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Joe Burrow sheds light on how he obtained samurai swords as Christmas gift for offensive line in 2024

Barkley-Truaxby: Barkley Truax12/24/25BarkleyTruax

Joe Burrow went viral last holiday season for gifting his offensive line genuine samurai swords for Christmas. A tidbit from season two of the Netflix series Quarterback revealed the backstory behind it.

An official came up to him during pregame warmups and asked Burrow where he was able to find it. Luckily, his assistant knows a guy.

“Her uncle, Sylvester Stallone, when he was playing Rambo back in the day, he wanted a sword. So he found this place in LA that had some swords. She (his assistant) went to this place (and) found a bunch for me. They all had descriptions, what samurais wore, when they were built.”

The swords were bought from Collectors Armoury California, and were brought to Cincinnati and they were able to choose which one suited them best. These dated back as far as the 1550s.

Alex Cappa, the Bengals right guard at the time who now plays for the Las Vegas Raiders, said it was the most unique gift he’s ever been given. His sword specifically was from the 17th century and has horses carved into the handle. Cappa blocked for Tom Brady in Tampa Bay and has been in the NFL since 2018.

Additionally, another Bengals offensive lineman, Matt Lee, is of the belief that the story behind the sword makes it all worth it, as well: “When I’m 45 and someone asks me, ‘What’s the story about that?’ I’ll end it with, ‘And Joe Burrow gave it to me.’ And that might be the coolest part,” he told TMZ at the time.

Burrow’s presents to his offensive line wasn’t a metaphor for something and didn’t have some deeper meaning. He simply thought it was cool, and so did his O-Line.

One year later, and it’s unclear what Burrow did for his blockers this season. When asked, Burrow wasn’t willing to share his gift but hinted that it may have topped his gift from 2024.

The Bengals currently sit at 5-10 overall with two games left to play in their regular season. Luckily for Cincinnati, they’ll take on the Arizona Cardinals and Cleveland Browns over the next two weeks. Both teams sit at 3-12 on the year, and with both matchups being in Cincinnati, that bodes well for the Bengals.

Kickoff between the Bengals and Cardinals is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. The game will air live on FOX.