 10th, 2025. Do you know what age he turned?

7:39Sheil Kapadia:I spoiled it a little bit earlier. 29, I believe. He turned 29. That's right, Sheil. So could this be a situation where Joe Burrow might just have the case of the blues, a case of the, oh, wow, this isn't going how I thought it was going to go. I'm 29. What have I actually accomplished in my life besides being a national champion, besides being a star quarterback, besides signing a five-year,$275 million contract? What have I done? And am I happy? Are these things enough? Because if you remember, now this isn't an injury thing, but I don't know if you saw the Netflix documentary on Aaron Rodgers, where Aaron Rodgers, we saw in the first or second episode, he went and his whole life was football, football, football.

8:25Sheil Kapadia:His whole goal was to go and win the Super Bowl. And then he climbed the mountaintop and he won that Super Bowl. And you know what he found out? It wasn't as fulfilling as he thought. That's what AJ Brown said last year with the Eagles. He said the same thing. You know, you work all this time and you get there and you think, I'm going to feel different. And I didn't feel different. Kevin Durant has said this in basketball. Okay. So you think maybe a case of the birthday blues, which I think is a thing. Now, did you hear in the press conference, they actually asked him, what are you going to do for your birthday?

8:56I don't know if you caught this snippet or not.

8:58Sheil Kapadia:That's how I caught on to the fact that it was his birthday. They asked him about his birthday. Later on, they were asking him about Pokemon cards. They were asking him about what he wanted. He then starts talking. And he, by the way, I don't know if you noticed in that clip towards the end where he was talking about Pokemon cards and he was talking about collections and all that. He started to kind of brighten up a little bit. I'd never see them happier, including when they made the Super Bowl. I mean, this actually is incredible. So we both watched the entire press conference. And first of all, just to close the loop on the birthday blues, they said, what are you going to do?

9:29And he basically said, well, it always falls in the middle of football season. And this is a quote. He said, go to bed early, eat some food. I mean, that sounds like birthday blues to me. Go to bed early, eat some food. You know, nothing about where so-and-so is going to come over. We're going to get some K, nothing like that. So that is good for your theory. And then they start asking him about Pokemon because he says the O-lineman got me Pokemon cards. His eyes light up. He's laughing. Genuine laughter. Not the fake reporter athlete laughter. He is lovingly starts talking about card culture.

10:05He starts talking about the market. He lets his guard down. You would think it's a different person than the guy who minutes earlier is talking about, you know what? but if I'm going to play football, I need to have fun playing football. What did you make of that, Billy?

10:19Sheil Kapadia:So it was odd because, like you're saying, his eyes lit up and they said, well, which cards did you get? And he said, I haven't been able to open the packs yet. So he now has this glimmer of hope. Maybe I'm not just going to have this sad birthday alone, possibly with an Olivia number two, possibly with an Olivia number three. Who's to say? But he gets very excited. And here's another thing, because you mentioned, He said, my birthday always falls during the football season. So that's going back to childhood, right? Where he was probably in high school, if he was still competing at an elite level, that's right around state championship time is where we're at in the high school season, right?

10:57Sheil Kapadia:In college, you're gearing up for the playoffs or he transferred, so your season's winding down. He's kind of thinking, what is my future? How do I prepare for next season? So if we go back to his childhood, Joe Burrow's birthday was probably something that was like this the entire time. And now he's getting to 29 and he's saying, you know what? I've never really experienced a birthday. I've never celebrated a birthday. My friends got me these Pokemon cards, which by the way, I don't know if in covering the games, I don't know if you've ever interacted with Joe Burrow. I don't know if you've ever seen him up close in person.

11:35I have not, no.

