Bryan Burnham (born April 3, 1990) is a former American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

wide receiver who played nine seasons for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) from 2014 to 2022. Burnham played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

. He signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the BC Lions in 2014. He is from

Moorestown, New Jersey Moorestown is a Township (New Jersey), township in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia and geographically part of the South Jersey region of the state. As of ...

College career

Burnham played

for the

Tulsa Golden Hurricane The Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (or variously as TU or Tulsa). Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the University of Tu ...

, the only

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

school that recruited him. After he developed a serious infection when he cut his arm in practice, he sat out his freshman year with

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

status in 2008. He played as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

in 2009 and 2010 before switching to the wide receiver position for his junior year. In his first year at that position, Burnham caught 54 receptions for 850 yards and a team-best nine

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. Burnham was injured in the third quarter of the first game of the 2012 season against

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

. He suffered a

torn Torn may refer to: Film and television * ''Torn'' (2009 film), an American film by Richard Johnson * ''Torn'' (2013 American film), directed Jeremiah Birnbaum * ''Torn'' (2013 Nigerian film), directed by Moses Inwang * ''Torn'' (TV series), a ...

ACL injury which ended his final year of NCAA eligibility. Tulsa sought a waiver from the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

to allow Burnham to compete in his sixth-year given the early timing of his injury, but this request and its appeal were declined.

Professional career

Burnham was signed as a free agent by

in May 2014 for the upcoming season. Initially playing on the practice squad, he made his pro debut in Week 13 against the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

, in which he caught five passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. His season was cut short one week later when he suffered a

lacerated spleen A splenic injury, which includes a ruptured spleen, is any injury to the spleen. The rupture of a normal spleen can be caused by trauma, such as a traffic collision. Signs and symptoms In minor injuries with little bleeding, there may be abdomin ...

.Click highlights and college tabs at In his second season in the CFL Burnham played in 11 games catching 35 passes 423 yards with 2 touchdowns. Burnham had a breakout season in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, playing in all 18 games for the first time in his career he set personal bests in catches, yards and touchdowns. His 1,392 receiving yards was fourth highest in the league that year. Burnham was set to become a free agent in February 2017. On December 6, 2016, Burnham had a workout with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

, and a workout with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

on December 15, 2016. According to BC Lions head coach

Wally Buono Pasquale "Wally" Buono (born February 7, 1950) is the vice president of football operations, alternate governor and the former head coach of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and one of the most successful head coaches in leag ...

, Burnham had workouts with somewhere between 10 and 12 NFL teams between the end of the 2016 season and January 31, 2017, at which time pending CFL free agents were no longer allowed to work out with NFL teams until their contracts expired on February 14, 2017. On February 10, 2017, Burnham and the Lions agreed to a two-year contract extension. Over the following two seasons Burnham continued to be a key part of the Lions passing attack, catching over 148 passes for 2,231 yards with 16 touchdowns. Identically to two years prior, on February 10, 2019, Burnham and the Lions agreed to a two-year contract extension. He had a career-high 100 receptions for 1,492 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns en route to being named a CFL All-Star. Following the cancellation of the 2020 season Burnham and the Lions agreed to a new contract extension on February 1, 2021. Burnham was once again named a CFL All-Star following the 2021 season, posting 67 receptions for 965 yards and five touchdowns. Burnham suffered a

punctured lung A pneumothorax is an abnormal collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve is ...

and broken ribs on June 25, 2022, and it was announced he would miss the next 3-6 games. Later in the 2022 season he suffered a fractured wrist. He was placed on the six-game injured reserve list on September 26, 2022. Burnham ended up missing half the season with injuries and caught only 41 passes, his lowest total since his second season in the league (2015) in which he caught 35 passes. On December 6, 2022, Burnham retired from professional football after nine seasons with the Lions.

Season statistics

Personal life

Burnham's father,

Lem Burnham Lemuel L. Burnham (born August 30, 1947) is a former American football defensive end who played three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifteenth round of th ...

, was a

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

from 1977 to 1979. He also worked as the team psychologist for the Eagles,

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. His brother, Lewis, played college football for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

. He also has two sisters, the eldest Shannon, attended

Saint Francis University Saint Francis University (SFU) is a private Catholic university in Loretto, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1847 and conducted under the tradition of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular. The university is situated on in the fore ...

Loretto, Pennsylvania Loretto is a borough in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census it had a population of 1,302. Like the rest of Cambria County, it is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropoli ...

on a basketball scholarship, Kara attended Montclair University in New Jersey where she played both basketball and volleyball. Bryan married his wife, Aubrey Burnham, in April 2018. They currently reside in Oklahoma.

References

External links

BC Lions bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burnham, Bryan 1990 births Living people American football wide receivers American players of Canadian football BC Lions players Canadian football wide receivers Moorestown High School alumni People from Moorestown, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from Burlington County, New Jersey Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players