Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow is far from the first outstanding athlete in his family.
Seventy years before Burrow lit up the SEC and won a national championship at LSU before being drafted No. 1 overall in the NFL, his grandmother Dot Ford was a superstar basketball player in Mississippi.
During the 1949-50 season, the 5-foot-10 Ford averaged 49.5 points per game at Smithville High School in northeast Mississippi. Ford scored 50 points or more in 12 games, including an 82-point outburst.
This summer, Ford, who has gone by Dot Burrow since marrying Joe’s grandfather James, will be inducted into the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) National High School Hall of Fame in Indianapolis.
“My grandmother was an incredible athlete and a generational basketball player, and is arguably the best athlete in the family. Knowing how great she was has motivated me to be the best I could be in all sports,” Burrow said about his grandmother’s honor.
Dot Burrow previously had the girls’ basketball locker room at her alma mater named after her back in 2020. Joining her as former athletes in this year’s high school Hall of Fame class are recent Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Joe Mauer, former NFL star linebacker Takeo Spikes and ex-Michigan standout and NFL running back Tyrone Wheatley.
Four coaches will also be honored, as well as three referees and administrators.