Burnett’s career appears over
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson did not close the door completely on linebacker Julian Burnett’s playing career. But Burnett’s neck injury, suffered in the Sun Bowl Dec. 31, appears to have ended his career.
“Well, you need to get that statement from Julian,” Johnson said Monday, following Tech’s first spring practice. “If he’s not out here, he’s probably not going to play.”
Burnett will be placed on medical scholarship, meaning he is ineligible to play in the coming season.
“He’s a heck of a competitor and a good football player, but there’s bigger things in life than football,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to be safe.”
Burnett led the Yellow Jackets in tackles for the past two seasons, despite starting only eight games in 2010. He was named to the All-ACC second team last season after finishing fifth in the regular season in tackles.
Johnson said Burnett will remain involved with the team in some fashion.
“He’s disappointed,” Johnson said. “Like anything, you want him to play, but I think he can look at the big picture, and the team doctors and everybody sat down and talked to him and explained the situation and I think he understands.”
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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233 comments Add your comment
jeff lewis
March 27th, 2012
8:23 am
My favorite on the defense this past year. Hard nose, motor always running. Stay on the Flats and channel that energy towards other things. Thanks for your energy.
gdawginkalamazoo
March 27th, 2012
8:41 am
Not that I keep up with a lot of GT players but this kid was one of the best to come along in years. Tough to see it end. He had a future playing on Sundays. Good luck to the kid, get that degree and use it.
Dawglasville
March 27th, 2012
8:46 am
“There are bigger things in life than football.” Amen Coach.
A troll is a troll. I don’t care who you cheer for. If your sole function is to agitate then you need to examine your life.
dawgfan
March 27th, 2012
8:46 am
GT Fan: “Yeah UGA can handles GT pretty well every year but so what? We are a sub-par ACC team”
No worries Julian. As you can see, you obviously won’t be missing out on much. Good luck man.
crackbaby
March 27th, 2012
8:51 am
I AM JULIAN BURNETT.
Live and achieve. You are blessed.
DawginLex
March 27th, 2012
9:00 am
Great player who we won’t get to see play anymore.
A shame but hopefully he can move on with his life and make something out of himself.
Good luck to him
gt4ever
March 27th, 2012
9:00 am
Good Luck to you Julian! You have achieved twice as much as most of these UGA bloggers… Keep your head held high…. Football is only temporary… The degree is for LIFE.
JasonGT
March 27th, 2012
9:07 am
For the dawg trolls on here, this is like injuring both hands so that you could never do what you love to do in front of the computer again.
JB doesn’t respond well to the word “can’t” so it’ll be interesting to see how this develops. Hope he progresses and maybe we’ll see him in a few years as a grad student.
5150 UOAD
March 27th, 2012
9:30 am
This still sounds strange to me. What was the friend doing during the sex/rape? According to information collected by Atlanta police, Pollock approached a 23-year-old woman leaving a Buckhead bar and invited her to his nearby apartment. She and her friend, another female, accepted the invitation.
In an e-mail, police information officer John Chafee said that “the victim advised police that she remembers being at the apartment and then waking up to the suspect raping her. She told the suspect to stop and then she and the other female left and called police.”
dawgfan
March 27th, 2012
9:34 am
It sounds strange to me too because I thought all Techies were perfect little angels who didn’t do things like drink and go to bars. Beyond that I don’t see anything strange. The guy was trying to get a little action while the girl was passed out. Its creepy, pathetic and illegal, but I’m sure you Techies will find a way to rationalize it just like everything else that makes you look bad.
Thanks.
5150 UOAD
March 27th, 2012
9:37 am
you dawgs rationalize everything your players and representatives do so STFU. Yea like 2 girls passed out at the same time so he could have sex with one. The guy isn’t a TECH Man you fool DWAGFAN. He is a Texas A&M man.
Italian_29
March 27th, 2012
9:48 am
Man, it sucks to hear that JB won’t be playing anymore, even as a Dawg fan I love his motor and intensity on the field, but off the field he come across as a humble, softspoken, intelligent, down to earth fellow. I will miss seeing him play the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Julian, you have one very good thing going for your future, you are still going to get a free education from a very respected Institute that will open a lot of doors in your future. God Bless Julian. Go Dawgs and GATA!
5150 UOAD
March 27th, 2012
9:49 am
wow charges dropped? Surprised at that. http://www.ajc.com/sports/uga/charges-dropped-against-woman-1399466.html
PMC
March 27th, 2012
10:06 am
Good luck and Good Health Julian Burnett, you were a joy to watch play.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 27th, 2012
10:37 am
UOAD, I agree — she woke up to find herself being raped and said stop, so he did, and she left. Last time I read anything about rape, a simple “stop” didn’t end it. Certainly not excusing the behavior of the guy, but let’s hear all the FACTS before we judge anybody. Of course, as we all know, FACTS are something that trolls never consider. Thanks to all the classy dawgs who have posted about Julian, but to the few trolls who have been on here spouting drivel, all I can say is that you embarrass yourselves and the school you claim to represent. Thanks too to all those classy dawgs, like DawginLex and Dawg48, who have called down the pond scum like dawfgan and ten out of eleven for using this particular blog as a forum for showing their mental and social inadequacies.
