Don Burroughs
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Donald Edward Burroughs (August 19, 1931 – October 20, 2006) 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
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 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) for the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
and 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 ...
. He 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 ...
as a
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
at Colorado A&M, now known as
Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...
. Burroughs was notable for his 6'5" height, an anomaly at the
safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...
position.


Early life and college career

Burroughs was born in
Fillmore, California Fillmore is a small city in Ventura County, California, United States, in the Santa Clara River Valley. In an agricultural area with rich, fertile soil, Fillmore has a historic downtown that was established when the Southern Pacific built the r ...
as the only son of a family with four daughters. Burroughs excelled in Ventura Country for
Fillmore High School Fillmore High School (FHS) is a public comprehensive high school serving grades 9–12 in Fillmore, California, United States that opened in 1912. It is one of two high schools in the Fillmore Unified School District, the other being Sierra High ...
, being selected as an all-leaguer in football, basketball, and baseball. He spurned scholarship offers from places such as Notre Dame to try and avoid being "lost in the shuffle" among a big university. He played football first for
Pasadena City College Pasadena City College (PCC) is a Public college, public community college in Pasadena, California. History Pasadena, California, Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. From 1928 to 1953, it operated as a four- ...
before moving to
Ventura College Ventura College is a public community college in Ventura, California. Established in 1925, the college has a campus with an enrollment of 13,763 students. It is part of the Ventura County Community College District. History Ventura College ...
, earning honors from the
Western State Conference The Western State Conference (WSC) is a college athletic conference that is affiliated with the California Community College Athletic Association. The conference was established in 1950, making it the oldest community college conference in Califo ...
as an all-pro before he transferred to
Colorado A&M Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...
. He was named All-Conference and All-American in his tenure there, where he played as a
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
. In 1951, he threw for 1,279 yards, becoming the first quarterback in school history to pass for more than 1,000 yards in a season. He was preparing to sign with the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
in 1953 as a free agent, but he was drafted to serve in the Army. Under the help of general manager
Tex Schramm Texas Earnest Schramm Jr. (June 2, 1920 – July 15, 2003) was an American football executive who was the original president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys franchise of the National Football League (NFL). Schramm, usually referred to ...
, Burroughs served in
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
rather than in
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, where he played football in the special services unit. He was named to the All-Army Football Team for 1953-1954 before being discharged in 1955. He was inducted into th
Colorado State University Athletics Hall of Fame
in 1990 along with the Ventura Country Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.


Pro football career

Due to a logjam of quarterbacks, he elected to switch positions to become a defensive back. His stature and frame earned him the nickname of "The Blade" from Rams quarterback
Norm Van Brocklin Norman Mack Van Brocklin (March 15, 1926 – May 2, 1983), nicknamed "The Dutchman", was an American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He spent his first nine seasons with the Los Ang ...
. In his first season with the Rams, he played in all twelve games. In his first game as a professional on September 25 against 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 ...
, he picked off three passes off Y.A. Tittle (who threw five in total) in a 23–14 victory for the Rams. Burroughs would collect nine total interceptions in the season, returning them for 103 yards. The Rams won the Western Conference fourth time in the past seven seasons to reach the
NFL Championship Game Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...
and face the defending champion
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
. Burroughs picked off one pass from
Otto Graham Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Graha ...
(who threw three on the day) and returned it 24 yards, but the Browns defeated the Rams 38–14. The next year, Burroughs would only pick off two passes in twelve games, and the next year saw him start ten games and pick three passes off. 1958 proved slightly better, as he would record seven interceptions in twelve games (with one fumble and one fumble recovery), aided by a three-interception game on November 16 against the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
(quarterbacked by
Babe Parilli Vito "Babe" Parilli (May 7, 1930 – July 15, 2017) was an American football quarterback and coach who played professionally for 18 seasons. Parilli spent five seasons in the National Football League (NFL), three in the Canadian Football League ( ...
). In 1959, he played in just ten games with six starts that resulted in no interceptions (with one fumble recovery). After the season, he traded to 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 ...
under the request of Van Brocklin, who had joined the Eagles the previous year. He started ten games and recorded nine interceptions that season while recording one fumble recovery, which included two games with two interceptions. The Eagles finished as one of the best teams in the league and thus advanced to the
1960 NFL Championship Game The 1960 NFL Championship Game was the 28th NFL title game. The game was played on Monday, December 26, at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvan ...
against the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
on December 26. While he did not record a statistic, the Eagles won the game 17-13, earning Burroughs his first and only championship. He was named a Second Team All-Pro that season by three of the five selectors (the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
and the
Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...
, and the
New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
). He recorded seven interceptions in both 1961 and 1962, and in the former year, he was second-team All Pro from the NEA, the Daily News, and the UPI. Burroughs recorded his third and final game with three interceptions on December 3, 1961 against 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 ...
(who used
Bobby Layne Robert Lawrence Layne (December 19, 1926 – December 1, 1986) was an American football quarterback who played for 15 seasons in the National Football League. He played for the Chicago Bears in 1948, the New York Bulldogs in 1949, the Detroit ...
,
Rudy Bukich Rudolph Andrew Bukich (September 15, 1930 – February 29, 2016) was an American football player, a quarterback in the National Football League from 1953 to 1968. Known as "Rudy the Rifle" for his uncommon arm strength, he tied an NFL record with ...
, and
John Henry Johnson John Henry Johnson (November 24, 1929 – June 3, 2011) was an American professional football player who was a running back. He was known for his excellence at the fullback position as both a runner and a blocker. His first professional stint ...
as quarterbacks). He recorded four interceptions in 1963 before closing out his career with two interceptions in 1964. His final interception came against 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 ...
on October 25. He finished in the top ten for interceptions in five different seasons, finishing second in 1955, fifth in 1958, third in 1960, fifth in 1961, and third in 1962. At the time of the retirement of Burroughs, he was the seventh player to have recorded fifty interceptions in NFL history; in the prevailing half-century, he moved from tied for fifth best to 35th.


Personal life

After his retirement at the age of 33, Burroughs ran a variety of businesses, which included a trucking company. With his wife Elaine, he had four children along with nine grandchildren. In 2006, Burroughs died of cancer at the age of 75.


References


External links


Colorado State Athletics Hall of Fame Bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burroughs, Don 1931 births 2006 deaths American football safeties Colorado State Rams football players Los Angeles Rams players Philadelphia Eagles players People from Fillmore, California Sportspeople from Ventura County, California Players of American football from California Deaths from cancer in California