Nate Burleson Biography
Nate Burleson is a Canadian-born television host, football commentator, and former wide receiver who is currently at Paramount where he co-hosts CBS Mornings and covers football for CBS on its The NFL Today program, as well as on Nickelodeon.
Nate Burleson Age
Burleson was born Nathaniel Eugene Burleson on August 19, 1981, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is 43 years old.
Nate Burleson Height
Burleson stands at a height of 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) tall.
Nate Burleson Family
Burleson was born into a prolific and tight-knit sporting family in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. At the time of his birth, his father, Al Burleson, was playing defensive back for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
He has the oldest brother, Alvin Jr., who played college football for the University of Washington Huskies and the Western Illinois University Leathernecks. The older brother, Kevin played professional basketball and was formerly a point guard for the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His younger brother Lyndale played college basketball for the University of Nevada Wolf Pack.
Kevin and Nate are one of only two sibling duos in which one brother played in the NBA while the other played in the NFL. As a mark of his father’s influence, Nate Burleson’s jersey number on the Seattle Seahawks, 81, was his father’s high school number.
In 1983, is the time when Burleson was an infant, his father led him to be signed with the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL), thus moving the family back to the United States. However, Burleson remains proud of his Canadian heritage, sporting a maple leaf tattoo and expressing interest in playing for Canada in a World Cup of football to the media. After an injury ended Alvin Burleson’s playing career, he moved the family to his hometown of Seattle, Washington, U.S., where he worked for Associated Grocers.
Nate Burleson Wife
Burleson is married to Atoya Burleson and they are blessed with two sons and a daughter.
Nate Burleson Net worth
Burleson has an estimated net worth of $10 million dollars.
Nate Burleson Education
Burleson attended and graduated from Rainier View Elementary School in Seattle. He then attended Lindbergh High School in the suburb of Renton as a freshman and then transferred to O’Dea High School in Seattle, where he graduated. As a senior, he was named Seattle Times City Athlete of the Year.
He was also on the school’s track and field team, competing as a sprinter and hurdler. He won the state title in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 38.70 seconds in 1999 and finished eighth in the 110-meter hurdles as a junior.
Nate Burleson College career
Burleson hoped to attend the University of Washington, but his father’s alma mater did not offer a football scholarship. Instead, he accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Nevada, Reno, and played for the Nevada Wolf Pack. In the 2002 season, he made 138 receptions, the second-highest in NCAA history. In his senior year, he led the NCAA in both receiving yards and receptions per game. During his time at Nevada, he made a total of 248 receptions for a total of 3,293 yards and 22 touchdowns.
He was named first-team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association, All-WAC by the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and team MVP, and 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 with 19 catches. He graduated with a degree in human development and family studies.
Nate Burleson Professional career
Minnesota Vikings
Burleson was selected in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings, the 71st overall pick. He showed promise during his rookie season but did not put up great numbers. In his second season, 2004, Burleson emerged as a threat when fellow receiver Randy Moss injured his hamstring.
He 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 special teams player as well, Burleson is the only player in NFL history to have three punt returns of 90 or more yards.
Seattle Seahawks
On March 24, 2006, he 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 for Minnesota 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 played 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. On September 7, 2008, Burleson tore a ligament in his knee in Seattle’s season opener against the Bills. He was put on injured reserve for the remainder of the season. He owns the Seahawk team record for most punt return yards in a single season (2007) as well as career punt return yards.
Detroit Lions
During the early hours of the NFL free agency period on March 5, 2010, Burleson agreed to a five-year $25 million contract with the Detroit Lions. Burleson reunited with his former offensive coordinator. Scott Linehan, with whom he had the best season of his career in 2004 when he caught 68 passes for 1,006 yards and nine touchdowns while playing for the Vikings. In 2011, Burleson was named the recipient of the Detroit Lions-Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association/Pro Football Writers Association’s Media-Friendly “Good Guy Award” for his interactions with the media in Detroit.
On September 24, 2013, Burleson fractured his forearm in two places in the early morning, in a single-car accident. It was reported that Burleson was attempting to save a pizza from falling off a seat in his car and lost control of his vehicle. He was cut from the Lions on February 13, 2014.
Cleveland Browns
On April 6, 2014, Burleson signed a one-year deal with the Cleveland Browns but was cut on August 30.
Nate Burleson Broadcasting career
Burleson attended a Broadcast Boot Camp put on by the NFL in 2012. After his playing career ended in 2014, he began working as an analyst for the NFL Network. In 2015, Burleson was also a member of the Detroit Lions preseason broadcast team as a color commentator for the Detroit Lions Television Network.
In 2016, Good Morning Football debuted on NFL Network with Burleson, Kay Adams, Kyle Brandt, and Peter Schrager as co-hosts. On May 8, 2017, it was announced that Burleson will join the NFL on CBS team as a studio analyst for The NFL Today, while still serving as co-host of GMFB. During half-time of the Patriots/Chiefs AFC Championship game, he defended the non-call during the Saints/Rams game which gave the win to the Rams.
Nate Burleson Car Accident
In 2013, Nate crashed his car into the median on the highway due to a pizza-related incident that went viral. Per SB Nation, Burleson was reaching to the passenger side of the car to keep a box of pizza from sliding off when he lost control of the car and broke his arm. Though Burleson sustained a broken arm and was sidelined with the injury for a month, he didn’t lose his sense of humor.
He posted a series of photos to Instagram and Facebook, including a picture of his totaled car, a picture of the box of pizza, and a picture of a few half-eaten pieces of pepperoni pizza. Burleson wrote, “I’m releasing these pix for 2 reasons: 1) I walked away from a totaled vehicle #Blessed 2) I have to hear all the pizza jokes…lol, I’ll start-Yes I am the 5th Ninja Turtle.
Following the accident, which occurred after Burleson and teammate Stephen Tulloch took part in a promotional appearance at Happy’s Pizza & Pub in West Bloomfield, MI, the Detroit Lions confirmed that Burleson would be out until November. Burleson had to undergo surgery for his arm. According to Michigan State Police Lt. Michael Shaw, via ESPN, “It was actually a whole pizza.
He had purchased two whole pizzas, and one was sitting on top of the other one, and I guess when he was driving one of them was slipping off, and he was reaching over to push it back onto the seat and overcorrected and hit the median wall.” he maintained a lighthearted spirit about the whole thing, saying to reporters, “I might as well do a commercial. Pizza so good, it’ll make you crash your car.”
During another interview, he said that the incident, “It’s a lesson learned,” Burleson said during the interview with Dery. “I’m definitely not going to be multitasking while I’m driving … it’s just not worth it.” Following Burleson’s pizza wreck, DiGiorno gifted the Lions player with a year’s worth of free pizza, capitalizing on the “It’s not delivery, it’s DiGiorno” tagline that the company has become famous for.
Burleson will be one of the analysts covering the Super Bowl 53 pregame show. Burleson had nothing but good words to say for the New England Patriots leading up to the big day. In a call with The San Francisco Chronicle in the week leading up to the game, Burleson said, “Later in the season,
I think we all kind of thought that the Pittsburgh Steelers were surging and this may not be the Patriot’s year. Then they get into the playoffs and remind us just how great they are. Going into this game, the storylines have been different. Even though the result is the same, with us seeing them in the Super Bowl for the ninth time.”