Old Gold Britches
March 27th, 2012
10:55 am
Julian wishing you all the best. Stay focused. You are certainly still a big part of this team.
dawgfan
March 27th, 2012
10:59 am
“…she woke up to find herself being raped”
Your words, not mine. So its okay to rape someone as long as they are unconcious? Wow Techie. You’re really digging yourself a big ole hole here.
At any rate, I’m off this subject. Its just funny to me how Tech fans love to throw all our arrests in our face but as soon as one of their own gets in trouble its always some BS about how we shouldn’t judge and should let the facts play out. Techies are ready to throw every UGA football player in to prison but are big advocates for the rights of the accused if its one of their own. Flip flop Techies. Now one of their coaches isn’t even a “Tech Man” either. That’s a new one. I’ll give you Techies one thing. You sure are creative.
Thanks.
AGTFan53
March 27th, 2012
11:07 am
This is a sad story for a young man who obviously loves football. At least he has a scholarship to the highest rated Public University in America. If he applies the passion he’s shown for football to acedemics and his future career, he’s going to do well in life.
Thanks to 10 of 11 for reminding me why I so often think that UGA fans are the most obnoxious in the country and to most of the other DAWG fans who posted and reminded me why I’m wrong to think that. If I were Jason White, I wouldn’t worry much about a GT fan showing up to kick his ass. I’d be more concerned about the true DAWG fans kicking his ass for making the DAWG Nation look like pathetic, imature losers.
5150 UOAD
March 27th, 2012
11:24 am
Dawgfan those are her words to the police moron read the article. The guy has been at Tech since August. He had his drug problem a long time ago.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 27th, 2012
11:45 am
dwagfan, I’m not making excuses for him; all I said is that what was in the article sounds a little fishy, at least in the way it was written up. Get off your high horse, bubba
Animal Control
March 27th, 2012
12:56 pm
Well, what a conincidence! I went to North Cobb as well! I can tell you, the guys from North Cobb had nothing going for them, which explains the UGAG degree…
Old Blind Dawg
March 27th, 2012
2:18 pm
Always hate to see these career ending injuries. Hopefully he will get his degree and move on just as David Pollack did. It’s not the end of the world – simply a different path to follow.
DJ QUU
March 27th, 2012
2:58 pm
TEN of eleven or whatever you are, if your an uga fan which you probably never went to uga because your to dumb to get in, please stop with the remedial class thing…. georgia may have more degrees, but georgia tech is a WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY BETTER school then georgia and usually in athletics even football…. yeah yall win against us however weve won more national championships then yall… so think about it???? have fun with your tyop running backs… hopefully they can stay in and not get kicked off because they didnt meet the requirements…. which the requirement is probably a 1-0…………… but yeah
CrαZy
March 27th, 2012
3:15 pm
Dang… he was an exciting player to watch!!! It’ll be tough to replace him next year!!
Italian_29
March 27th, 2012
4:48 pm
So true, CraZy, I enjoyed watching Julian play, even if he was playing for Tech and not the Dawgs, that guy just had a motor that wouldn’t stop. He always seem to be near the ball and he was a BIG playmaker, he will be missed, even by his competition. I think that JB will continue to be successful, he still has his free education and I just know that with his drive he will get his degree and make something of himself in life. God bless you Julian, I will have you in my prayers.
Coach
March 27th, 2012
4:48 pm
We loved everything you did on the field. You have already made your mark in GT history and will be known as one of the best! Few defended the field from sideline to sideline like you. Sorry that your career is shortened, but nobody plays forever. Now, get that degree!
Not Disappointed!
March 27th, 2012
5:29 pm
This is some very sad news! God bless this young man and keep him safe. I hope he finished his studies at Georgia Tech!
GTfan2012
March 27th, 2012
6:08 pm
Got to put my $0.02 for JB. Best pound-for-pound LB I ever saw. I’ll never forget that Al Groh buried him on the depth chart when he first got to GT because he thought JB was too small. Apparently size isn’t everything, b/c he was a starter by mid-season of 2010 (Al’s first). Hope Al learned a lesson with that one.
life time gt fan
March 27th, 2012
8:32 pm
This is terrible news. We are very thin at line backer.
Its been a long time since I felt this bad about a team. He was one of the only super talented players we had on the returning team. I hope they prove me wrong, but if Tevin starts this season we don’t have much of a chance. I know it seems like we got some good recruits this year, but it was average at best and there is not much talent returning other that attouchu and uzzi. This offensive scheme will probably lead us to another disappointing season playing in a no name bowl.
GTfan2012
March 27th, 2012
9:05 pm
We are young at LB but very talented. There are other places where we are much thinner and/or need much better production than LB (DL, QB and B-Back come to mind).
Dawg4Life
March 28th, 2012
12:48 am
10 from 11 doesnt reflect normal Dawgnation. he sounds like a real jackhole. hate to see your career cut short. good luck young man.
old dog
March 28th, 2012
12:45 pm
Truce time, Techies: I wish this young man the best of luck, and any TRUE Dawg fan does the same. These blogs are set up (and we all know it) so we can blast away at each other. However, when a young man’s career is cut short by a terrible injury, all TRUE fans (both sides) will join together to wish him the best. We’ll dog (no pun intended) each other out later. Right now, I truly wish J.B. a bright and happy future.
Buzzman
March 28th, 2012
5:55 pm
Good luck Julian, like the coach said, football isn’t the world. You are getting a great education at GT. You will excel in your life because you are one “Hell of a engineer”..Thank you for your years.