Joe Burrow revealed the unexpected reason behind his decision to get a blonde buzzcut.
A day after Burrow went viral for arriving at training camp with a new hairdo, the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, 27, addressed the look while speaking to reporters at a press conference.
According to the athlete, he first considered changing his hair after a conversation with teammate B.J. Hill.
“B.J. said that if I buzzed it and bleached it, he would do it, too. So now everybody’s gotta hold him accountable ’cause he’s gotta do it in the next week,” said Burrow. The NFL star ultimately decided to go through with it out of boredom.
“I got bored, that’s about it,” he told reporters.
The look was one that the internet immediately compared to the likes of Eminem‘s platinum blonde hairdo rocked throughout his “Slim Shady” era and WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/eminem-Cody-Rhodes--072424-dab7483ebcdc4f5195ad417899e9f758.jpg)
Ke.Mazur/WireImage; Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
Rhodes chimed in on the comparison by sharing a photoshopped photo of Burrow on X, formerly Twitter, wearing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship title.
“Time to finish your story this season @JoeyB🏆 @Toms_Customs,” Rhodes captioned the post.
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
The caption was seemingly a reference to Rhodes’ “finish the story” mantra, which he adopted after returning to the WWE in 2022.
Following a six-year absence from the company, Rhodes adopted the mindset as he set out to become WWE Champion, an accomplishment his legendary father, wrestler Dusty Rhodes, never reached in the company.
While Rhodes will go on to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the main event of Wrestlemania 40, it’s also a fitting slogan for Burrow, whose 2023-24 NFL season was cut short due to a wrist injury.
“I was happy with [it] today. Still feeling it out, still have some throws where it’s like, ‘Well what did that look like?’ Usually goes where I want it to but doesn’t spin the way I want it to. So, we’re still working through that,” said Burrow while giving a health update to reporters.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(722x387:724x389)/Joe-Burrow-hot-photos-090823-4-518b42f75fbc44a2b97e34ad07da2af7.jpg)
Michael Owens/Getty
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“But I feel really good about where I’m at. I feel like I kind of figured something out toward the end of the practice there in individuals. So, looking forward to exploring that a little more,” he continued.
