Eagle Family

Georgia Southern sport management professor Willie Burden, Sr. played a little ball in his day: ACC Player of the Year at North Carolina State, a Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player, and an inductee of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the CFL Hall of Fame.

His son, Willie Burden, Jr., is a sophomore defensive end for Georgia Southern.

“Football’s just been in my blood ever since I was little,” said Burden, Jr. “I just love the game. That’s what motivates me to keep going. There was nothing like Fridays when I was in high school, and now Saturdays. You just put on that helmet and go out to the stadium and there are all those kids out there. That’s what you’ve worked for all summer long and all camp long.”

After his pro career, the senior Burden became an athletics director then earned his doctorate and entered the teaching profession. He’s still a believer in the value of athletics and how it can strengthen academic performance because of the discipline and routine coaches set forth. “It’s absolutely the structure,” said Burden, Sr. “Athletes perform better during their season than they do out of season when they’re missing some of the structure. Coming along as an athlete myself, coaches instilled discipline. They tell you where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there and, if you apply it on the academic side, too, and do the things that you’re supposed to do, you’ll be pretty successful.”

Burden, Jr. agreed. “A lot of people don’t realize it, but football is such a tremendous help to your academics. Our coaches make sure we’re at every class, that we’re on time and that we’re at study hall. And if you don’t do those things, there are repercussions. That is a tremendous, tremendous help to academics and to life, because you learn how to be on time and how to do things the right way. It will help us when we get older.”

His dad gives him frequent advice – on both football and academics. “All the time,” Burden, Jr. laughed. “But I enjoy it. I like learning. It’s fun for me. Overall I just try to take in as much as I can.” Burden, Sr. is also a firm believer in hands-on learning experiences for his students.

“I’m a practitioner from way back, so I wasn’t brought up through the teaching ranks,” he said. “I came from industry with two dozen years in athletic administration before I began to teach full time, so I like to bring the practical aspect to the classroom. With the textbook, it’s theory, and we like students to understand theory and how it’s supposed to work in a perfect world, but mainly my focus is to have students do hands-on activities or hear from people who are actually doing the work on a daily basis and can relate to what’s happening on the job. That works pretty well for me.”

Burden, Sr. knows how tough the game of football can be – from a player’s and a parent’s perspective, so watching Willie, Jr. and his high school-aged brother, Freddie play is a mix of concern, enthusiasm and pride. “Number one, I pray that everybody gets through the game without sustaining any kind of serious injury,” he said. “From that point on, whatever happens is great – just good luck in the game. I enjoy watching them play, but as a parent, the main thing is that no harm comes to them.”

A man who has enjoyed at least three distinct careers: professional athlete, athletics administrator, and professor, Burden, Sr. sees life as a process of always growing and learning to roll with the changes. “There are still lessons to be learned,” he said. “I learn from students, I learn from my sons, and I will continue to learn. It’s the people you meet along the way that teach you some of life’s lessons, and from some of the experiences you have, you learn a lot of life’s lessons.

“Some of the basic stuff always remains, there are some things that change around you and you have to be willing to change with it, to adapt.”