Leon Keith Burns (September 15, 1942 – December 22, 1984) was an

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 ...

who played for two years 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). After attending

Laney College Laney College is a Public college, public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County, California, Alameda County. Laney Coll ...

and

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

, he was drafted in the first round of the

1971 NFL Draft The 1971 National Football League draft was held January 28–29, 1971, at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. The Boston Patriots, who did not officially change their name to New England Patriots until after the draft, used th ...

by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. Burns later played for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

, as well as the

Portland Storm The Portland Thunder (originally Portland Storm) was an American football team in the World Football League based out of Portland, Oregon. When the World Football League was created in October 1973, the Storm was the original New York franchise. ...

of the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

. In 1969, while playing for

Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

, Burns led all

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 ...

players in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. He was named a

College Football All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term ''All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Football ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

. Burns holds the school records for career carries, rushing yards, points, and touchdowns of the now defunct

Long Beach State 49ers football The Long Beach State 49ers football team represented California State University, Long Beach from the 1955 through 1991 seasons. The 49ers originally competed as an Independent before joining the California Collegiate Athletic Association in 1958 ...

program.

Early life

Burns was born in 1942 and grew up on the west side of

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. After graduating high school, he worked as a janitor, delivery boy, and construction worker. Before turning 19, Burns was involved in the robbery of a pawn shop and was sentenced to a prison term of which he served four years, although he maintained that his involvement was limited to giving the other two people involved a ride.

College career

Burns was first noticed in 1965 by Don Kloppenburg, the football coach at

, when he brought his team to

San Quentin Prison San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...

to play a game against a team of inmates, one of whom was Burns. After his release, Burns joined the Laney College football team and played there for two years. He transferred to

in time for the 1969 season. In 1969, Burns recorded the most rushing yards (1,659) and rushing touchdowns (26) of any college football player. He also caught ten passes for 149 yards and a touchdown as the

Long Beach State 49ers Long Beach State athletics, or simply Beach athletics (previously known as the 49ers), are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Long Beach. Teams compete in 19 sports at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

finished second in their conference with a record of eight wins and three losses. In the 1970 season, Burns did not have as much personal success due to early season ankle injuries, although he still gained over 1,000 rushing yards and scored 20 total touchdowns. However,

finished the regular season with nine wins and two losses, making them conference co-champions with

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. Since the 49ers had upset the Aztecs in a matchup on November 20, Long Beach State qualified for the 1970

Pasadena Bowl The Pasadena Bowl, known as the Junior Rose Bowl from 1946 to 1966 and again in 1976 and 1977, was a college football bowl game. Between 1946 and 1966 and again in 1976 and 1977, the game pitted the California Junior College football champions aga ...

, where they played the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

. Burns ran for three touchdowns in the game, which ended in a 24-24 tie. In his two years at Long Beach State, Burns set school records for career carries, rushing yards, touchdowns, and points scored. He was elected to the

1970 College Football All-America Team The 1970 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1970. The National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

by ''

Pro Football Weekly ''Pro Football Weekly'' (sometimes shortened to ''PFW'') is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, and website that covers the National Football League (NFL). It was owned by Pro Football Weekly LLC and headquartered in Riverwoods, Illinoi ...

'' and the

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. He was one of three Long Beach State players named first-team All-American (along with

Terry Metcalf Terrance Randolph Metcalf (born September 24, 1951) is a former American football running back who played six total seasons in the National Football League (NFL), five of them with the St. Louis Cardinals and one with the Washington Redskins, an ...

and

Billy Parks William James Parks (January 1, 1948 – July 22, 2009) was an American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, and Houston Oilers. He played college football at Long Beach State ...

) and became one of two to be selected in the 1st round of the NFL draft (along with

Dan Bunz Dan Bunz (born October 7, 1955) is a former American football linebacker who played for the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) in an eight-year career that lasted from 1978 to 1985. Bunz played at Oakmont ...

Professional career

1971

Burns was drafted by the

in the first round (13th overall) of the

. At 29 years of age, he was unusually old for a rookie. During the 1971 season, Burns played in 14 games for the

Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

, starting four, and carried the ball 61 times for 223 yards and a touchdown, adding three receptions for 22 yards.

1972

On January 31, 1972, a day before the

1972 NFL Draft The 1972 NFL draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Walt Patulski. Player selections Round one Round two ...

, Burns was traded to the

in exchange for running back

Cid Edwards Cleophus "Cid" Edwards, (October 10, 1943 – April 6, 2013) was a graduate from Tennessee State University who played professional American football in the NFL from 1968 to 1975. Edwards, a running back, in his play for the San Diego Chargers ...

. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

with the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

, Burns ran for 69 yards and two touchdowns on 26 attempts and caught six passes for 24 yards. This was his last season in the NFL.

1974

Burns was signed by the

of the

(WFL) in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. He rushed for 193 yards on 51 carries. This was the last year Burns played professionally.

Personal life

While attending Long Beach State, Burns was a political science major and expressed a desire to become a lawyer. Burns married his wife, Diane, and had three children with her prior to being drafted into the NFL. In addition to football, Burns was interested in weightlifting.

Death and legacy

Burns was shot to death in southeast

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on December 22, 1984. His murder remains unsolved. In 1987, he was inducted into the Long Beach State Hall of Fame.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Leon 1942 births 1984 deaths 1984 murders in the United States American football running backs American murder victims Deaths by firearm in California Male murder victims Long Beach State 49ers football players People murdered in Los Angeles San Diego Chargers players Players of American football from Oakland, California St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Unsolved murders in the United States Prisoners and detainees of California Portland Storm players Laney Eagles football players