2005 SLC ALL-ACADEMIC
While his left leg is his primary asset as he begins his third season as the starting punter, Burton is a versatile athlete and an accomplished student. He even played some safety in spring practice and has proven a capable, even physical, tackler on punt and kickoff coverage, to the point that he drew a handful of personal foul flags last season. He is the punter and most likely the kickoff man, and also does a very good job of holding on placement kicks. He went out of his way to take responsibility for a bad placement that spoiled an extra point coming down the stretch last year vs. McNeese, trying to deflect blame off kicker Robert Weeks. Burton's live leg has landed him in the school records with the second-longest punt (77 yards) in NSU history. He has helped NSU fare well in net punting in his two years as the punter.
Honors: SLC Special Team Player of the Week for 10/30/06... SLC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll, Fall 2004, 2005, Spring 2005... NSU Athletic Honor Roll, Gold 3.500-3.999 Spring 2004, 2005, Fall 2004... Silver 3.000-3.499 Spring 2006.
2006: Finished with a 38.8 yards per punt average on 58 kicks... topped the league for the second straight year with 2.253 total punting yards... had a long of 66 yards against Texas State and had seven 50-plus yard punts... had 14 kicks downed inside the 20 yard line with five touchbacks.
2005: Averaged 38.4 yards per punt on 61 kicks... led the league with 2,340 total punting yards... his 77-yard bomb at Louisiana-Monroe was the longest in the league last season and second longest in NSU history... had 17 kicks downed inside the 20 yard line with three touchbacks and eight fair catches... was also 1-for-1 in field goal kicking, that being a 26-yarder at McNeese.
2004: Got the call on a handful of kickoffs and boomed a 47-yard punt vs. Sam Houston State late in the game.
2003: Redshirted.
Burton in High School: 4 letters in golf, 3 in wrestling, 2 in football at Airline ... all-district and first-team all-city kicker, scoring 50 points ... made 12 receptions as a receiver for coach Mike Greene ... won city prep golf title as a sophomore, finished third in his other three seasons ... helped the Vikings' golf team win four straight district and city titles ... finished in Class 5A top 15 individually as a sophomore ... helped football team go 17-6 in his last two years, earning rankings of third statewide as a junior and second in his senior year ... his senior season, Airline won a playoff game for the first time in eight years ... as a wrestler, he won the city title as a junior and was seeded sixth in the 160-pound class for the state meet before an injury sidelined him ... Drama Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes ... National Honor Society member who graduated in the top 10% in his class with a 3.85 grade point average.
Burton's Personal: 22 years old, born 2/26/85 ... son of James Burton, a former college basketball player at Louisiana-Monroe ... has two siblings, Lindsey (26) and Ryan (28) ... full name is Marshall Dow Burton ... accounting major who wants to get a master's degree in accounting or go to law school.
