Steve Burton is the Sports Director for

WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WSBK-TV (ch ...

and

WSBK-TV WSBK-TV (channel 38) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS owned-and-operated station WBZ-TV (channel 4). Both stations share studios on So ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The son of former Boston Patriots player

Ron Burton Ronald E. Burton (July 25, 1936 – September 13, 2003) was an American football player in the American Football League (AFL) for the Boston Patriots. He was a consensus All-American running back at Northwestern University, and is a member of ...

, Steve Burton grew up in

Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a pop ...

and is a graduate of and a former

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 ...

for

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

holding a

bachelor of science degree A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

s and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

. He lives in the Boston area with his wife Virginia and four children.

Career

Starting in 1993, Burton worked as a sports anchor and reporter for New England Sports Network (NESN), hosting the pre and post game shows for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

. In 1994, Burton joined

, where he now is sports director and main anchor. He also anchors the weekly programs Sports Final, Patriots Game Day, All Access, and the Patriots 5th Quarter show. Burton is also a frequent guest on WEEI's The Big Show certain times of the year. Nicknamed "vest" for his sharp dress, Burton is occasionally criticized for showing up late on the radio and is also ribbed for his appetite, as he ate nine large slices of pizza on the air during a 2009 broadcast. Burton is a friend of controversial former baseball player

Jose Canseco José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964), nicknamed Parkway Jose, Mr. 40-40 and El Cañonero Cubano (The Cuban Cannon), is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and designated hitter. During his time with the Oaklan ...

and has featured Canseco on an occasional weekend show he hosts on WEEI, most famously on October 14, 2007 during the New England Patriots' game against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

, though the football game was never mentioned as the subject was baseball's continuing steroids controversy. Burton also has arranged interviews with Canseco for WEEI. Burton became WBZ's sports director following Bob Lobel's firing in early April 2008.

Family

Two of his daughters are former

NCAA Division 1 NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

basketball players, Kayla for

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epi ...

and Kendall for

Villanova University Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Penns ...

. His daughter, Veronica, was drafted 7th overall in the 2022 WNBA draft by the Dallas Wings. His son Austin graduated from UCLA and is currently a quarterback for the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname is also used as colloquial designation ...

Community service

Burton spends time working at the Ron Burton Training Village, a 5-week sports camp for inner city youths. That organization awarded him the MIAA/Ron Burton Community Service Award in 2003. He also serves as a board member on several children's charities including the

Doug Flutie Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former football quarterback whose professional career spanned 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CF ...

, Jr. Foundation for Autism and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

References

External links

WBZ-TV Bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Steve Major League Baseball broadcasters National Football League announcers Sportswriters from Massachusetts American television reporters and correspondents Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Medill School of Journalism alumni Living people Television anchors from Boston African-American television personalities American sports journalists 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American sportspeople