The Cincinnati Bengals became “America’s Team” during the 2021 season due to their lovable underdog status. They entered the season losing four games the year before and not knowing how healthy their quarterback, Joe Burrow, was going to be.
As we saw, Burrow looked damn good and helped get the stripes their first playoff win in over three decades while also leading them to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1988 season.
As a result of Burrow’s calm demeanor and swagger, it’s no surprise to see his jersey sales skyrocket.
According to Ben Baby of ESPN, Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase both saw their jersey sales make the top 50 of the NFLPA sales list.
Burrow moves up two places on the list after finishing sixth in last year's totals.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) May 5, 2022
The players ahead of Burrow this year: Brady, Mahomes, Josh Allen.
Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase the most popular Bengals
As Baby notes in the tweet above, Burrow came in at No. 4 on the list while Chase was 17th. Quarterbacks are typically the most popular jerseys and that’s the case here, as Burrow only trails Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen when it comes to the most-sold jerseys in the league.
Baby also mentions that Burrow came in at sixth last year and moved up two spots. The Super Bowl run helped push the Bengals signal-caller into the top 5 of this list and push Chase into the top 20. It helps that Cincinnati’s new-look jerseys are pretty damn cool and that fans can choose from three different styles.
At the end of the day, do the jersey sales really matter that much? No, but it’s fun to follow along with, especially when the Bengals have players appearing on the list. Burrow was a popular college quarterback so it wasn’t surprising to see him high on the list last year but he’s remained a popular player throughout the league and that’s reflected here.
As for Chase, he probably would have made the top 50 due to his stellar rookie season alone but the Super Bowl run and what he did in the playoffs only helped his jersey numbers increase.
Here’s to hoping more Cincinnati Bengals appear on the jersey sales list next year.