Bengals rookie WR Jermaine Burton and Ja'Marr Chase go back long before they became NFL teammates

Of the many things that make Cincinnati Bengals rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton unique, the path he took during his college career stands out. 

Not many NFL draftees can say they put up numbers at the two biggest programs in the SEC, but that's what Burton did at both Georgia and Alabama. 

Before any of that, Burton was close to becoming an LSU Tiger, and Ja'Marr Chase remembers it well.

While Chase and Joe Burrow were lighting the college football world on fire in 2019, Burton was going through the recruiting process as an LSU commit. The program had Burton in for an official visit, and wide receivers coach Mickey Joseph asked Chase to host the then 18-year old Burton. 

Chase was impressed with him then, and that impression has lasted five years later.

"He was a he's a good kid overall man," Chase said. "I can't wait to play with him. You know there's so much to his game that he has. I think he's gonna bring to the table a good bit of more skill for us to play around with."

The feeling is mutual from Burton.

"Oh, it was dope," Burton recalled. "It's when I was committed to LSU and at the time, you know, him and Joe [Burrow] were there so when I got up there coach Mickey [Joseph] had put me with him and it was cool, you know, so we already kind of had a little connection before we got here and whatnot. But that was dope it was a fun weekend for sure."