Tony Burris

Anthony Burris (born January 30, 1963) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the Arena Football League (AFL) with the Detroit Drive and Washington Commandos. After redshirting at Oregon Tech and dropping out of Portland State, he played college football at Western Oregon State College. He was a two-time NAIA honorable mention All-American while at Western Oregon and signed with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL) after going undrafted in 1987. After playing for the Eskimos during the 1987 preseason, Burris joined the AFL in 1989. He was the starting quarterback for the Drive team that won ArenaBowl III. He was inducted into Western Oregon's athletics hall of fame in 2015.

Early life Anthony Burris was born on January 30, 1963. At the age of 10, his dad taught him how to spin a football. He earned first-team All-Valley League honors as a senior, and graduated in 1980. Burris also played baseball and basketball in high school. Burris spent spent two seasons at Portland State as a reserve.

Burris later enrolled at Western Oregon State College, where he was a two-year football letterman for the Wolves from 1985 to 1986. Late in the 1986 season, he was named the NAIA offensive player of the week after setting single-game school records with 29 completions for 390 yards in a 44–0 victory over Lewis & Clark. He completed 56% of his passes for 4,791 yards and 47 touchdowns at Western Oregon. Upon hearing the news the Eskimos wanted to sign him, Burris blurted out "Hey, I'm going to be an Edmonton Oiler!" He only appeared in one preseason game for the Eskimos, playing half of a quarter (five plays) while fumbling and throwing a pick-six. Trigg was then benched in favor of Burris for the postseason. In the ArenaBowl, he completed 12 of 26 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns as Detroit won by a score of 39–26. Burris earned $1,500 per game, including expenses, during his time with the Drive.

Burris began the 1990 AFL season as the starting quarterback for the Maryland Commandos but was benched for Mike Rhodes during the second game. Burris still managed to play in all eight games for Washington during the 1990 season, completing 37 of 80 passes (46.2%) for 373 yards, seven touchdowns, and eight interceptions as the team finished 2–6.

Personal life Burris later started a construction business named Red Zone Construction, whose name is in reference to the football term of "red zone". He has four children.