Legendary Quarterback Burk Dies At 75
7/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
July 28, 2003
WACO, Texas - Adrian Burk, a 1949 all-American quarterback and Southwest Conference player of the year for Bob Woodruff's Bears, died Monday at age 75.
Burk, who died at Henderson Memorial Hospital in East Texas, played two seasons at Baylor (1948-49) and still ranks among the program's top quarterbacks. Burk still holds the Bears' record for touchdown-to-interception ratio. He also ranks third in career passing efficiency, fourth in career completion percentage, 10th in career touchdowns and 16th in career yardage.
Burk earned all-America honors in 1949 as he led the Bears to an 8-2 record and a final Associated Press ranking of 20th. He was named SWC MVP by the Houston Post for his efforts. His .598 completion percentage that season was only recently topped, as Aaron Karas broke that record last season. Burk's 14 touchdowns in 1949 is tied for third-most in Baylor single-season history, and his touchdown-to-interception ratio remains the school record.
As a pro, Burk is perhaps best known as one of five quarterbacks to throw seven touchdown passes in a game. He also is remembered for having officiated in two of the NFL's most memorable postseason games.
Burk played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1951-56. He tied the record for most touchdown passes in a game when he threw seven at Washington on Oct. 17, 1954.
He was part of the officiating crews for both the Immaculate Reception game between Pittsburgh and Oakland in 1972 and the longest playoff game ever between Kansas City and Miami on Christmas Day in 1971.
Henderson also had effect on the success of the old AFL as he signed the Houston Oilers' first player - Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon.
The others to throw that many in a game are: Sid Luckman, Chicago, 1943; George Blanda, Houston, 1961; Y.A. Tittle, New York, 1962; and Joe Kapp, Minnesota, 1969.
Burk was remembered by Oilers founder Bud Adams for helping the team secure Cannon and bring him to what was then a charter team of the American Football League instead of the established National Football League.
"Billy Cannon was a two time All-American and Heisman trophy winner," said Adams, who moved the Oilers to Nashville after the 1996 season. "We had the No. 1 player coming into the new league and not going into the NFL. It was a big signing."
Adams said there was a legal battle over Cannon, because the Los Angeles Rams claimed they had signed him player first. A judge in California ultimately ruled Cannon should go to the Oilers.
Burk, a Baylor law school graduate, waited for Cannon, who played at LSU, to finish his final game - the Sugar Bowl - and then signed him underneath the goal post on Jan. 1, 1960.
"He could certainly talk to the players (into) signing better than a lawyer who had never been around a pro team or a pro league," Adams said. "It was right down his alley to be working with the Oilers and signing players."
Burk lettered at Baylor in 1948 and 1949. He was an all-Southwest Conference selection in 1949 and threw for 2,034 yards and 20 touchdowns in his career.
Robert Burk said his father spent nearly three decades practicing law. He became the Houston Oilers assistant to the president and general counsel in 1976. Two years later he started his own private practice, his wife of 53 years, Neva Nelle Wright, said.
In 1985, Burk retired from private practice and became a missionary.
Burk is survived by his son, Robert, who lives in California, and wife, Neva Nelle Wright, of Henderson.
Funeral services are Friday in Henderson.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
