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Organized crime ‘clear’ involved in Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce home burglaries (video)

Organized crime ‘clear’ involved in Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce home burglaries (video)

LAS COLINAS, Texas — During the Cincinnati Bengals’ Monday night game at the Dallas Cowboys this week, quarterback Joe Burrow the house was broken into.

Burrow was the third known NFL player targeted in a string of high-profile attacks.

NFL security is working with the FBI to investigate, league commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed this week.

“We’ve been in direct contact with the union as well as our security department,” Goodell said Wednesday at the league’s annual winter meeting. “So yes, there are things we can all do to take precautions and should do. When you’re in a high-profile position and you see someone on TV and realize they’re not at home, does that open up potential? So I think all of that is something that we’re all trying to address.

“But it’s clear that there is an organized fashion here that we hope the FBI and the authorities can handle.”

Burrow’s Cincinnati-area home was burglarized about two months after those of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. In the NBA, the homes of Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley Jr. were also broken.

Model and influencer Olivia Ponton was at Burrow’s home during the burglary, according to a Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office incident report. obtained by the Cincinnati Enquirer. The publicity surrounding Burrow’s guest and break-in frustrated the defender.

“I feel like my privacy has been violated in a number of ways, and there’s already a lot more out there than I’d like there and than I’d like to share,” Burrow said in opening remarks during the weekly news conference. “We live a public life and one of my least favorite parts is the lack of privacy. I’ve had a hard time dealing with it my entire career. Still learning. I understand that it is the life we ​​choose. It doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.”

Burrow declined to elaborate on the break-in, although the sheriff’s report said someone entered the home through a rear first-floor window and avoided leaving fingerprints, according to the Enquirer.

Burrow said he’s usually “pretty good” at compartmentalizing his personal life to play, but “it was definitely difficult this week.”

The NFL sent a memo to team security directors as well as the NFLPA last month warning that “homes of professional athletes in several sports leagues have become increasingly targeted for burglaries by organized and skilled groups,” according to a copy of notice obtained by Yahoo. Sports. Game days were a common time for these break-ins, the memo said.

The memo advised players to be cautious about what they post on social media, including avoiding posting images of expensive items such as jewelry and clothing.

League Security recommended alarm systems, cameras and motion-sensing lights, noting that burglary groups used extensive surveillance tactics, including attempting home deliveries or maintaining fake pitches and jogging.

Copy of the league's Nov. 20 notice to union and team security directors, obtained by Yahoo Sports.Copy of the league's Nov. 20 notice to union and team security directors, obtained by Yahoo Sports.

Copy of the league’s Nov. 20 notice to union and team security directors, obtained by Yahoo Sports.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said Thursday that he hired personal security this year after one of his cars was previously broken into.

“It’s a little too close for my comfort with my family being in the house,” Tagovailoa said. “So we have personal security to take care of all that. When we’re on the road, we have someone with my wife. I also have someone at home who watches over the house. So just for the record, they’re armed.

“So I hope that if you decide to go to my house, you think twice.”