BOULDER — Every football player — college, pro or high school — has his game-day ritual. Some escape to headphone heaven. Others meditate, take a long nap or overload on carbs.
Then there’s CU inside linebacker Marcus Burton. What does he plan on doing Sunday in the hours before the Buffs get it on with in-state rival CSU late in the afternoon?
“I’m going to change diapers,” Burton said. “I don’t really have a choice in that matter, you know?”
A senior middle linebacker trained in the art of rearranging ball carriers’ body parts changing diapers? Dick Butkus, where have you gone?
Actually, Burton is happy to do it. Check that. It’s more like he’s committed to do it, honored to do it. He wouldn’t have been two years ago before his son, Tysen, was born, but he is now. That’s because, during those two years, Burton matured into a man.
“It seems that way,” Burton said. “And the funny part is, I still have a lot of the journey left. I’ve got a year left to finally give the people at this school their justice for giving me a scholarship and bringin’ me up here.”
So, there you have it. Burton isn’t just a man. He’s a man on a mission. To fully appreciate how much he burns inside, how desperately he wants to be an impact player, not a faceless special-teamer, you have to know where he stood two years ago.
He burst onto the CU scene in 2005, racking up 29 tackles and two interceptions as a freshman, but never turned a corner. And if he did, it certainly wasn’t on his way to class. By 2007, he was academically ineligible and his girlfriend, Krislen, was pregnant.
From that daunting obstacle course has emerged a married man — a second son is on the way — and one of CU’s three captains, a player the coaching staff believes is one of the keys to the Buffs’ season.
“It’s all coming together for him, but the thing is, he’s the reason it’s coming together,” CU linebackers coach Brian Cabral said. “He’s growing up. He’s made mistakes, but at the same time, he’s learned from them. To go from where he was to become one of our leaders, that says a lot about him.”
Said CU defensive coordinator Ron Collins: “The players respect him for what he’s done in his personal life. That’s why he’s a team captain. They’ve seen what he’s been through and how hard he’s worked to get where he is. Everybody admires him for that.”
The best success stories are the ones in which many of the chapters are about failure. That’s the story of Marcus Burton. Now for the part you may not know: He’s the first member of his family to walk down these sidewalks, the ones that lead to the next class on campus. And it’s often been a lonely trip, hundreds of miles from his home in the Houston area.
“Being a first-generation college kid made it tough,” he said. “It’s hard when you don’t have someone to talk to when you’re struggling, because no one has been through it. My son being born, along with getting married, kind of made me grow up a lot. Mostly, I credit putting faith in the coaches and putting faith in my family for getting me where I needed to be.”
These days, Burton is on course to earn a degree in ethnic studies. Not only that, he’s finally living up to the potential on the field that he showed in 2005, when, among his other claims to fame, he returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown vs. Oklahoma State.
He still has some conditioning issues at 6-feet and 265 pounds, but make no doubt, he can run.
“He can be an exceptional player. He’s not there yet, but he can get there,” Collins said. “He has to focus on getting in better shape and becoming a better player every day. But when you have the physical attributes that Marcus has — a 260-pound kid who can run — it can be a scary thing.”
Especially when a player has faced his fears, as Burton has, and come away a better man for it. In the aftermath of his personal transformation, Burton has an empty feeling. And the only way to make it go away is to become the player he was projected to be four years ago.
“You can come up here and never play, and the coaches won’t have any expectations of you,” he said. “But if you have expectations you set for yourself, standards you have as a player and as a student, and you don’t live up to them, that hurts. I kind of feel I’ve let myself down in that regard. But you know what? I’ve still got a chance to live up to those standards.”
Starting Sunday, right after his latest round of diaper duty.
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
Sizing them up
Colorado senior Marcus Burton checks in at 265 pounds, a figure CU coaches would like to see decrease a little. He is the heaviest linebacker in CU history. Here are the top five:
Player Position Years Height Weight
Marcus Burton ILB 2005-09 6-0 265 Ron Merkerson OLB 1994-97 6-3 255 Kanavis McGhee OLB 1987-90 6-4 250 Walter Boye-Doe OLB 2003-06 6-2 250 Michael Sipili ILB 2006-09 6-1 250
Source: CU sports information
