Joe Frank Burns (born September 15, 1979) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

High school

Joseph Frank Burns attended Thomas County Central High School in Georgia. Burns was a four-year letterwinner in

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, and also won two

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s in

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. In football, Burns rushed for 4547 yards and 56 touchdowns during his last two years of high school football, and as a senior, Burns was named the Georgia Player of the Year, and was a ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' Honorable Mention All-USA selection. Burns also has a cousin in Avon, Indiana named Charles Davis Jr. who plays running back and is a rising star in the area class of 2012.

College

Burns attended

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

and played for the

Yellow Jackets Yellowjacket or yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory social wasps of the genera ''Vespula'' and ''Dolichovespula''. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries. Most of these ...

. Burns was an All-Conference running back, and left as the fourth leading rusher in school history.

Retirement

Burns retired in 2006 and co-founded RisingSeniors.com and the Georgia Junior Bowl. RisingSeniors.com has formed a alliance with the NFL Players Association to introduce a character and life skills development program designed to provide resources to assist students dealing with the challenges ahead. It is a free program created to prepare high school junior student-athletes for their senior year by equipping them with the necessary tools to thrive academically, athletically and socially. These skills are important for a successful transition to their senior year, college and beyond. The Georgia Junior Bowl will be the first all-star football game of its kind showcasing the top high school junior football players in the state of Georgia; the purpose of the game is to enhance student athletes recruiting exposure before their senior year. Joseph Frank Burns is also educating high school athletes and families across the country on the college recruiting process as an educational speaker with Upnextrecruiting.com.

References

*https://web.archive.org/web/20150727145110/http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/burns_joe00.html 1979 births Living people People from Thomasville, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football running backs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Buffalo Bills players {{Runningback-1970s-stub