Walter Leon Burton (March 13, 1935 – October 7, 2022) was an American professional football player who played 14 games for the New York Titans in one season of the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. He earlier played college football at Arizona State University.

Early life

Burton was born in Flint, Michigan, on March 13, 1935. He attended

Flint Northern High School Flint Northern High School was a public secondary school located in Flint, Michigan. The original building "#1" was built in 1928 and demolished in the 1980s, after being the home of the Flint Academy. It was one of the high schools in the Flint ...

in his hometown, where he was a member of the football and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

teams. He then studied at Arizona State University, where he played for the Sun Devils from 1955 to 1958. He established the school's freshman record with 694

rushing yards Rushing means a sudden forward motion, or a surge or onslaught. Rushing may refer to: Tactics * Rush (gridiron football), advancing the ball by running on offense. On defense, charging the quarterback or kicker is a pass rush. * Human wave att ...

in 1955 (a mark that would stand until 2003). During the 1957 season, Burton led the

National Collegiate Athletic Association 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 ...

(NCAA) in rushing yards (1126),

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s (16), points (96), and

yards from scrimmage Yards from scrimmage is a gridiron football statistical measure. In the game of football, progress is measured by advancing the football towards the opposing team's goal line. Progress can be made during play by the offensive team by advancin ...

(1320), while setting an NCAA record of 9.6 yards per carry. The Sun Devils ultimately finished that year undefeated (10–0). He had the fourth-most touchdowns (11) and points (66) in the NCAA in the following season. Burton received first team All- Border Conference honors in 1957 and 1958. He finished his college career ranked first all-time in regular-season rushing touchdowns (34), and second in rushing yards (2994). He was selected by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the eighth round (87th overall) of the

1958 NFL Draft The 1958 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 2, 1957, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 28, 1958. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. This was the 12th and final year in ...

Professional career

Burton was released by the 49ers on account of his size and subsequently joined 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 ...

for one season. He then signed with the New York Titans and made his AFL debut with the franchise on September 11, 1960, at the age of 25, in a 27–3 win against the Buffalo Bills. He recorded the longest kickoff return in franchise history at 101 yards in a game against the Oakland Raiders on October 28 that year, which was ultimately the second-longest kickoff return in the league that year. He later became the first Titans player to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in a single season. Burton led the AFL in

kick return A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

s (30), kick return yards (862), and kick and punt returns (42), while finishing second in kick and punt return yards (955), fifth in punt returns (12), and ninth in punt return yards (93). He went on to play for the Grand Rapids Blazers of the United Football League.

Honors

Burton was inducted into his alma mater's Sports Hall of Fame in 1978. He was later recognized in ASU's Ring of Honor in October 2013.

Personal life

Burton's first marriage was to Ellen Marie Collins, who he met in high school, and together they had four children. Burton died in his sleep on October 7, 2022, in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. He was 87 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Leon 1935 births 2022 deaths 20th-century African-American sportspeople African-American players of American football American football halfbacks Arizona State Sun Devils football players New York Titans (AFL) players Players of American football from Flint, Michigan

Early life

Professional career

Honors

Personal life

See also

References