Former NJ Football Star Heads To Super Bowl As Kansas City Fullback

CHESTER, NJ — Michael Burton will fulfill most football players' dreams when he takes the field for the Kansas City Chiefs on Super Bowl Sunday.

That, however, would not have been possible without first playing under the Friday night lights at West Morris Central High School.

"He was always an outstanding athlete, but I think what set him aside and why he is having so much success is because he just has a great work ethic," West Morris Regional High School football coach Kevin Hennelly said.

As Hennelly tells it, when Burton first joined the West Morris football team his freshman year, he quickly demonstrated to coaches that he could play with the varsity players and, more importantly, that he could hold his own.

"He played varsity all four years. As a freshman, we moved him up, and he survived. He didn't dominate, but he survived. He's just tough," Hennelly told Patch.

Burton is currently in his second season as the Kansas City Chiefs' fullback.

Despite setting several West Morris records while playing football in high school, Burton did not receive any NCAA Division I scholarship offers, instead choosing to walk on at Rutgers University.

"Mike only had two opportunities. It was the University of Pittsburgh or Rutgers as a walk-on. He's that story that you hear about, one in a million where no one gave him a chance in college, but he made it. That's just hard work. It's not even just raw talent, it's outworking people," Hennelly said.

During his time at West Morris Central, Burton led the Wolfpack to a 10-2 record and to their first state title in six years in 2009.

At Rutgers, Burton played as the top fullback and was eventually voted as captain by his Scarlet Knights teammates. He appeared in 30 games for Rutgers, starting 24 of them, and was drafted in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.

Hennelly told Patch that Burton’s talent and determination are rivaled only by how likable he is.

"He was a humble player because he had a lot of success in more than just one sport. He was probably the best athlete in that grade. He's always been a genuinely good kid and treated everybody fair and was nice to everyone. So he wasn't above anybody, nobody was below him," Hennelly said.

"No matter what sport you were a coach of, you appreciated watching him play because of his work ethic. We always preach to the kids, when you score, just give it to the official and act like you've been there before," he added. "So that was Mike. Matter of fact, I texted him the first time I saw him score a touchdown on TV because he spiked the ball. I texted him, 'We don't do that, act like you've been there, buddy. No spiking the ball.'"

Michael Ben-David, the Superintendent of the West Morris Regional High School District, told Patch that the whole community will be watching in pride on Sunday."I'm definitely rooting for the Chiefs, both on a personal level and from the standpoint of wanting to see one of our graduates finally win the Super Bowl."

Burton is the second West Morris alum to play in the Super Bowl, according to Ben-David. Carl Zander, a Mendham High School graduate, played in Super Bowl 23 for the Cincinnati Bengals in 1981.

"Think about how rare this is. We have so much pride in our athletics, our coaches and obviously the accomplishments of our players. It is incredible that we've had a player from each high school play in the Super Bowl," Ben-David added.

The Kansas City Chiefs will face off against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Feb. 12, with kick-off beginning at 6:30 p.m.

"I'll text him, I'll wish him luck. I would try to emphasize at least to him to take it all in and have fun. Because you made it, you know? I know people who are Eagle fans that'll be wearing red, the whole town will be Kansas City fans for the day," Hennelly said.