Burnie Legette fell into an unlikely post-football path following the ups and downs during his journey from college to the pros.
Legette hails from Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he was the starting tailback for his high school team.
“I was highly recruited. At that time all of the big coaches and the most successful programs were coming in town. It was overwhelming,” Legette said. “Me coming from a small town, it was like I was the big guy in town. You know Lou Holtz and Bo Schembechler come to town and it was wild.”
There was a reason Legette was highly recruited. He was a two-time All-State football player, as well as a multi-sport athlete, earning honors in basketball and track. His senior year of high school, he rushed for over 300 yards in a single game.
He still follows college recruitment, finding it interesting how different it was when he was recruited.
“The obvious thing is it starts earlier. I started getting letters after my sophomore [season], but it really didn’t pick up until my junior year in high school. Nowadays it just starts way earlier. And also the media access you get publications like everyone has a publication that are listing top recruits. So those are the two biggest things.”
When he got to Michigan, he was able to play from his first game freshman year due to a buddy of his.
“Jerrod Bunch got hurt the very first game against Notre Dame my freshman year so I ended up starting like four games my freshman year,” Legette said.
That was a great first step in the door for Legette. Although he didn’t get the regular start his first two years, he got to learn from greats like Bunch and LeRoy Hoard.
“Those guys were good examples for me. And you know, most of all, they were great football players.”
Legette was part of four Big Ten championship teams in four years. His junior year, he averaged five yards per carry and had a 50-yard run against Iowa.
His senior year, he enjoyed more success, with an average of 3.8 yards per carry and 8.3 yards per catch.
With that success, and the incredible blocking that Legette was capable of, the NFL Draft was the logical next step.
However, the draft came and went without the running back being picked.
“I was heartbroken. I had flown out to see several teams before the draft. One team was Kansas City, who said they were going to select me. In the sixth round, they ended up selecting another guy who I knew I was better than.”
Although he went undrafted, Legette still found himself in a position to make an NFL roster.
“Right after the draft I had probably about 12 teams call and I could’ve signed with any one of them. There was a new coach [in New England], [Bill] Parcells, and I figured ‘You know what, I’ll give him a chance.’ I had no idea who was on the depth chart or anything like that.”
So Legette packed his bags and made the move from Michigan to New England. With the Patriots, he started in 10 games over two seasons. However, what could have been a bright career ended early for Legette with a pulled hamstring during training camp of the 1995 season.
This is exactly why he believes the league should not extend the season to 18 games a year.
“I don’t like it. I think they already play a lot of games. I heard a quote just a couple of weeks ago about boxing, I forget who said it, but it’s that in every fight you have, there’s a little less of you after the fight. I think it’s the same with the NFL,” Legette said. “With the number of collisions, there are there is definitely less of you after every game. I just don’t think it’s a good idea. I think it’s a money grab and driven by greed. I think 16 games is more than enough.”
Although his career was short, Legette did have some major takeaways from being a Patriot.
“The biggest takeaway is the privilege to play in the NFL. When I was in it I didn’t realize how good of a life it was. Very few people have the opportunity to play in the NFL. When I got out and started looking at it, my perspective changed. Like wow, I couldn’t believe that I actually did that.”
He was also coached by one of the greats. Bill Parcells was a veteran coach who had already won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants prior to Legette joining him in New England, but Legette found that public perception of Parcells was different from reality.
“Parcells is big on preparation. You see everything that the Patriots do now and all of that started with Bill Parcells,” Legette noted. “Most people think that Parcells is a real hard guy to play for but really that’s not true. I mean he was hard with the media, but as long as you showed up on time and did what you were doing and played hard you had no problems with him.”
After his short career, Legette found it a bit hard to pick up the pieces.
“I got curious about my faith after my career ended. I can’t overstate how difficult it was, I feel for all the players. If you play football at a big-time level and you play in the NFL, your identity gets attached to your career,” Legette explained. “And afterward you kinda have to redefine yourself. To me, faith was a critical part of that. The more I learned about my faith the more I learned about the Bible I just had a desire to teach it.”
Legette went on to get a Masters degree in Ministry/Divinity from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. Before getting his Masters at Gordon Conwell, Legette returned to Michigan to finish up his degree.
“After I got released from the Patriots, I went back to school at the University of Michigan. I had been out of school for about four years. I had to go in front of the committee and petition my way back into the school,” Legette said.
“My grades weren’t very good. So it was difficult. But through my football career, I was taught that it’s just not cool to quit. You gotta keep fighting through the pain so that’s kinda what I did.”
Legette now works for Intel as a Staff Field Applications Engineer. In this job, he helps Fortune 500 companies design Intel products.
Though he had a short career in the NFL, it doesn’t negate all the good that football has done for Legette in his lifetime.
“My football career allowed me to accomplish everything I do now. I learned lessons about perseverance and just the value of not giving up.”
