Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow addressed the media about a robbery at his house while he played at the team's game during Monday Night Football.
The NFL issued a security alert in November to teams about the possibility of a transnational crew targeting the homes of players for robberies.
'We live a public life, and one of my least favorite parts of that is the lack of privacy, and that has been difficult for me to deal with in my entire career.'
"So obviously everybody has heard what has happened," said Burrow at a media briefing Wednesday. "I feel like my privacy has been violated in more ways than one, and way more is already out there than I would want out there and that I care to share. So that's all I got to say about that."
Police were alerted about the robbery by Olivia Ponton, a 23-year-old Sports Illustrated model, who was at Burrow's home. She called police and also called her mother, who similarly called police.
“Someone is trying to break into the house right now,” Ponton’s mother told a police dispatcher. “My daughter is there. This is Joe Burrow’s house. She is staying there. He’s at the football game.”
A police report said Ponton was Burrow's employee, but the two had been rumored to be in a relationship before the incident. The report said Ponton noticed that a bedroom window had been shattered and a room ransacked when she arrived at the home.
A spokesperson for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said that an off-duty special deputy was on the scene during the burglary providing security. That special deputy informed police that the burglary suspects had left the home when the officers arrived.
Among those targeted for robberies were Kansas City quarterback Pat Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce. The latter reportedly was robbed of $20,000. The crew is targeting homes of NFL and NBA players and using social media and other sophisticated means to plan their robberies.
"The one thing you don't realize when somebody posts your house online is that now everybody just has your address," Kelce later said on his podcast.
Burrow also lamented the loss of privacy after becoming an NFL quarterback.
"We live a public life, and one of my least favorite parts of that is the lack of privacy, and that has been difficult for me to deal with in my entire career," Burrow continued. "Still learning, but I understand it's the life that we choose, doesn't make it any any easier to deal with."
Burrow led the Bengals to a 27-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here !