Burnett excels in community, class and on field

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Posted 5:42PM on Wednesday, October 22, 2003

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - Tennessee linebacker Kevin Burnett walked up and down the rows of desks, signing posters and talking to each fourth-grade student. One boy sat at a desk separated from his classmates and placed in the front where the teacher could make him behave. When Burnett asked why he was sitting there, the teacher said, ``He's my special friend.'' Burnett smiled. ``I know what that means,'' he said. Burnett wasn't the model student and citizen he is now. He got in trouble and was sometimes even violent in his younger days growing up in South Central Los Angeles and learning to cope without his father, who died in a car accident when Burnett was 5. Football helped him get his act together, and now he tries to convince children they can, too. He spends many hours of free time visiting schools or counseling at a camp for children whose fathers have died. At 20, Burnett has figured out one thing some professional athletes never do. ``You can't be bad off the field and be good on the field and expect to be successful. You have to be a good well-rounded person,'' he said. In a visit earlier this month to Brickey Elementary School with quarterback Casey Clausen, Burnett encouraged students to read and pay attention in class. ``Who's the fastest? Who plays football? Any cheerleaders?'' Burnett asked a group of fifth graders, who raised their hands to answer. ``This is an athletic class,'' Burnett told the students before he left. ``You guys be good, and read your books!'' Wendy Newton, administrative assistant at Brickey, said no one told Burnett what to say to the students. ``He just jumped right in and made himself at home,'' she said. If the NFL or sports business doesn't work out, Burnett would consider being a kindergarten teacher. ``I think being a bigger male with a deep voice, everybody would listen,'' he said. ``I could teach the ABC's and 1-2-3's.'' Burnett, a safety and running back at Dominguez High School in Carson, Calif., came to Tennessee in 2000 with great athletic promise and played in 11 games as a freshman. He started twice as a sophomore in 2001, but a knee injury ended the 2002 season early. He returned as a starter this season at weakside linebacker and has 42 tackles going into No. 22 Tennessee's game Saturday at Alabama. Burnett graduated in May with a degree in sports management and Academic All-Southeastern Conference honors but still had two years of athletic eligibility. Elected a team captain this year, he is taking graduate-level courses this fall toward a master's in sports administration. ``He's all-everything. He's a great guy to coach, a great guy to lead your football team. A super communicator,'' coach Phillip Fulmer said. ``I think he's taken seriously his role as a community leader. You don't hear about those things nearly enough in college athletics. There are a lot of guys who give back to the community and Kevin Burnett would be at the head of the list.'' Burnett's impact during his community service work is evident by the letters and calls he receives from some youngsters he has met, said Gerald Harrison, director of community relations for the football program. Word about Burnett's good deeds has spread. The guidance counselor at a Knoxville high school called Burnett to talk to a freshman whose father had recently died. Burnett also was a perfect fit as a counselor at Mike Gottfried's Team Focus summer camp for children ages 8 to 16 whose fathers have died. Based in Mobile, Ala., the organization holds Christian-based leadership camps in various cities, including nearby Maryville. ``Those kids, they drew to him,'' Harrison said. And why not? Burnett knows how he would have felt if a big-time athlete took time to meet him. ``I would have listened to everything he said because I wanted to be a football player when I grow up and still do,'' Burnett said.