So You Want a Joe Burrow Jersey? Here's What Nobody Tells You

I bought my first Joe Burrow jersey in the spring of 2022, right after that Super Bowl run, and I got the size completely wrong. The Nike Game cut swallowed me. So you want a Joe Burrow jersey? Here's what nobody tells you, and I'd rather you learn it from my mistake than from a return label.

Start with the number. Burrow has worn 9 since his LSU days, and that's the number on every Bengals jersey with his name on the back. There's no alternate version to get confused about, no weird throwback number to second-guess — it's just 9, clean and simple.

Now the part that actually trips people up: NFL jerseys come in three tiers, and they are not the same shirt.

• Game — screen-printed numbers and nameplate. Lightest, cheapest, and what most fans own.
• Limited — stitched twill numbers with a sewn nameplate. Noticeably heavier and holds up better in the wash.
• Elite — the closest thing to what Burrow actually wears, with the stretchy mesh fabric and the trimmer cut the players get. Pricey.

I own a Game and a Limited, and the difference shows up in the laundry more than on the field. My Game jersey has survived three seasons of Sunday wear because I never put it in the dryer. That's the whole trick, honestly.

Fit-wise, Game jerseys run long and roomy — they're built to go over shoulder pads, which none of us are wearing. If you're between sizes and want something that looks fitted, size down. If you plan to layer it over a hoodie in December, stay true to size. My Limited is a large and it's snug through the chest. My Game large is a tent. Same size, different shirts.

Colorways are worth a thought too. The black home jersey is the classic look, white works better in summer, and the orange alternate is a conversation starter. Can't decide? Go black. It matches basically everything in my closet.

Care is simple: cold water, inside out, hang dry. Never iron the numbers directly, and never trust a dryer. Heat is what cracks twill and peels screen print, and once it's cracked, there's no fixing it. I learned that one on a college jersey I'd rather not talk about.

One last thing about buying for someone else — if you don't know their size, go bigger. A slightly big jersey reads as a fan who plans to wear it over a sweatshirt. A too-small one reads as a gift that's going back. And Burrow is about as safe a pick as it gets for a Bengals fan: the 2020 top overall pick, Heisman winner and national champion at LSU, and the quarterback who took Cincinnati to the Super Bowl and led the league in passing yards and touchdowns in 2024.

Get the tier and the size right, and you'll wear the thing for years. Get them wrong, and it hangs in the closet next to my mistake.