Nate Burleson

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Nate Burleson
Seattle Seahawks — No. 81
Wide receiver
Date of birth: August 19, 1981 (1981-08-19) (age 26)
Place of birth: Calgary, Alberta
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Weight: 195 lb (88 kg)
National Football League debut
2003 for the Minnesota Vikings
Career history
College: Nevada
NFL Draft: 2003 / Round: 3 / Pick: 71
 Teams:
Career highlights and awards
  • 1st player to return 3 separate punts for 90+ yards
  • Seahawks franchise record holder for punt return yards in a playoff game (84)
Selected NFL statistics
(through Week 17 of the 2007 NFL season)
Receptions     195
Receiving yards     2,675
Receiving average     13.7
Receiving TDs     23
Stats at NFL.com

Nathaniel Burleson (born August 19, 1981 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is an American football wide receiver currently playing for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. He went to the University of Nevada, Reno, from which he was drafted in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft. Nate is the younger brother of former Charlotte Bobcats guard Kevin Burleson. Known off the field for his style, Maxim Magazine named Burleson the best dressed player in the NFL in 2006.

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Contents

[edit] High school career

Burleson attended O'Dea High School in Seattle. While there, he won a total of eight letters playing football, basketball and track. As a senior, he was named The Seattle Times City Athlete of the Year.

[edit] College career

Burleson played college football at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he tallied 248 receptions for 3,293 yards (13.28 yards per rec. avg.) and 22 touchdowns in his career. In a 2001 game against San Jose State, he had 326 receiving yards, an impressive yardage total made even more unlikely because he did so without scoring a touchdown (setting an NCAA record for most receiving yards gained in a game without a touchdown). In 2002, he led the nation with 138 catches - second all-time only to Houston's Manny Hazzard in NCAA history for receptions in a single season.

Burleson led the nation in receptions per game and receiving yards as a senior. He was named first-team All-America by AFCA, All-WAC and team MVP. He was named second-team All-America by The Sporting News and CNN/SI. He holds the WAC and Nevada all-time records for single game receptions (19).

[edit] NFL career

Nate was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 2003. He showed promise during his rookie season, but didn't put up great numbers. In his second season, 2004, Nate emerged from the shadows when fellow receiver Randy Moss injured his hamstring. Nate was now the go-to-guy for Minnesota. He put up strong numbers and reached 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his career. Not only a great receiver, but a standout speacial teams player as well, Burleson is the only player in NFL history to have three punt returns of 90 or more yards.

On Friday March 24, 2006, Burleson signed a seven-year $49 million offer sheet to play with his hometown Seattle Seahawks. In retribution for the Vikings signing an offer sheet with former Seahawks guard, Steve Hutchinson, the Seahawks put clauses in Burleson's offer sheet which made it virtually impossible to match (similar to what the Vikings did with Hutchinson). The offer sheet stated that the entire $49 million would be guaranteed if Burleson played five games, in one season, in the state of Minnesota, or if his average per year exceeded the average of all running backs on the team combined. The Vikings play eight home games a year in Minneapolis, and at the time of the offer sheet, the team spent far less than $7 million per year for its entire running back corps. On the other hand, Seattle was spending over $7 million a year on just one of its running backs (Shaun Alexander). The Vikings had seven days to match the offer sheet but declined to do so. Minnesota received Seattle's third-round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft; Seattle, however, received no compensation for the departure of Hutchinson.

[edit] NFL Statistics

  • Year: Rec-Yards, Avg/Rec, TD
  • 2003: 29-455, 15.7, 2
  • 2004: 68-1006, 14.8, 9
  • 2005: 30-328, 10.9, 1
  • 2006: 18-192, 12.0, 2
  • Career to date: 145-1981, 13.7, 14-TD

[edit] Notes and misc.

  • In the third season of the VH1 sereis Flavor of Love, Flavor Flav wore an official game worn and autographed Nate Burelson jersey in the fourth episode.
  • Burleson was featured on three songs on Seattle rapper Wizdom's first CD, "The Book of Wizdom" which was released in 2007.
  • Part of the legendary class of 1999 at O'Dea High School which included such people as Wilbert Santos.

[edit] External links