Kurt Bane Burris (June 27, 1932 – July 21, 1999) was an American

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

player. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

as a center and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

from 1951 to 1954. He was a consensus All-American at center in 1954 and finished second in the 1954

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

voting. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

in 1960. Burris also played in the

Western Interprovincial Football Union The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. With a few exceptions, a senior men's football championship has been contested in Western Canada since 1911 ...

(WIFU), helping the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

win the 43rd Grey Cup in 1955. He played a total of four seasons in the WIFU, including stints with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

(1958) and

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

(

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

). After his football career ended, Burris worked in the oil drilling business in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, and

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

Early years

Burris was born in 1932 in Nowata, Oklahoma. He was raised in

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the 13th-largest city in Oklahoma and is the county seat of Muskogee County, Oklahoma, Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of ...

, in a family of 11 children. His five brothers all played

, including older brother Buddy Burris who was a consensus All-American guard for Oklahoma in 1948. Their father, Paul Burris, coached all six of his sons. Burris played on Muskogee High School football teams that won Oklahoma state championships in 1948 and 1950. The 1950 team compiled a 13–0 record, shut out six opponents, included Burris, his younger brother Bobby Burris, Max Boydston, and Preston Carpenter, and has been rated the best high school football team in Oklahoma during the post–World War II era. Burris was recruited to play football by several universities and attended a six-week camp with the Army Cadets in the summer of 1951. He announced in August 1951 that he intended to play for Bud Wilkinson at Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Sooners

Burris played

for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

from 1951 to 1954. He was a starter at center and

on the

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

and 1954 teams that won the first 19 games in Oklahoma's 47-game winning streak. Burris was known for his blocking on offense and for his fierce tackling on defense. Brother Bob Burris, who played with Kurt at Oklahoma, recalled Kurt as a "headhunter" who "usually knocked two or three guys out of a game," adding, "Kurt wasn't happy with tackling a runner. He wanted to hit him in the nose." As a senior, he was the consensus pick at center on the 1954 All-America team. The

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

selected him as the national player of the year for 1954. Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson concluded that Burris also deserved the

. Realizing the sports press had ignored interior linemen in voting for the trophy, Wilkinson and Oklahoma sports information director Harold Keith recruited 100 students to write personal letters to the 3,500 sports editors. Alan Ameche won the Heisman in 1954, but Burris finished second in the voting, the highest finish in the history of the trophy for a lineman.

Western Interprovincial Football Union

Burris was selected by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

with the 13th pick in the 1955 NFL draft. He instead signed with the

of the Western Interprovincial Football Union, which later became the West Division of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. He played center and linebacker for the Eskimos, appearing in 15 games during the 1955 season and helping Edmonton win the 43rd Grey Cup championship. He missed the 1956 season due to a back injury but returned in 1957, appearing in 11 games for the Eskimos. Burris was traded to the

in 1958. He appeared in 13 games for the Roughriders. After the 1958 season, Burris was moved to

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

by the oil drilling company he worked for and decided to sit out the 1959 season. Burris also noted that he had "played nearly 60 minutes a game" in 1958 and "had a couple of sore legs". He played handball and basketball to get back into shape and signed with the

in March 1960. He appeared in eight games for the 1960 Calgary team. He stopped playing after the 1960 season due to a knee injury that required surgery.

Family, later years and honors

Burris married Rosemary Major in 1955 in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. They had three children: Kurt Major, Bryan Kyle, and Mary Jane. Burris began working in the oil drilling business in 1957. He continued that work after his football career ended, working for the Commonwealth Drilling Ltd. in Calgary. He moved to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

in 1974 to set up drilling operations for Westburne Drilling, Inc., the American branch of Canada's largest drilling company. He later formed his own company, Burris Drilling, in Denver. Burris later moved to

Billings, Montana Billings is the most populous Lists of populated places in the United States, city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, i ...

, where he was president of Cardinal Oil Company. He died in 1999 of an apparent heart attack at age 67 at his home in Billings. He was posthumously inducted into the

in April 2000. He was also inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burris, Kurt 1932 births 1999 deaths All-American college football players American football centers Calgary Stampeders players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Edmonton Elks players Oklahoma Sooners football players People from Muskogee, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma Saskatchewan Roughriders players 20th-century American sportsmen