11:36Sheil Kapadia:Well, so last year I saw Joe Burrow at Super Bowl Radio Row towering over everyone, completely shredded. He probably had two, three, five percent body fat at most, completely put together. But this is not, and look, this may be a stereotype and we do not endorse the stereotypes or encourage the stereotypes here, the Ringer NFL show or any other Ringer shows. But a 6 '5 Adonis is not someone who you normally associate with Pokemon cards. Correct me if I'm wrong. You never know what's happening inside. You don't know. So there's a chance that this little boy who never celebrated birthdays growing up, always liked Pokemon cards, but it was the wrong cultural fit to what it is that he was doing.

12:21Sheil Kapadia:There were no Pokemon cards in elementary school or high school football locker rooms, presumably, right? So now Joe goes, and even, I don't know if you caught this, even in the press conference when they ask him about card culture he said now let me just be very clear i've never been to the card stores i've never waited in the lines he made sure to get out in front of that so there were no rumors that joe burrow was going and camping out for card releases he said i've never been any part of that but i've heard stories yeah and part of you wonders does joe think you know what if i call it quits this year can i be part of those lines He could go to the Lions.

12:56He could have the birthday. He could go all out. He could catch them all. He could catch them. There you go. That's a good theory. I have some other theories. I like your theory, the birthday blues theory. I'm going to throw a few other theories out at you. And you tell me what you think about these. So the one that's been floated around, which I don't buy, is that he wants out of Cincinnati. That he wants to be traded. I don't buy that because he got paid. He has Jamar Chase. He has T Higgins. I don't think he wants to leave those guys. I'm sure he wishes some of the circumstances were different.

13:31I don't think Joe Burrow is going anywhere. That's one theory. Theory number two. This is the one I actually think, you know, Billy is. I just think the physical, mental, emotional toll of playing football. You know, that's what it sounded like to me. It's like, oh, my guy was rehabbing this injury for months. Then I come back. I see the team's playoff hopes evaporate. What if I were to get injured again? That would be terrible. I don't want to do that. And I know he's making$55 million per year, but you know what? Sometimes the rehab, the injuries, that's a lonely process for football players.

14:02So I think that's another one. And the last one I'll leave you with, which isn't that different than the birthday blues theory. Maybe he was just having a bad day. Maybe, Billy, you know, maybe the wifi wasn't working. Maybe he stubbed his toe. You know, I was thinking what the people in my life, like what could put something kind of an ordinary reflective mood. What if he was constipated, Billy? This has been a big thing for Kapadia's for generations. I once had an uncle comes over from India, is visiting. He's constipated. The whole family is rallying around Mukhun uncle, trying to figure, how can we get him unconstipated?

14:38He's saying, I want to go back to the motherland because I don't like it here and I'm constipated. Now, I don't know necessarily that Joe Burrow would affect him like it does some of the Kapadia's, but those were some of the theories on my mind.

14:51Sheil Kapadia:your thoughts can we go one by one on the theories please for a bigger picture okay whatever you want so the first one is the theory that he doesn't want to be in cincinnati so cincinnati has surrounded him with weapons they give him his big contract right but they just signed t higgins they just signed uh jamar chase they've invested on the offensive side he has now two receivers with long-term deals who are very obviously more than capable they're star receivers so it would be hard to believe that whatever he's going through, he's got to look at it and say, this situation is so dire that I'm going to just pull an Andrew Luck and be done with it.

15:28Sheil Kapadia:Right. Even injuries aside, because even if you go back to kind of his years and his injuries, he's only had like two seasons that he's missed significant time. He's played through a lot of these injuries. So I don't think that he is ready to give up on football and he's got a good outlook ahead of him if he sticks with Cincinnati. So I'm with you. I don't think that it's a Cincinnati thing. The stubbing the toe. Now he missed significant time this season with turf toe. So had he done that, that could have been bad. And that could have been a thing. And then he's kind of like, well, I just came back and now I have stubbed this toe that had turf toe before.

