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Title : Rob Burnett—One Tough Dude
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Rob Burnett—One Tough Dude

By John Turney 

Rob Burnett fell to the fifth round in the 1990 NFL draft due to a disappointing senior season. As a sophomore he was dynamite. That year, 1987, he totaled 43 tackles and 11 sacks (including 4 on Halloween against Pitt) and honorable mention All-American honors and was Second-team All-Conference. Greatness was said to follow.

In 1988 Burnett recorded 63 tackles and 5.5 sacks and those numbers would again earn him honorable mention All-American honors and he was voted First-team All-Conference as well. Then, in 1989, he had that disappointing senior season, he had just 1.5 sacks but made 40 tackles. In his freshman year in 1986, he played in eleven games but recorded no statistics. 

Burnett would finish his Syracuse career with 146 tackles (which ranks 10th all-time at Syracuse), and 18 sacks (which still ranks ninth on the school's all-time list). In addition, he was named a member of the Syracuse All-Century team.

Looking back Burnett, was 6-3½, 245-250 pounds, and ran about a 4.9 forty pounds but said he was resting on his laurels later in his collegiate career. He did his duty, did his workouts, lifted weights but was not serious about it, and did not hit it hard. He grew, got somewhat stronger but not as he could have and his play leveled off.

So, rather than being a second-round pick in the draft, as he figured he was a mid-rounder. Some of it was unfounded rumors Burnett thought, coaches who had benched him for a few games talking to scouts that also caused the drop.

Burnett didn't light the NFL on fire as a rookie but he and fellow rookie Anthony Pleasant (a third-round pick) ended the seasons as starters but were just okay, but showing improvement

The Bud Carson (Browns head coach) defensive scheme was an up-the-field 4-3 where the linemen played the run on the way to the quarterback—the kind of scheme the Steelers and Rams enjoyed when he ran their defenses in the 1970s and early 1980s. It was fun for ends like Pleasant and Burnett to play that way just "pin their ears back and go". Had there been more success that year Burnett may have had an entirely different career in the NFL. 

It was in 1991 Burnett became truly committed to football—that he learned to truly love it and it was Bill Belichick that ignited that fire. 

Belichick had been hired by the Browns and he ran a tough football camp. "He put us through a training camp that was like no others I have ever seen". It made me ask how much I wanted to play football, how much I wanted to sacrifice to play for the Browns. You want to talk physical, that was physical". 

Belichick was famous for a 3-4 defense the Giants used that brought two Super Bowl wins to New York but with the Browns, he used a 4-3 but it kept many of the same principles of the 3-4 scheme. "He still wanted pressure but he wanted his defensive lineman to play the run and play smart—it was a real adjustment".

In his mind, Burnett wondered if he would even make the 1991 Browns roster. Nick Saban, the Browns defensive coordinator said, "I don't know if he was in danger of not making the team but there was a question of whether or not he was the kind of player we could win with in our scheme. Rob has always had some ability but had some difficulty in our scheme when we first started because he was a one-gap type of player, both he and Anthony (Pleasant). 

Burnett had to also hit the weights, gain some weight, get stronger, getting up to 280 or so pounds. After that work was done Saban said, "Now they are not one-dimensional guys—they can play with power to dome degree and that helps them with the pass rush because the tackles have to set on them a little differently".

In 1992 and 1993 the Belichick/Saban-coached Browns defense improved (third-fewest rushing touchdowns, sixth-fewest rushing yards, the fifth-lowest yards per rush while also the third-most sacks and Burnett had 9.0 sacks both seasons. 

In 1993 he was an end in the base defense but with the development of rookie Dan Footman playing more and more Burnett began playing left tackle in nickel, something that would be a theme going forward in his career, and Footman would play left end.  

By 1994 he was a Pro Bowl alternate and replaced Bruce Smith in the game. He was also named All-Pro by Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News who wrote, "Burnett was the dominating player on the NFL's stingiest defense (league-low 204 points allowed). He had a team-leading 10 sacks and led Cleveland's down linemen in tackles."