Vontaze Burfict

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Vontaze Burfict

Burfict playing for Arizona State in 2011
Arizona State Sun Devils — No. 7
Linebacker Junior
Major: Exploratory
Date of birth: September 24, 1990 (1990-09-24) (age 21)
Place of birth: Los Angeles, California
Height: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Weight: 248 lb (112 kg; 17 st 10 lb)
Career history
High school: Centennial High School,
Corona, California
 College(s):
Career highlights and awards
  • 2010 All-American (TSN)
  • 2010 Pac-10 Defensive MVP (TSN)
  • 2009 Freshman All-American (FWAA, CFN)
  • 2009 Pac-10 Defensive Freshman of the Year
  • 2008 High School All-American (EA Sports, MaxPreps, Parade)
Stats at ESPN.com

Vontaze Burfict (born September 24, 1990) is an American football linebacker. He is currently attending Arizona State University in his junior year. Burfict is considered the most highly ranked football prospect ever to sign a letter of intent to attend ASU.[1][2] He is regarded by CBS as one of the best inside linebacker prospect in his class.[3]

Contents

[edit] High school career

Burfict attended Centennial High School in Corona, California, where he was part of an undefeated Huskies team that won a CIF title, a state championship with the help of Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez, and was ranked No. 2 in the nation by USA Today in 2008.[4] That year, Burfict led the Huskies with 159 tackles, two quarterback sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Burfict participated in the US Army All-American Bowl and was the third-leading tackler for the West team. He also earned numerous All-American honors, including Parade.[5]

As a junior, Burfict collected a team-high 130 tackles and added four sacks, two interceptions and one fumble recovery. He helped anchor a linebackers unit that included fellow Sun Devils Shelly Lyons and Brandon Magee. Corona Centennial finished the 2007 season as No. 24 on USA Today‘s Top 25.[6]

Burfict missed almost all of his sophomore season due to academic problems.[7]

Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com, Burfict was listed as the No. 1 inside linebacker prospect in the nation.[8][9]

[edit] College career

Burfict originally committed to play for the USC Trojans, but eventually switched to Arizona State on National Signing Day.[10] By July 2009, he struggled to meet admission standard based on the NCAA eligibility sliding scale and still had one summer school class to complete.[11] Sun Devils coach Dennis Erickson, who compared Burfict to Ray Lewis,[2] expected him to be academically eligible for enrollment.[12] Burfict did qualify on time for the 2010 football season.

By midseason, Burfict ranked second in the team with 30 tackles despite starting only three of six games, and had five tackles for a loss, two sacks and three pass break-ups. ESPN named him Arizona State's midseason defensive MVP.[13] In a road game against Georgia on September 26, Burfict collected a season-high 11 tackles (three solo) and one and half tackles for loss. He led the Sun Devils in tackles in five games over the course of the season. By the end of the year, he had collected 69 tackles, seven tackles for loss, and a pair of sacks, and was named a Freshman All-American by College Football News,[14] and by the Football Writers Association of America.[15] He was also honored as the Pacific-10 Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year.

At the start of his sophomore season, Burfict was named First-Team Preseason All-American by The Sporting News. He was also named to the watch lists of the 2010 Rotary Lombardi Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.[16]

On October 6, 2010 Burfict was benched by Arizona State head coach Dennis Erickson. The reason given was Burfict's unusually high number of personal foul penalties.[17] In a game against Stanford, Burfict was called for grabbing the facemask of Doug Baldwin, and—after complaining to the referee—charged with a personal foul for unsportsmanlike conduct that gave Stanford a first down at the ASU 7.[18] Two plays later, Stanford scored what turned out to be the winning touchdown.[19]

Burfict finished the 2010 season with a team leading 90 tackles, 8.5 for a loss, and two forced fumbles. The Sporting News selected him to their All-American team, as well as Pacific-10 Defensive MVP.[20] Burfict is ASU's first 1st team All-American since Terrell Suggs.

With senior cornerback Omar Bolden lost for the season to a knee injury, Burfict was expected to take over as the leader of the Sun Devils defense in 2011,[21][22] but eventually had a rather inconsistent junior season. Burfict decided to forgo his senior year at Arizona State and entered the 2012 NFL Draft.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] 2012 NFL Draft

