With Super Bowl Sunday immediately before us, for this week’s column we’re looking at the charts of the names of the day, Joe Burrow and Matt Stafford, along with Sunday’s astrology to explore the relationship between their natal charts and what will be going on in the sky during the game.
It’s important to note that while Joe Burrow and Matt Stafford’s birthdays are public, their birth times are not, so it’s impossible to know what Houses their planets are in in their natal charts and how those will correspond with the sky at the time of the Super Bowl. But even without their birth time, we can observe the planetary transits and the conversations those will be having during the Super Bowl.
Both Burrow and Stafford have the makings of athletes, as you’ll see, though their energy and approach is cosmically different; Burrow is shooting into the sky with a career focus that is razor-sharp. Stafford has the symbol of the athlete within his chart, but he’s less laser-focused, though persistent. Stafford’s chart depicts a person who is looking to do things his own way, while Burrow’s suggests that he is a person who doesn’t see any other way to do things.
One of the more interesting aspects of Burrow’s chart is that he has two stelliums, which means that he likely has never walked into a room unnoticed. People with a stellium, or three or more planets in one sign, and especially more than one stellium are the kind of people that aren’t easily forgotten. Their sense of self has a forcefulness that creates a kind of certainty of identity, which can be limiting or expansive depending on the rest of the chart and personal choices. People with multiple stelliums usually have difficulty understanding people who do not know what they want; they know early without knowing they know or why.
The signs of the planets within the stelliums and which planets shows in what way this definitive personhood manifests. Burrow’s stelliums are in Sagittarius (Sun, Moon, and Pluto) and in Capricorn (Mercury, Jupiter, and Neptune), which tells us that he is likely driven toward very tangible kinds of success but expresses this as energy—something ethereal or abstract, like fire or the wind.
Sagittarius is a sign of motion; it is the archer of the Zodiac, shooting an arrow and running after it. It seeks what is outside of itself, and because Burrow’s Moon is also in this place and he was born on a New Moon, he was born with the qualities of a pioneer.
Sagittarius is an intrinsically social sign, so paired with the loner and somewhat dogged energy of Capricorn, Burrow was born with an extroverted spark to move and seriously. Having Mercury, Jupiter, and Neptune in Capricorn gives the energy of Sagittarius a place on Earth, and, particularly in the planet of Jupiter, expansion in areas concerning work and skill-building. Burrow knows how to make opportunity for himself through his natural abilities and selfhood—he was born to. And to a person with this much Capricorn, nothing is ever good enough, especially when it comes to their performance at work.
In the charts of athletes, Mars is always a big player in one aspect or another (foreshadowing: Mars is a big player in Stafford’s chart as well). Mars is the planet of doing—of war, of aggression, of passion—so this placement and the conversations Mars is having with other planets in the natal chart can speak volumes on how a person does. Mars in a Mercury-ruled sign like Virgo gives a person’s actions Hermes’ fleet-footedness, either physically or energetically, and Burrow’s Mars in Virgo is in an enthusiastic and nearly exact trine with Jupiter, which is a symbol of someone who is naturally drawn to achievement in sports or careers related to travel. This aspect indicates that he has an endless reserve of energy and particularly when it comes to a set task—both Virgo and Capricorn know how to have a measure of tunnel-vision when it comes to goals.
Burrow’s Sun fairly squares his Mars, which means that Burrow is a risk-taker and likely will have more accidents in his career than he’d like. With his Sun in Sagittarius, he’s already someone who may often behave impulsively as it is, and with the square to Mars, he is predestined to take on risks. I imagine that this is helpful in a sport like football, where achievement is based on an unflinching agreement that pain and destruction is par for the course.
Burrow’s Venus in Scorpio is likewise compelling; in a trine with Jupiter, it signals that there is a general kind of blessing in his life when it comes to goals and support, that he finds the support he needs, easily and naturally.
Venus in Scorpio, even without aspects, is a compelling and often dominating position in a person’s chart. Venus in Scorpio attracts to itself what it desires. In this sign, the planet of pleasure and beauty is intense in all ways; it stands up for the soul and struggles most in the letting go of things, seeking resolution or destruction and nothing in between. Scorpio is a sign that is penetrative and has an insatiable desire to get to the bottom of things and when this is the position of Venus, the planet that defines what pleases us, this sense is second nature. This placement designates a great deal of focus and commitment but not necessarily success—destroying something to understand it is a double-edged sword.
In the context of Burrow’s chart on the whole, however, Venus helps create a picture of a person who is driven and can act in a single-minded way towards goals even if it breaks him apart. With all of the Capricorn energy present as well, this is a person who doesn’t give up easily.
Stafford, like Burrow, has a stellium in Sagittarius, though his chart is definitively different and even in so far as which planets are in this stellium (Stafford’s is between Mars, Saturn, and Uranus, all of which are conjunct in Sagittarius).
