Mike Burkhead
American football quarterback
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Burkhead[3] is an American former professional football quarterback who played one season with the Miami Hooters of the Arena Football League (AFL). He played college football at the University of Richmond.
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| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||
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| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | South Dade (Homestead, Florida) | ||||||||||||
| College | Richmond (1984–1986) Florida State (1987) | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Career Arena League statistics | |||||||||||||
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Early life
Burkhead played high school football at South Dade Senior High School in Homestead, Florida.[4] He earned honorable mention All-Miami-Dade County honors his senior year in 1983.[5] He played college football for the Richmond Spiders of the University of Richmond. He was redshirted in 1984.[6] He was a letterman as a redshirt freshman in 1985.[7][8] In 1986, he transferred to play for the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University.[9] However, he returned to the University of Richmond during the summer of 1986.[9] Burkhead was the backup to Bob Bleier during the 1986 season.[9] After the 1986 season, he transferred to Florida State again but had to sit out the 1987 season due to NCAA transfer rules.[3] He then quit football.[3]
Professional career
Burkhead signed with the Miami Hooters of the Arena Football League (AFL) on May 2, 1994, after being discovered at an open tryout camp.[10][4][11] Prior to signing with the Hooters, he had been playing flag football and working as an appraisor for Appraisal and Real Estate Economics Associates.[3] Burkhead was released by Miami before the start of the 1994 AFL season.[3][4] After Hooters starting quarterback Jim Jensen suffered an injury during the second week of the season, Burkhead was signed to backup Clemente Gordon.[3] On June 10, 1994, Burkhead replaced Gordon late in the third quarter of a game against the Orlando Predators, completing seven of nine passes for 51 yards while leading the team to two fourth quarter touchdowns as Miami lost 53–21.[12] With Gordon hampered by an injury, Burkhead was named the starter for the following week's game against the Milwaukee Mustangs on June 20.[3][4] Against the Mustangs, Burkhead completed 19 of 27 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for two touchdowns as the Hooters won by a score of 35–27.[4][13] Due to his strong play, Burkhead was named the starter over Gordon for the team's next game against the Tampa Bay Storm.[11] Burkhead completed 12 of 28 passes for 164 yards in the 47–32 loss to the Storm on June 25.[14] He started his third straight game on July 9 against the Arizona Rattlers, throwing for 197 yards and three touchdowns in a 41–26 loss.[15][16] Jensen then returned from injury and resumed his starting role for the Hooters.[17] Overall, Burkhead played in eight games during the 1994 season, completing 58 of 100 passes (58.0%) for 617 yards, nine touchdowns, and six interceptions while also rushing for two touchdowns.[7][18]
In January 1995, it was reported that Burkhead had signed with the Miami Centurion of the United Football Association.[19] He was in camp with the Hooters again in 1995 but did not end up making the team.[20]