Syracuse Football Top 25 Players of All-Time: No. 20 Rob Burnett

We continue our countdown of Syracuse Football’s Top 25 Players of All-Time. Up next: No. 20 Rob Burnett.

Syracuse Football defensive end/tackle Rob Burnett was a winner during his time on the Hill from 1986-1989. Sure, he was a dominant defensive end/tackle, one of many that would come to Syracuse, but what really set him apart was how he led the Orange defense to be one of the best in the nation during his tenure.

In his freshman year in 1986, Burnett saw the field a bunch, earning the right to play in 11 games. Though he only recorded six tackles of which four were solo, and forced a fumble against Boston College, he still showed he had what it took to play high-level football according to Cuse.com. His playing time that year helped prepare him for his breakthrough sophomore season.

In his sophomore year for Syracuse Football, Burnett led the team to a 12-0-1 record in 1987; a tie in the Sugar Bowl against Auburn the only blemish in a perfect season, according to OrangeFizz.net. He helped the defense that year keep opposing rushers to about three yards and carry, and limited opposing offenses to under two touchdowns a game!

He would finish that season with 43 combined tackles (28 solo), 11 sacks, and a fumble recovery earning him AP All-American honorable mention, and All-Big East 2nd Team honors. In addition, he would also set the Syracuse single-game sack record that year with four sacks against Pittsburgh. (Note: That sack record would later be broken by star defensive end Dwight Freeney in 2000 who had 4.5 sacks against Virginia Tech, according to Cuse.com) If you watch the video below, you’ll truly see how truly powerful and dominant he was on the defensive line!

In 1988, his junior season, he would once again lead the Orange defense to a 10-2 record, an AP ranking of 13th and a win in the Hall of Fame Bowl over LSU, 23-10. He would be rated the 5th best defensive tackle in the nation according to the Sporting News after recording 63 combined tackles (40 solo), and 5.5 sacks. Those numbers would also earn him AP/Football News 3rd Team All-American and AP All-Big East 1st Team honors.

In his last year in Orange in 1989, the Syracuse Football program once again had a great year finishing 8-4 with a win over Georgia in the Peach Bowl, 19-18, a game in which Syracuse rallied to hit a field goal to win it with 25 seconds remaining. He would record 40 combined tackles (23 solo) and 1.5 sacks on the way to being a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award given to the nation’s best lineman.

Burnett would finish his Syracuse career with 146 tackles (which ranks 10th all-time at Syracuse), and 18 sacks (which ranks eighth all-time at Syracuse), according to Cuse.com. He would be selected in the 5th Round with the 129th overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft, according to Pro-FootballReference.com.

Burnett would go on to have a 14-year NFL career with the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, and Baltimore Ravens with whom he helped win Super Bowl XXXV with fellow Orange alum Qadry Ismail. In that Super Bowl, Burnett had one sack, and four combined tackles (three solo), one of which was for a loss.

He would retire from the NFL in 2003 after playing in 202 career games. In his 14 years in the league, he recorded 605 combined tackles (284 solo), 26 tackles for a loss, 73 sacks, 15 fumble recoveries, nine forced fumbles, one interception, and one safety.

Rob Burnett was a beast on the defensive line and more than outplayed his fifth-round selection. He was a leader on the Syracuse defense in the late 1980s: something Syracuse Football fans from that era will not soon forget. His ability to make Syracuse’s defense one of the best in the nation consistently during his tenure and lead them to one of their two undefeated seasons in 1987 (the other national championship year was in 1959) makes him a worthy addition to Syracuse Football’s Top 25 players of All-Time list.