Joe Burrow says watching Tom Brady bounce back up after a big hit inspired him to play tough when he was still in middle school

• Joe Burrow wants to be one of the toughest quarterbacks in the NFL.
• Burrow told Brady that a hit he watched Brady take in middle school inspired him to play tough.

Joe Burrow is tough.

In the 2021 NFL regular season, Burrow was sacked 51 times — more than any other quarterback in the league — but got back up after every one to continue to make plays for his team.

On Monday night, Burrow was a guest on Tom Brady's podcast "Let's Go!" and Brady complimented Burrow on how he carried himself on the field after taking a big hit.

"I love it because the quarterback, there's very few ways to display toughness for a quarterback," Brady said. "We don't play at the line of scrimmage. We don't have to block. We don't have to tackle. We don't have to go hit anybody. But the way we can show our toughness is to stand tall in the pocket and make throws, and sometimes you get the shit knocked out of you, and you get up, and you just go on to the next play. "

Brady said that such displays of toughness could inspire confidence in your team and help push the collective unit to great things.

"You don't want to ever show anyone, 'man, he really got me good on that,'" Brady said. "I think what I love about Joe's game is Joe does just that. He gets knocked down, he gets up, and he's ready for the next play. I think the team gains a lot of confidence in that because the team needs to know that the quarterback is going to be there week in and week out. Being available to a team is critical because they need to count on you. Joe stands in there, makes a play, and if he gets knocked down, he gets up."

As it turns out, Burrow learned the importance of getting back up from none other than Brady himself.

Burrow said that his first memory of watching a quarterback bounce back up came in middle school.

"I think you were playing the Bills, maybe, or the Titans, and you were running to the right, and you slid, and somebody just knocked your head off. Helmet goes flying," Burrow said.

"Nate Clements," Brady said, immediately remembering the earth-shattering hit he took.

"You got up so fast," Burrow said. "And I saw that and I was like, I want to be like that. I'm going to do that. I forget how old I was, I was probably in middle school at this point, but I just remember that vividly and trying to model myself after that."

The hit Burrow remembered came in 2001 in just the 12th start of Brady's career, well before he was the legend he is today. Brady rolled out of the pocket on third down before deciding to make a run for it, only to be met by Bills corner Nate Clements, who promptly took his head off.

But Brady got back up, and in doing so, taught a young Joe Burrow, also destined for the NFL, to do the same.

Brady cited the many quarterbacks he watched growing up that taught him to play the game in a similar fashion.

"You watch players that are older than you Joe, you watch things that they do and you emulate different things because you like the way they do them," Brady said. "That's exactly how I was watching Joe Montana and Steve Young and Brett Favre and Dan Marino and John Elway."

Burrow's toughness has already served him well in the playoffs, including getting sacked nine times by the Titans defense in the divisional round but still finding a way to lead the Bengals to victory.

In the Super Bowl, Burrow will have to stand tall in the pocket once again, facing down a Rams defense that includes the likes of Aaron Donald and Von Miller looking to make his life a nightmare in the backfield.

On Tuesday, the day after his conversation with Burrow, Brady officially announced his retirement from the NFL. While Brady might have played in his last Super Bowl, his game lives on in the players he inspired.