Dale Burnett

Dale M. Burnett (January 23, 1908 – April 17, 1997) was an American professional football back for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He attended Dodge City High School in Dodge City, Kansas.

Burnett retired in 1939 as the all-time top scorer in Giants history and holder of the franchise record for touchdowns scored, with 25.

Early life

Dale Burnett was born January 23, 1908, in Larned, Kansas, a town of fewer than 3,000 people located in the central part of the state. He was a student at Dodge City High School, where he played football and basketball. As a starting guard on the Dodge City team he helped win back-to-back championships in the Santa Fe League in 1924-25 and 1925–26.

He enrolled at Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia, Kansas in the fall of 1926 and was awarded athletic letters in football, basketball, and track and field competing for the freshman team.

He was elevated to the varsity football team in 1927. This squad would emerge as co-champions of the Kansas Conference with a record of 7–0–1, including five shutouts — not counting a scoreless tied with local rival College of Emporia to finish the year.

Team photo of the 1927 Kansas State Teachers College Hornets team. Dale Burnett is marked #23, near the center. His friend Slim Campbell, who helped him land a pro football job, is marked #21. In 1928, with a new coach Frank G. Welch leading the team, Teachers College finished second in the new Central Conference of Kansas with a record of 4–1–1. The final game of the season, an 18–0 shutout loss to College of Emporia, had cemented the conference championship for the crosstown rivals. This time the team "began like champions, and finished like them," racking up a conference record of 5–1 (6–2 overall) and winning the Central Conference of Kansas title. He also was a star of the Hornets' track and field team, gaining recognition as a hurdler and broad jumper. In all Burnett won a total of 12 athletic letters during his college career — regarded as a particularly noteworthy achievement. The pair did charity work on behalf of the Giants organizations, participating as part of a six-man contingent to Sing Sing state penitentiary in November 1931 to serve as a coaches on intramural football teams being organized among inmates.

Although touchdowns were tracked — Burnett scored 6 and 3 in his first two seasons, respectively — it was not until 1932 that the NFL began compiling and publishing playing statistics, so specifics of Burnett's 1930 and 1931 performance are lost. During his subsequent eight years in the league he seems to have been used primarily as a blocker and pass receiver out of the backfield, carrying the ball just 79 times in 87 games played. In the 1938 Championship Game, also played in New York, Burnett came off the bench in a reserve role, behind starting halfbacks Hank Soar and Ward Cuff.

At the time of his retirement at the end of the 1939 season, Burnett stood as the all-time leading scorer in Giants history,

He and his wife Claralee raised three children — two boys and a girl.

Dale Burnett died April 17, 1997, in Emporia, Kansas. He was 89 years old at the time of his death.