Age: 27
6th
season in pro football, 5th with Oilers
College: Texas
Southern
Height: 6’4” Weight: 210
Prelude:
A high school
quarterback, Burrough shifted to wide receiver in college and received some
All-American consideration as a senior in 1969. He was chosen by the New
Orleans Saints in the first round of the 1970 NFL draft (tenth overall) but
after a quiet rookie season was traded to the Oilers in ’71. Talented and with
great speed, Burrough also was inconsistent on a poor club. In his first four
years with Houston, he caught 130 passes for 1960 yards (15.1 avg.) and nine
touchdowns.
1975 Season Summary
Appeared in all
14 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Pass Receiving
Receptions – 53
[7, tied with Charley Taylor]
Most
receptions, game – 7 (for 177 yds.) at Kansas City 11/2, (for 85 yds.) at San
Francisco 12/7
Yards – 1063
[1]
Most yards,
game – 177 (on 7 catches) at Kansas City 11/2
Average gain
– 20.1 [4]
TDs – 8 [6,
tied with Frank Grant & Drew Pearson]
100-yard
receiving games – 4
Scoring
TDs – 8 [18,
tied with four others]
Points – 48
Awards & Honors:
Pro Bowl
Oilers went 10-4
to finish third in the AFC Central.
Aftermath:
The lanky, long-striding
Burrough followed up with 51 catches for 932 yards (18.3 avg.) and seven
touchdowns in 1976. He returned to the Pro Bowl in ’77, pulling in 43 passes
for an AFC-leading 816 yards (19.0 avg.) and 8 TDs and remained a productive
receiver until knee and wrist injuries in 1980 that limited him to two games
and four catches. He came back to catch 40 passes for 668 yards (16.7 avg.) and
seven TDs in 1981, but missed all of ’82 due to injury and never returned. Overall,
Burrough caught 421 passes for 7102 yards (16.9 avg.) and 49 touchdowns. Of
that, 408 pass receptions for 6906 yards and 47 TDs came with the Oilers. He
received second-team All-NFL honors once and was chosen to two Pro Bowls.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Percentage, Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
