Kurt Burris
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| Born: | June 27, 1932 Nowata, Oklahoma, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Died: | July 21, 1999 (aged 67) Billings, Montana, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| CFL status | American |
| Position(s) | C |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) |
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| College | Oklahoma |
| NFL draft | 1955, round: 1, pick: 13 |
| Drafted by | Cleveland Browns |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1955–1958 | Edmonton Eskimos |
| 1958 | Saskatchewan Roughriders |
| 1960 | Calgary Stampeders |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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 later played five years in the Canadian Football League, winning Grey Cup championsips with the Edmonton Eskimos in both 1955 and 1956.
Early years
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 at Muskogee High School.[2]
While Kurt Burris played on the Muskogee football teams, they won Oklahoma state championships in 1948 and 1950. He 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 enroll for Bud Wilkinson at Oklahoma.[3]
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.
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 his 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."[4]
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.[4][5]
Canadian Football League=
Burris was selected by the Cleveland Browns with the 13th pick in the 1955 NFL draft. He instead signed with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL), helping the Eskimos win Grey Cup championships in both 1955 and 1956 and played a total of five seasons in the CFL.
Family, later years and honors
Burris married Rosemary Major in 1955. They had three children: Kurt Major, Bryan Kyle, and Mary Jane. After his football career ended, Burris worked for Regent Drilling Co. in Edmonton. He later formed his own company, Burris Drilling, in Denver, Colorado. Burris later moved to Billings, Montana, where he was president of Cardinal Oil Company. He died in 1999 of an apparent heart attack at age 67 at his home in Billings.[6][7][8]
He was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in April 2000.[1][9] He was also inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.[4]
References
- ^ a b "Kurt Burris". National Football Foundation. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ "Pat on the Back". Sports Illustrated. December 13, 1954.
- ^ "Kurt Burris Rejects West Point For O.U." Muskogee Daily Phoenix. August 14, 1951. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Berry Tramel (July 30, 2015). "Why late OU football great Kurt Burris was The Boss". The Oklahoman.
- ^ Two other offensive linemen, Tom Brown of Minnesota (1960) and John Hicks of Ohio State (1973), later finished second in the Heisman voting, but none has ever won the trophy.
- ^ "OU All-American Kurt Burris, 67, dies". Tulsa World. July 24, 1999. pp. B1, B7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Kurt Bane Burris". The Billings Gazette. July 23, 1999. p. 8A – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Mac Bentley (July 24, 1999). "Ex-OU Player Burris Dies at 66". The Daily Oklahoman. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ George Schroeder (April 26, 2000). "Burris elected to Hall". The Daily Oklahoman. pp. 1D, 3D – via Newspapers.com.
- 1932 births
- 1999 deaths
- All-American college football players
- American football centers
- Calgary Stampeders players
- College Football Hall of Fame inductees
- Edmonton Elks players
- Oklahoma Sooners football players
- People from Muskogee, Oklahoma
- Players of American football from Oklahoma
- Saskatchewan Roughriders players
- 20th-century American sportsmen