Entering his junior season, Burfict was consensually regarded as one of the best linebackers available in the 2012 NFL Draft, projected to go as high as the No. 5 pick.[23][24][25] Problems on and off the field at Arizona State, however, caused his draft stock to plummet. He entered the NFL Combine rated as the No. 3 inside linebacker, behind Luke Kuechly and Dont'a Hightower, but his "disappointing" performance—he ran a 5.09 sec in the 40-yard dash, slowest among linebackers—caused some analysts to project him as a third day (Rd. 4-7) draft pick.[26][27]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Arizona State University Football Signs 21 Players to Letters of Intent, February 4, 2009, http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/020409aaa.html 
  2. ^ a b Bordow, Scott (August 15, 2009), "Burfict has perfect linebacker philosophy", East Valley Tribune, http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/143069 [dead link]
  3. ^ "NFL Draft - 2013 ILB Draft Prospects". CBSSports.com. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/TSX/2013_ILB. Retrieved September 18, 2011. 
  4. ^ "Fort Lauderdale's Aquinas finishes season atop Super 25", USA Today, December 22, 2008, http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/football/poll/2008-super25.htm 
  5. ^ O'Shea, Michael (January 25, 2009), "Meet PARADE's All-America High School Football Team", Parade, http://www.parade.com/news/all-america/2009/parade-all-america-high-school-football-team.html 
  6. ^ "Miami Northwestern crowned Super 25 champion", USA Today, December 26, 2007, http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/football/poll/2007-super25.htm 
  7. ^ Crabtree, Jeremy (November 4, 2007), "Junior LB makes the grades, delivers impact", USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/sports/recruiting/football/west/2007-10-30-west.htm 
  8. ^ Rivals.com inside linebackers 2009, January 16, 2009, http://rivals100.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?ra_key=2128 
  9. ^ "Linebackers 2009", Scout.com, http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=4&pid=65&yr=2009 
  10. ^ Sondheimer, Eric (February 4, 2009), "ASU gets big-time recruit in linebacker Burfict", Los Angeles Times, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/02/asu-gets-big-ti.html 
  11. ^ Metcalfe, Jeff (July 18, 2009), "HS coach 'relatively optimistic' about Burfict qualifying", The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/jeffmetcalfe/58058 
  12. ^ Metcalfe, Jeff (August 13, 2009), "ASU expects Burfict to be eligible", The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/2009/08/13/20090813asuburfict.html 
  13. ^ Miller, Ted (October 20, 2009), "Midseason review: Arizona State", ESPN.com, http://espn.go.com/blog/pac10/post/_/id/4209/midseason-review-arizona-state 
  14. ^ Cirminiello, Richard (December 8, 2009), "2009 CFN All-Freshman Team: Defense & Special Teams", College Football News, http://cfn.scout.com/2/927274.html 
  15. ^ "2009 AON Insurance/FWAA Freshman All-America Team", FWAA, January 7, 2010, http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/news/2009/allamerica100107.html .
  16. ^ "ASU's Vontaze Burfict Named First-Team All-American By Sporting News". ASU Athletics Football. June 22, 2010. http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/062210aaa.html. 
  17. ^ Metcalfe, Jeff (October 5, 2010). "Dennis Erickson takes Vontaze Burfict out of Arizona State starting lineup vs. Washington". The Arizona Republic. http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/2010/10/05/20101005arizona-state-football-burfict-benched.html. 
  18. ^ Highlights: (6) Stanford - ASU on YouTube
  19. ^ Boivin, Paola (November 13, 2010). "ASU football team sees spirited effort derailed by Vontaze Burfict's mistakes". The Arizona Republic. http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/2010/11/13/20101113asu-vontaze-burfict-mistakes.html. 
  20. ^ "Burfict honored as an All-American". The Arizona Republic. 2010-12-15. http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/DouglasHaller/110593. 
  21. ^ Haller, Doug (April 21, 2011). "ASU's Vontaze Burfict embracing leadership role". The Arizona Republic. http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/2011/04/21/20110421asu-football-vontaze-burfict-leader.html. 
  22. ^ Dodd, Dennis (May 20, 2011). "Burfict timing? Arizona State can climb if 'backer grows up". CBS Sports. http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/15084294/burfict-timing-arizona-state-can-climb-if-backer-grows-up. 
  23. ^ Prisco, Pete (May 1, 2011). "Flash forward: Top 32 picks for the 2012 NFL Draft". CBSSports.com. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/15014424/flash-forward-top-32-picks-for-the-2012-nfl-draft. 
  24. ^ Pauline, Tony (May 3, 2011). "Stanford's Luck headlines early look at top 2012 draft prospects". Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/nfl/05/03/2012.prospects/. 
  25. ^ Reuter, Chad (May 4, 2011). "2012 mock draft: First look with Luck and Heels". CBSSports.com. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/story/15029593/mock-draft-first-look-with-luck-and-heels. 
  26. ^ Rang, Rob (February 27, 2012). "Lackluster Combine could push Burfict to Day 3". CBS Sports. http://rob-rang.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/13682485/35011522. 
  27. ^ Banks, Don (February 29, 2012). "Andrew Luck, Stephen Hill, Vontaze Burfict make their mark on NFL combine". SI.com. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/don_banks/02/29/combine.awards/index.html?xid=si_nfl. 

[edit] External links

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