Kenneth Othell Burrough (July 14, 1948 – February 24, 2022) was an 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 ...

player who was a wide receiver with the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was a track star and played quarterback at

William M. Raines High School William Marion Raines Senior High School is a historically black high school in Jacksonville, Florida. The school is located off Moncrief Road in Jacksonville, Florida's northside at the corner Raines Avenue in northwest Jacksonville. Raines serv ...

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and played wide receiver at

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,000 ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, being named an All-American in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

Career

Burrough was selected by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the first round (10th overall) of the

1970 NFL Draft The 1970 National Football League Draft was the 35th National Football League Draft and the first of the league's modern era, following the merger of the National Football League with the American Football League. It was held on January 27–28, 1 ...

. He missed much playing time his first season due to minor injuries, catching only 13 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns. In January 1971, Burrough and fellow Saint player Dave Rowe were traded to the Oilers in exchange for

Hoyle Granger Hoyle John Granger ( ;
Retrieved July 29, 2020 born March 7, 1944) is a former collegiate a ...

, Terry Stoepel, Charles Blossom, and a draft choice to be named later. Burrough played eleven seasons with the Oilers, from

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

through

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. In

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, Burrough was selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

, leading all NFL wide receivers with 1,063 receiving yards, the only receiver to gain more than a thousand yards for the season. He scored eight touchdowns that year, and averaged 20.1 yards per reception. In his book, ''More Distant Memories: Pro Football's Best Ever Players of the 50s, 60s, and 70s'', Danny Jones wrote that Burrough was "one of the most dangerous game breakers in the NFL along with

Cliff Branch Clifford Branch Jr. (August 1, 1948 – August 3, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders during his entire 14-year National Football League (NFL) career. He won three NF ...

(Raiders), Mel Gray (Cardinals), and O. J. Simpson (Bills)." Six of Burrough's eight touchdowns were of 50 or greater yards. In a week thirteen game against the playoff-bound Raiders, Burrough caught four passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns, including a screen pass from quarterback

Dan Pastorini Dante Anthony Pastorini (born May 26, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Houston Oilers. He played college football at Santa Clara University and wa ...

which he turned into a 68-yard touchdown with his open field running skills. Burrough was also selected to the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

. The Oilers won post-season games in the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

and 1979 seasons, making it to the

AFC Championship The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

both years, but lost to the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, the eventual

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

champions. Burrough was the last NFL player to wear

number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers c ...

00 on his jersey; the league restricted all numbers to between 1 and 89 in (later expanded to 1 and 99 in 1987), but Burrough and

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

' center

Jim Otto James Edwin Otto (born January 5, 1938) is an American former professional football player who played as a center for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He played colle ...

, both of whom wore 00 at the time, were covered under a

grandfather clause A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...

for the rest of their careers. Burrough has the third most receiving yards in Oilers/Titans history with 6,906 and tied for third in receiving touchdowns with 47. He ranks 85th on NFL All-Time Yards per Reception List with 16.9 yards per pass reception.

Later life and death

In 2016, Burrough was inducted into the

Black College Football Hall of Fame The Black College Football Hall of Fame (BCFHOF) is an American hall of fame for college football players, coaches and contributors from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). It was founded in 2009 in Atlanta, centrally located ...

.Former Raines QB Ken Burrough headed to Black College Football Hall of Fame
''Florida Times-Union'', March 17, 2016. Burrough died in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, on February 24, 2022, at the age of 73.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burrough, Ken 1948 births 2022 deaths African-American players of American football Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida William M. Raines High School alumni American football wide receivers Texas Southern Tigers football players New Orleans Saints players Houston Oilers players American Conference Pro Bowl players