Kurt Burris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nowata, Oklahoma, U.S.
Billings, Montana, U.S.
 | |
| Profile | |
|---|---|
| Positions | Center, Linebacker |
| Personal information | |
| Born | June 27, 1932 Nowata, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | July 21, 1999 (aged 67) Billings, Montana, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | Oklahoma |
| NFL draft | 1955: 1st round, 13th overall pick |
| Career history | |
| 1955, 1957 | Edmonton Eskimos |
| 1958 | Saskatchewan Roughriders |
| 1960 | Calgary Stampeders |
| Awards and highlights | |
Kurt Bane Burris (June 27, 1932 – July 21, 1999) was an American gridiron football player. He played college football as a center and linebacker for the University of Oklahoma from 1951 to 1954. He was a consensus All-American at center in 1954 and finished second in the 1954 Heisman Trophy voting. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1960.
Burris also played in the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU), helping the Edmonton Eskimos win the 43rd Grey Cup in 1955. He played a total of four seasons in the WIFU, including stints with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (1958) and Calgary Stampeders (1960).
After his football career ended, Burris worked in the oil drilling business in Alberta, Colorado, and Montana.
Burris was born in 1932 in Nowata, Oklahoma. He was raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in a family of 11 children. His five brothers all played college football, including older brother Buddy Burris who was a consensus All-American guard for Oklahoma in 1948.[1] Their father, Paul Burris, coached all six of his sons.[2]
Burris played on Muskogee High School football teams that won Oklahoma state championships in 1948 and 1950. The 1950 team compiled a 13–0 record, shut out six opponents, included Burris, his younger brother Bobby Burris, Max Boydston, and Preston Carpenter, and has been rated the best high school football team in Oklahoma during the post–World War II era.[3]
Burris was recruited to play football by several universities and attended a six-week camp with the Army Cadets in the summer of 1951. He announced in August 1951 that he intended to play for Bud Wilkinson at Oklahoma.[4]
Oklahoma Sooners
Burris played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners from 1951 to 1954. He was a starter at center and linebacker on the 1953 and 1954 teams that won the first 19 games in Oklahoma's 47-game winning streak.[citation needed]
Burris was known for his blocking on offense and for his fierce tackling on defense. Brother Bob Burris, who played with Kurt at Oklahoma, recalled Kurt as a "headhunter" who "usually knocked two or three guys out of a game," adding, "Kurt wasn't happy with tackling a runner. He wanted to hit him in the nose."[5]
As a senior, he was the consensus pick at center on the 1954 All-America team. The Helms Athletic Foundation selected him as the national player of the year for 1954. Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson concluded that Burris also deserved the Heisman Trophy. Realizing the sports press had ignored interior linemen in voting for the trophy, Wilkinson and Oklahoma sports information director Harold Keith recruited 100 students to write personal letters to the 3,500 sports editors. Alan Ameche won the Heisman in 1954, but Burris finished second in the voting, the highest finish in the history of the trophy for a lineman.[5][6]