His Sun squares Pluto, which tells a story of someone who perhaps has endured some secret hardships but is innately powerful; people have likely been intensely drawn to him throughout his life. But there’s a lot of potential for softness, too; the Sun’s trine with the Moon in Libra indicates a pleasant, diplomatic sort of person, and the Moon’s square with Neptune tells us that Stafford is probably more sensitive than he lets on, albeit surrounded by powerful, internal energy and an irresistible attraction to external sources of energy. He’s a mover and shaker, but also a charmer.
Stafford’s Mars in Sagittarius is one of the easiest signifiers of natural born athleticism in a person’s chart; in readings, I see it as the symbol of the athlete, driven to move and to act and to just go. There is a focused sense of motion and a deeply entrenched need for movement. That his Mars is conjunct Saturn in this sign indicates endurance as a strong suit; it suggests that Stafford is in it for the long game and knows how to bide his time. Uranus, also conjunct Saturn and the ruler of his Sun, is the Rebel of the Zodiac; it does what it wants and in its own way. So the relationships between these three planets is energetic and complex; there’s a conversation between rules and rebellion that could funnel through physical action. In a reading, a question I’d have for Stafford is Do you need an opponent to move forward or just a goal? Are you at odds with what is in front of you or with the world? There’s reason to think that either and both possibilities are key drivers toward success for Stafford.
In keeping with this, Stafford’s astrology indicates that there is a sense of rebelliousness to his natural character and that this Uranian sense of going his own way is central to his identity. His drive to take a less direct path is inborn; Aquarius is not a sign that moves in a straight line, but rather believes there are no lines—with the exception of perhaps the goal line.
Stafford’s Mars, like Burrow’s, also trines his Jupiter, so his energy resources run deep.
Stafford’s Venus is also prominent in his chart, like Burrow’s. Stafford’s Venus squares his natal Mars, and while this aspect is often simplified in colloquial astrology as a way of saying that a person will struggle in relationships, often it is the case that people with this aspect struggle not necessarily because they’re bad partners but because they’re really good at being individualistic. Saturn and Uranus also square Venus, which makes assertion and commitment more challenging for him; it depicts a person who is conflict-averse but, with the bit of help of the Sun squaring Pluto, takes pride in rising to the challenges before him.
With his Sun in Aquarius in a trine with the Moon in Libra, a person with Stafford’s chart is rooting for the underdog in order to balance the cosmos and looking to embody the unexpected. I have a feeling that this, in terms of big challenges, can be a detriment to him; it’s hard to see yourself as the underdog and live that way, and it’s hard to beat someone you see as an underdog.
On Super Bowl Sunday, Burrow has some pleasant aspects with day’s transits. On Sunday, Mars will trine Burrow’s Mars, which bodes well for athletics and adds confidence and energy to his endeavors. Burrow’s Jupiter will make a conjunction with Mars, which contributes to and further expands his preexisting gift of expansion through action. His Moon makes a trine to Saturn and on just the right day; this is a short, but serious moment where it is possible to really tackle obstacles and see a project through to the end. Sunday’s Neptune makes a square with Burrow’s Sun, which is best described as treading water; it’s not the strongest aspect of the day, but because Neptune is also making a concrete opposition with Burrow’s Mars, I think that there will be a Neptunian experience—of confusion, mystery, or illusion— that’s felt on Sunday on a personal level for Burrow.
On Sunday, the Sun is conjunct Matt’s Mercury, which can add fuel to communication but also luck; when the Sun is conjunct Mercury in the sky like this, it can be a symbol of making your own luck. And after all, this is Matt’s season, in a sense: his Sun is also conjunct the Sun, which gives him an added boost in aspects pertaining to his identity. Matt’s Jupiter makes a semisquare with Jupiter which indicates that a sort of pressure related to goals and possibly defeatism that he will need to work against.
Saturn is forming a conjunction with Matt’s Sun, which indicates that he has the will right now to focus single-mindedly on a goal ahead of him. Saturn is also creating a sextile with Matt’s Mars—which means that on Sunday, he will be on a mission. Sunday’s Neptune also squares his Mars, however, so he could find himself feeling like a little like he’s running in sand.
There’s no clear winner on Sunday, but without consideration for the teams or other influences regarding these individuals that I can have no way of knowing, it looks like Joe is set up to have a more supported day on Sunday. That said, Matt’s chart indicates that he’s someone who takes a little longer but there’s something Aquarian in that—Aquarius tends to take its time for the big I-told-you-so moment when they succeed even though going their own way. That desire is strong for Matt, and with the added pressure of the semisquare with Jupiter, it might be just the thing that pushes him through to a career-changing win.
