Henry Burris
Henry Armand Burris Jr. is an American former professional football quarterback, and a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. He is currently the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Florida A&M. Burris played in the Canadian Football League from 1998 to 2016. He won three Grey Cup championships, two with the Calgary Stampeders, in 1998 and 2008, having spent 10 years of his career with them, and one with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2016. He was also a sports broadcaster and football analyst at TSN, appearing as a panel member on the network's CFL on TSN broadcasts.
Burris won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award in 2010 and 2015. At the time of his retirement Burris was third in all-time CFL passing yards and passing touchdowns. While playing in the CFL, he was also a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats and spent time in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. Prior to his professional career, he played college football with the Temple Owls.
Early life
Burris attended Spiro High School in Spiro, Oklahoma, and won four varsity letters each in football, track, basketball, and baseball. In football, he was named the Oklahoma Offensive Player of the Year as a senior.Burris attended Temple University and finished with 20 passing records. He left the university ranked second all-time in Big East Conference passing with 7495 yards.
College career
Professional career
Burris went undrafted in the 1997 NFL draft.Calgary Stampeders (first stint)
1997
Burris signed a contract with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders in May 1997. He dressed for one regular season game, and spent the remainder of season on the practice roster.1998
In 1998, Burris dressed for all 18 regular season games as the Stampeders' third-string quarterback. He gained his first, limited playing time in relief of Jeff Garcia and Dave Dickenson. Burris was also dressed for Calgary's West Final win against Edmonton, as well as the team's Grey Cup win against Hamilton.1999
In 1999, Garcia joined the San Francisco 49ers. Dickenson became Calgary's starting quarterback, and Burris received more playing time as Dickenson's backup. He replaced Dickenson in the third week game against the Edmonton Eskimos, leading the Stampeders to a come-from-behind victory. Burris started the following two games against the Montreal Alouettes and BC Lions, leading the Stampeders to another victory in the former. He was injured in the third quarter of the latter, and spent the rest of the season on the injured reserve with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.Saskatchewan Roughriders (first stint)
2000
On March 9, 2000, Burris signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders for his first opportunity to be a full-time starting quarterback. He was reunited with Roy Shivers, the team's new general manager, who had been Calgary's Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel in the late 1990s, and Danny Barrett, the team's new head coach, who had been Calgary's Quarterbacks Coach when Burris joined the Stampeders in 1997.Burris had worn number 16 in Calgary. Before the 2000 season, a poll was held for fans to determine Burris' number in Saskatchewan. The fans chose number 1.
Burris started the first 16 games of the Roughriders season, throwing for 4,647 yards and 30 touchdowns. In game 16, he injured his shoulder, and was replaced by Marvin Graves for the final two regular season games. Despite Saskatchewan finishing the season with a league-worst 5-12-1 record, Burris threw 3 touchdown passes in 3 different games, and for 300 yards 7 times, 2 of which were over 400 yards.
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers took interest in him after the CFL season ended, and signed him to a contract. Burris began playing in the NFL in 2001, when he spent several weeks as the Packers' third-string quarterback, without playing in a game, before he was released, and then he spent the rest of the season on their practice squad.Chicago Bears
He was signed by the Chicago Bears in the off-season. In six games for the Bears he completed 18 of 51 passes for 207 yards, with three touchdowns and five interceptions. He received significant playing time only in the last two games of the regular season. He was 8 of 22 for 50 yards and a touchdown against Carolina, fumbling twice, and 7 of 19 for 78 yards and four interceptions against Tampa Bay, for a 10.3 quarterback rating. While his passing was quite poor he showed better than average running ability for a quarterback, finishing the 2002 season with 15 rushes for 104 yards.Berlin Thunder
The Bears assigned him to NFL Europe's Berlin Thunder in 2003 where he performed respectably. Unhappy with being relegated to Berlin by the Bears, he returned to the CFL and the Roughriders, his former club. He immediately became Nealon Greene's back-up. A knee injury forced him to miss the better part of the season.Saskatchewan Roughriders (second stint)
2003
On July 28, 2003, Burris signed with the Roughriders for his second stint with the team. That year, he wore number 10 instead of the number 1 he had worn with the Roughriders in 2000. Defensive back LaDouphyous McCalla had been wearing number 1 since 2001.Burris dressed for 10 regular season and 2 playoff games that season. He saw action in 2 regular season games, with his most significant game action coming in the Labour Day Classic; Burris replaced starting quarterback Nealon Greene for the second half. Saskatchewan lost 36-18 against Winnipeg, with Burris' passing statistics being 11 of 22 for 130 yards, and a late touchdown pass to Chris Szarka.
