Vontaze Burfict

Vontaze DeLeon Burfict Jr. (born September 24, 1990) is an American former professional football player who played linebacker for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals.

He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils, earning first-team All-American honors.

Corona Centennial finished the 2007 season as No. 24 on USA Today Top 25.

Burfict attended Centennial High School in Corona, California, where he was part of an undefeated Huskies team that won a CIF state championship with the help of quarterback Taylor Martinez; the team was ranked second in the nation by USA Today in 2008.

That year, Burfict led the Huskies with 159 tackles, two quarterback sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Burfict participated in the US Army All-American Bowl and was the third-leading tackler for the West team.

He also earned numerous All-American honors, including Parade.

Burfict missed almost all of his sophomore season due to academic problems.

As a junior, Burfict collected a team-high 130 tackles and added four sacks, two interceptions, and one fumble recovery.

He helped anchor a linebacker unit that included fellow Sun Devils Shelly Lyons and Brandon Magee.

He played in the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com, Burfict was listed as the No. 1 inside linebacker prospect in the nation.

Burfict's reputation for hard and often illegal hits dated back to his high school days.

He joined Arizona State's 2009 recruiting class that included three of his high school teammates.

By July 2009, he struggled to meet admission standards based on the NCAA eligibility sliding scale and still had one summer school class to complete.

Sun Devils coach Dennis Erickson, who compared Burfict to Ray Lewis, expected him to be academically eligible for enrollment.

Burfict did qualify on time for the 2009 football season.

By midseason, Burfict ranked second on the team with 30 tackles despite starting only three of six games and had five tackles for a loss, two sacks, and three pass break-ups.

ESPN named him Arizona State's midseason defensive MVP.

In a road game against Georgia on September 26, Burfict collected a season-high 11 tackles (three solo) and one and a half tackles for loss.

He led the Sun Devils in tackles in five games over the course of the season.

By the end of the year, he had collected 69 tackles, seven tackles for loss, and a pair of sacks, and was named a Freshman All-American by College Football News, and the Football Writers Association of America.

He was also honored as the Pacific-10 Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year.

At the start of his sophomore season, Burfict was named First-Team Preseason All-American by The Sporting News.

He was also named to the watchlists of the 2010 Lombardi Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.

On October 6, 2010, Burfict was benched by Arizona State head coach Dennis Erickson.

The reason given was Burfict's unusually high number of personal foul penalties.

Burfict was a projected top pick in the 2012 NFL Draft until an unimpressive NFL Combine performance and character concerns led to him not being selected.

He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Bengals, where he spent his first seven seasons.

In his final season, he was a member of the Oakland Raiders.

He is regarded as one of the most controversial players of his generation.

Burfict led the Bengals in tackles during his rookie season and earned Pro Bowl honors in 2013.

He also incited controversy throughout his career for frequently violating player safety rules, which caused him to be suspended for 22 games due to 14 separate incidents, and accumulate over $5.3 million in fines and forfeited salary.

Burfict missed most of his Raiders tenure due to being suspended 12 games for a personal foul, the longest on-field suspension in NFL history.

In 2019, Burfict's mother told USA Today that a number of parents frequently came up to her and asked her to tell her son not to hit their sons so hard.

Burfict's uncle recalled that, at the time, helmet-to-helmet hits were not frowned on as much as they were by the time Burfict made it to the NFL.

Burfict's rivalry with quarterback Matt Barkley, which would continue into their college days, began in high school.

In a game against Barkley's Mater Dei High School, Burfict made hits aimed at Barkley's knees that Barkley would later describe as dirty.

Both Burfict and Barkley were committed to USC when the incident occurred.

Burfict originally committed to USC but eventually switched to Arizona State on National Signing Day.