MADRID _ The day after Cristiano Ronaldo retired, Bengals center Ted Karras took up the locker residence of Spanish World Cup rookie wunderkind Lamine Yamal, and wide receiver Tee Higgins marveled at the skill of Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappé, one of America's more glamorous athletes took center stage Friday among Europe's biggest stars in his first NFL international appearance.

After all, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow took a question from Vogue in between a Paris-based reporter from Playmakers asking about attacking the middle of the field ("I love throwing the ball outside the numbers to the sideline") and a Spanish news agency (EFE) taking his temperature on another Super Bowl run ("We have the capability to do it, but right now we aren't there.")

"If they follow the NFL just a little bit, they know who he is," says Javier Carasco, one of the voices of the Spain-based Cayo YouTube channel that covers the league. "But there are some people looking at an NFL game for the first time, and there's no player other than Burrow to actually introduce them to what a show is."

Burrow eased into the media center of the La Ciudad del Futbol (The Football City) riding the hottest streak of his career. After torching the Titans last week on 462 yards and five touchdown passes, he hit Europe leading the NFL with 20 touchdown passes, the most ever thrown by a Bengals quarterback in the first seven games of a season.

He also arrived as the coolest ambassador this side of Benjamin Franklin.

"Ola," said Burrow as he sat down in a chair tailor-made for him. "I love being here. I love being the only game on TV on Sunday morning when people back home wake up, and I love showcasing our talents abroad and trying to bring attention to what we do.

"I love being a part of that and want to help grow the game."

Burrow said the same thing when he became such an exuberant participant in the NFL's foray into flag football last spring. He's got friends in high places (he did a solid for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell when he played in the final Pro Bowl after last season).

But for a kid who grew up watching the first major influx of soccer into America and zapped a button to make his Ronaldo score, there is beauty in the grassroots.

"I've followed international sports for a long time. Followed Real Madrid for a long time. Watched Barcelona play Real Madrid a lot. Played with both of those teams on FIFA a lot when I was a kid," Burrow said. "And loved watching soccer my whole life, really. I wish they played while we were here at their home stadiums so we could go."

Now when the Bengals play the Falcons Sunday (9:30 a.m.-Cincinnati’s Channel 5 and NFL Network), little Joe Burrow's FIFA screen flashed to life in Bernabeau Stadium, a beloved octogenarian and second-biggest soccer stadium in Europe packed with memories of soccer glory dating back to the first days of post-World War II. A worthy stage for No. 9.

"A lot of star power, isn't it this week?" says Will Varney of the United Kingdom's talkSPORT, a national sports radio station calling Sunday's game for the British Isles. "Football is king here in Spain. Real Madrid has superstars like Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham. Joe Burrow is a bona fide superstar in the NFL, and I do think it translates. Especially in the UK. I know of people who are coming because it's the Bengals and Joe Burrow. Usually, it's the tandem together with (Ja’Marr) Chase, they just bring people out.

"I knew a press conference day with Joe Burrow in this room would be filled. He's a notable name (in Europe). Maybe it comes with the things on Netflix, getting an understanding of him as a quarterback as well as him as a player on the field. He's a bit of a style icon as well. I think all of that culminates in who he is.  I think genuinely he is a massive name."

Not filled, but busy with the first few rows filled. The presser also smacked of celebrity. One man greeted Burrow walking off the stage with a selfie. Another met him walking down the aisle to hand him what looked to be a miniature orange tiger, and his son wanted him to have it, along with an autograph.

All of which is a no-no in the world of news conferences. Yet celebrity can overcome a lot sometimes. In this case, professionalism.

But Burrow is no Lone Eagle crossing the Atlantic.

The Bengals have won three straight, scoring an NFL-best 36.3 points per game and are second-highest overall as they eye a franchise-record at 29.4 points per game.  And they're clicking on third down like no team in the last 15 years. At 52.9%, it's the best third-down percentage since the 2011 Saints.

And the world wants to know how.

"I think, number one, we have great players, players that want to be great. We work really hard at it," Burow said. "We have coaches who want to put us in the best position to go and do what we do and utilize our strengths and minimize our weaknesses. We've been playing together for a long time now, so we know how to play off of each other and complement each other well."

Or, "Our offensive line is protecting great. I think this is the best that group has played since I've been here, which is really exciting to see. And a lot of our young players are getting better and better. We have the right guys who attack every day with the intent to be better than the day before, and I think that is so valuable in this sport."

But it's Burrow they have come to see and study. Pablo Escudero, who anchors the NFL highlights show with Carasco, figures about 10% of Sunday's 83,000 packed into Bernabeau are watching a football game for the first time.

"About 90-95 percent at the stadium would have seen a game on TV or in person," Escudero says. "They've seen football. There are professional leagues in Germany, France and Spain. So they've seen football. But not at this level."

But Burrow's name is Varney's massive enough that French media asked Burrow if he had any surprises that his fans might not know. And, like a good ambassador, he played along. Complete with an actor's timing.

"As far as a surprise, I'm full of surprises. I certainly don't share all of them, but let me think of one that I'll share with you guys. Hmmm," Burrow thought, knowing the European press wouldn't know things the Bengals beat does. "Play a little piano, build Legos. I play chess. I like art. Like music. I certainly like more things than just football."

Art it was on Wednesday. He didn't do any sightseeing on Thursday ("Tried to treat that like a Thursday work day"), but on Wednesday, the day they arrived on their off-day, Burrow visited the "Museo del Prado."

"I ran into some students studying abroad from the United States the other day when I was walking around, and that was certainly surprising," Burrow said. "It's often a little more than I expect when I'm in a different country. I usually expect to go pretty incognito and not have anybody recognize me. It's a little more than that, but I love being out here because I can feel like a normal person for a little bit."

But it looks like even that strand of anonymity is being blown away bit by bit.

"You're always going to be competing against those (soccer) stars," says Will Varney. "But Joe Burrow, I think is, on that trend rising to not only be the top name in the NFL for who he is. They've got to win something for him to grab extra headlines around Europe. Right now, he's on that track of notability. A hundred percent. I think he can be one of the big names in sport."

Ambassador Burrow took the little tiger, signed the man's paper and said, "Thank your son for me," as he walked down the aisle to take on the world.