Vernon Eugene Burke (born April 30, 1941) is a former

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 wi ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

who played five seasons in the NFL with 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 ...

, Atlanta Falcons, and 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 ...

High school career

Burke attended North High School in Bakersfield, California and starred in football.

College career

Burke attended

Bakersfield College Bakersfield College (BC) is a public community college in Bakersfield, California. BC serves about 22,000 students each semester or 31,000 annually, and offers Associate degrees, certificate programs, and is one of fifteen California Community C ...

before he enrolled at

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

to play football. He lettered in football in 1961 and 1962, earning a spot as a first-team Consensus

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n at split end in 1962. Burke caught 69 passes for 1,007 yards, both

NCAA 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 an ...

records at the time. The Beavers finished 9–2 after a 6–0 victory over Villanova in the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City ...

. The Beavers' lone touchdown in that game came on a 99-yard rushing touchdown by Beaver quarterback and 1962 Heisman Trophy winner,

Terry Baker Terry Wayne Baker (born May 5, 1941) is a former American football and basketball player. He played college football and basketball at Oregon State University in Corvallis, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta. Baker played as a quarterba ...

. For his achievements in his senior season, Burke was chosen to play in the 1963

East-West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *''East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salma ...

and 1963

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...

. Burke was also awarded the 1963 W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy as the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast.

Professional career

Burke was drafted in the 5th round of the 1963

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

, the 64th pick overall, by the San Francisco 49ers. Burke did not debut in the NFL however until 1965. He later spent a year each with the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints.

Legacy

Burke was inducted into the State of Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.

References

External links

Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Vern 1941 births Living people People from San Luis Obispo, California All-American college football players Oregon State Beavers football players San Francisco 49ers players Atlanta Falcons players New Orleans Saints players