16:06Sheil Kapadia:Like, do I tell anyone? Do I not? Here's another weird thing that we haven't talked about just in terms of like Cincinnati and mismanagement because they also ask him like, Hey, typically if you miss the playoff three years in a row, there's changes. And he's like, well, I think that we're good here. I think the things are fine. But from the outside, you have to understand the fans, this is when changes are typically made. So he was not saying we need to make changes. There need to be changes in the front office. There need to be changes at the top or the coach or whatever. But historically, that seems like something that is possible, if not probable.

16:41I'm with you there. Now, Zach Taylor, according to The Athletic, is under contract for the next two years. And we know the Bengals organization, do they want to pay a coach and then bring in a new coach and pay that coach? Probably not, but it's not out of the realm of possibilities. And the stuff you mentioned with the defense, it's kind of funny because they've invested a lot of draft picks in the defense. They just have missed on a lot of draft picks. So like they have this plan, pay the wide receivers, pay Burrow, add to the offensive line, and then let's build the defense through the draft.

17:11and that hasn't worked either. So I don't think he's going anywhere. You know, like, and first of all, if he were on the market, I mean, this would make the Michael Parsons trade look like peanuts. I mean, we're talking about three first, the whole league, I mean, so many teams would want Joe Burrow. We're talking three first round picks at a minimum for Joe Burrow. So I don't think that's happening. I think Joe Burrow is going to stay in Cincinnati. I think maybe, you know, he's just going, in his feelings, right? That's what the kids say in his feelings a little bit.

17:43Sheil Kapadia:I think that, I mean, we, I didn't, I didn't dress the other one where maybe he was constipated. Then you had your uncle that was constipated and everyone was rallying around him. Can you tell me and the audience just a little bit more about that situation? So like your whole family was rallying around the uncle, like, like, yeah. So he came over from Mumbai. Yeah. And we're at, we're at my other uncle's house and shout out Catonsville, Maryland. And we're all, you know, family get together. You lives in on different continents. It's nice. the brothers get together, the cousins, everybody. And the guy's just having a terrible time, you know, because he can't, I mean, we don't need to get it, but now people, well, I could go to CVS.

18:19We could try this. Oh, and then you know how it goes. So, Oh, well my, you know, when's this happened to so-and-so they tried this remedy that, you know, my family, a lot of that. So that I actually don't know. I just remember that he was ready to book a flight back because I'm not going to have a good, this country, I'm not going to have a good time here if this continues. Now, eventually he stayed. He didn't have to go back. But listen, you have kids. I have kids. Yeah. And we can speak for ourselves as well if we want. It's an uncomfortable situation that can ruin your day, I think.

18:50Sheil Kapadia:Listen, not to kind of put my business out there, but I had a trip to Spain. We were there for 10 days. We went for a wedding with one of my wife's uncles. And, you know, it's a different diet that you have when you're there. The food is different. Your body reacts differently. How does the body know? The body knows. Your body always seems to know when you're eating something differently. Yeah. So there you go. Did we get to the bottom of this? I don't think so. No, but I like our theories. We tried. Yeah, we're looking into it still. We tried. You got the magnifying glass. Maybe we'll revisit it when something else.

19:24I don't think anything's imminent. I don't think he's going to retire this off season. I don't think he's going to get traded. I think he plays out the season, resets. And like you said, if there's something more, Or maybe if there's a family situation, if there's a health thing, it could be one of those things. We don't know about it now. Then we will obviously not be making light of it. If that's the situation, that would be very understandable.

19:43Sheil Kapadia:And you'll feel bad about saying maybe he was constipated. Well, but that's always in play as far as I'm concerned. Obviously, if there's a mental health, we understand the serious things. If it's a serious thing, we'll find out. We'll talk about it again. All right, let's take a break. We got one more unsolved mystery to get to. This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. The holidays move quickly like a blitz to save the game. That's where Prime comes in with fast, free delivery. You know, my kids put together these presentations for what they want for Christmas, and they put the Amazon Prime link right in there.

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