2004
In 2004, Burris returned to wearing number 1, and McCalla changed his number to 22. Saskatchewan traded quarterback Kevin Glenn, who had been with the Roughriders since 2001. Going into game 1 against the Toronto Argonauts, Greene was slated to be the number 1 quarterback. Although Burris was listed as the back up, a high left ankle sprain was keeping him out of full workouts, meaning Rocky Butler, who had been in Saskatchewan since 2002, would be the next quarterback on the depth chart.In the game against Toronto, Burris was the holder on field goals. Greene started, but broke his leg in the first quarter, and was replaced by Butler. Butler struggled against the Argonauts, throwing 2 interceptions in 21-10 loss. Five days later, the Roughriders hosted the Calgary Stampeders in the Roughriders' home opener. Butler started and threw 4 interceptions, and Saskatchewan lost 33-10.
In Saskatchewan's third game, at home against the BC Lions, Burris was healthy enough to start. He threw four touchdowns en route to a 42-29 Saskatchewan victory.
Burris ultimately started 16 regular season games that year. Despite the Roughriders starting 4-8, the team was able to win five games in a row late in the season, and qualify for third place in the West Division. Saskatchewan defeated Edmonton in the West Semi-Final at Commonwealth Stadium 14-6, and Burris threw 2 touchdowns. In the West Final, Burris threw for 416 yards and three touchdowns in Saskatchewan's 27-25 overtime loss in BC.
In February 2005, Burris became a free agent.
Calgary Stampeders (second stint)
2005
In the 2005 off-season, Burris rejected the Roughriders' contract offer in order to re-join the Calgary Stampeders. That year, he continued to wear number 1 as had in Saskatchewan, instead of the number 16 he had worn in his first stint with the Stampeders.Calgary improved its record from 4-14 to 11-7 and finished second in the West. Burris was named the CFL West All-Star quarterback.
The Stampeders hosted Edmonton in the Western Semifinal. In that game, Calgary built up a 23-9 lead in the second quarter, but would go on to lose 33-26.
2006
In 2006, Burris once again helped the Stampeders advance to the CFL playoffs, hosting their second home playoff game in as many years. In the West Semi-Final, the Stampeders hosted Burris' former team, the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Calgary built up a 21-5 second quarter lead, but lost 30-21. Burris threw 4 interceptions and lost a fumble in the game.2007
In 2007, Burris led the CFL in touchdown passes, and finished second in passing yards. Calgary finished third in the West, and once again faced off against the Roughriders in the Western Semifinal. Burris once again lost to his former team in a close 26–24 affair.2008
In 2008, John Hufnagel replaced Tom Higgins as the Stampeder head coach. That season, the Stampeders finished with a league-best 13-5 record. Burris was the CFL West All-Star quarterback and the West nominee for Most Outstanding Player. He won his first championship as a starter, leading the Calgary Stampeders to a 22–14 Grey Cup victory over the host Montreal Alouettes. Burris also captured the title of Grey Cup Most Valuable Player.2009
In 2009, Burris led the Calgary Stampeders to a second-place finish in the Western Conference. Trying to atone for a year in which he could not beat the first place Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Burris led Stampeders could not defeat the Roughriders in the Western Division Final, falling 27–17. This was Burris' third straight play-off loss to the Roughriders, and denied the Stampeders the chance to play in the Grey Cup to be played in Calgary.2010
Burris quarterbacked the Stampeders to a CFL best record of 13–5 in 2010. He was the CFL All-Star quarterback and won the CFL Most Outstanding Player award. Looking for revenge against his play-off nemesis, Burris lost to the Roughriders for the fourth time in the post season, 20–16.2011
Burris started the first 15 regular season games of 2011. However, in the 15th game, Burris was replaced at halftime by Drew Tate. The following week, against Saskatchewan, Burris' string of 69 consecutive starts ended, and Tate got his first CFL start. Tate started the last three regular season games and the West Semi-Final with Burris performing short-yardage duties as the back-up quarterback. This was the first time since 2003 that Burris did not pass for 4000 yards in a CFL season. Burris returned to quarterbacking the Calgary Stampeders in the second half of the Western Conference Semi Finals against the Edmonton Eskimos. He was unable to lead a second half comeback throwing only 7 completions in 15 attempts with 0 touchdowns, having to settle for multiple field goals.Entering the off-season, there had been much speculation regarding the future of Burris with the Calgary Stampeders. The Stampeders seemed ready to move on and hand the starting job to Drew Tate while Burris had stated that he did not want to be a backup quarterback. The Calgary Stampeders confirmed on January 3, 2012, that they had traded Burris to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for quarterback Kevin Glenn and offensive lineman Mark Dewit.