Burnett not hood-winked

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This article was published 17/09/2016 (3364 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ON the eve of his first Canadian Football League start, Tony Burnett spent some time reminiscing about his days in track and field.

“It taught me, basically, how to be focused, be a technician and focus on every little thing and every little way to be better,” said the 26-year-old Winnipeg Blue Bombers linebacker, who slots into Ian Wild’s place against the Toronto Argonauts today.

“It teaches you to be at your best. In track and field, you get one race, one jump. On the field, you get 40, 50 plays. Track teaches you to be precise.”

It was track and field that led Burnett to the University of Southern California in 2010, transferring from L.A. Southwest College following his freshman year. From there, fate led him to a chance meeting with then-Trojans defensive co-ordinator Ed Orgeron, who issued Burnett a walk-on invite.

“I didn’t have much growing up, not a bunch of opportunities,” Burnett said of his childhood in the Watts area of Los Angeles.

Burnett’s early childhood years were spent playing Pop Warner football and trying to avoid the street life that enveloped many around him.

“It’s right there,” he said of the gangs. “I saw guys get beat up right outside my gate, drug addicts in the alleys and us running from stray dogs in the neighbourhood. You hear the gunshots.”

Despite the environment, Burnett said his childhood was decent, crediting football for keeping him on the right path.

“When you grow up in a neighbourhood like that, all the older guys, when they see a young guy playing football and trying to do it right, they take care of you and try to keep you out of the street life,” he said.

One of those guys was his Pop Warner coach, Quentin Drew, who would pick up a seven-year-old Burnett from his home and drive him 20 minutes down the road to play for the Bellflower Broncos. Drew, who passed away while Burnett was in high school, and fellow Broncos coach Mike Carpenter kept Burnett in football.

“Those were two guys who were very influential,” Burnett said. “The biggest thing I learned from those guys was discipline, being able to have a good attitude and keep your head when things aren’t going right.”

‘It teaches you to be at your best. In track and field, you get one race, one jump’– Blue Bombers linebacker Tony Burnett

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Keeping his head on straight is now is own attitude for life, forged from his days growing up in Watts and those who helped him along the way.

“High energy and an unbelievable athlete,” Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said of his linebacker.

Burnett, meanwhile, plans on giving back once his career in football is over. Already equipped with a human performance degree (similar to sports science) from USC, Burnett said he’d like to go back and study administration.

“One of my plans is to eventually start a non-profit and get kids from my neighbourhood involved and show them there are other things to do and you don’t have to get caught up in that street life,” he said.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @scottbilleck

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.