Henry Burris

Henry Burris
	No. 16, 1, 10, 14
	Burris with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2016
Born:	June 4, 1975 (age 43); Spiro, Oklahoma
Career information
CFL status	International
Position(s)	QB
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg)
College	Temple
High school	Spiro (OK)
Hand	Right
Career history
As player
1997–1999	Calgary Stampeders
2000	Saskatchewan Roughriders
2001	Green Bay Packers*
2002	Chicago Bears
2003	Berlin Thunder
2003–2004	Saskatchewan Roughriders
2005–2011	Calgary Stampeders
2012–2013	Hamilton Tiger-Cats
2014–2016	Ottawa Redblacks
Career highlights and awards
	3× Grey Cup champion (1998, 2008, 2016); 2× Grey Cup MVP (2008, 2016); 2× CFL Most Outstanding Player Award (2010, 2015); CFL single game record for completions (45) (2015); CFL single season record for completions (481) (2015);
CFL All-Star	2010, 2015
CFL East All-Star	2012, 2015
CFL West All-Star	2005, 2008, 2010
Career stats
Pass attempts	7,426
Pass completions	4,638
TD–INT	374–227
Passing yards	63,227
Passer rating	93.5
	Playing stats at CFL.ca; Playing stats at NFL.com;

Henry Armand Burris Jr. (born June 4, 1975) is an American former professional football quarterback, who mostly played Canadian football in the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1998 to 2016. He won three Grey Cup championships, two with the Calgary Stampeders, in 1998 and 2008, having spent 10 years of his career with them, and one with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2016.

Burris won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award in 2010 and 2015. At the time of his retirement Burris was third in all-time CFL passing yards and passing touchdowns. While playing in the CFL, he was also a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats and spent time in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. Prior to his professional career, he played college football with the Temple Owls.

Early years[edit]

Burris attended Spiro High School in Spiro, Oklahoma, and won four varsity letters each in football, track, basketball, and baseball. In football, he was named the Oklahoma Offensive Player of the Year as a senior.

Burris attended Temple University and finished with 20 passing records. He left the university ranked second all-time in Big East Conference passing with 7495 yards.^[1]

Professional career[edit]

Calgary Stampeders[edit]

Burris went undrafted in the NFL, and signed a contract with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders in 1997. He spent the 1997 season on the Stampeders' practice roster.

He had his first, limited playing time in 1998 in relief of Jeff Garcia and Dave Dickenson, while dressing for all of the Stampeders' games. In 1999, he received more playing time as Dickenson's backup. He replaced Dickenson in the third week game against the Edmonton Eskimos, leading the Stampeders to a come-from-behind victory. He started the following two games against the Montreal Alouettes and BC Lions, leading the Stampeders to another victory in the former. He was injured in the third quarter of the latter, and spent the rest of the season on the injured reserve with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Saskatchewan Roughriders[edit]

He moved on to the Saskatchewan Roughriders for his first opportunity to be a full-time starting quarterback. He started the first 16 games of the Roughriders season, throwing for 4,647 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Green Bay Packers[edit]

The Green Bay Packers took interest in him after the CFL season ended, and signed him to a contract. Burris began playing in the NFL in 2001, when he spent several weeks as the Packers' third-string quarterback, before he was released and then he spent the rest of the season on their practice squad.

Chicago Bears[edit]

He was signed by the Chicago Bears in the off-season. In six games for the Bears he completed 18 of 51 passes for 207 yards, with three touchdowns and five interceptions. He received significant playing time only in the last two games of the regular season. He was 8 of 22 for 50 yards and a touchdown against Carolina, fumbling twice, and 7 of 19 for 78 yards and four interceptions against Tampa Bay, for a 10.3 quarterback rating. While his passing was quite poor he showed better than average running ability for a quarterback, finishing the 2002 season with 15 rushes for 104 yards.

Berlin Thunder[edit]

The Bears assigned him to NFL Europe's Berlin Thunder in 2003 where he performed respectably. Unhappy with being relegated to Berlin by the Bears, he returned to the CFL and the Roughriders, his former club. He immediately became Nealon Greene's back-up. A knee injury forced him to miss the better part of the season.

Saskatchewan Roughriders[edit]

Burris returned to Canada in time for the 2003 CFL season, dressing for 10 games that season. He returned his starting position in 2004, starting in 14 games over the course of the season, and leading the Roughriders to the 2004 Western Final, narrowly missing advancing to the Grey Cup. The Roughriders lost the Western Final in overtime to the favored BC Lions.

Calgary Stampeders[edit]

Burris in 2006.

In the off-season Burris rejected the Roughriders' contract offer in order to re-join the Calgary Stampeders. In 2005, he took the Stampeders to the Western Semifinal, where they lost at McMahon Stadium to Ricky Ray and Jason Maas of the Edmonton Eskimos. In 2006, he once again helped the Stampeders advance to the CFL playoffs, hosting their second home playoff game in as many years, but lost in the West Semifinal to his former team, the Roughriders.

In the 2007 playoffs the Stampeders once again faced off against the Roughriders in the Western Semifinal (this time played at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, where the Roughriders were hosting their first home playoff game since 1988). Burris once again lost to his former team in a close 26–24 affair.

In 2008, Burris won his first championship as a starter, leading the Calgary Stampeders to a 22–14 Grey Cup victory, over the host Montreal Alouettes. Burris also captured the title of Grey Cup Most Valuable Player and was a finalist for the league's most outstanding player award.

In 2009, Burris led the Calgary Stampeders to a second-place finish in the Western Conference. Trying to atone for a year in which he could not beat the first place Saskatchewan Roughriders (0–3–1), the Burris led Stampeders could not defeat the Roughriders in the Western Division Final, falling 27–17. This was Burris' third straight play-off loss to the Roughriders.

Burris quarterbacked the Stampeders to a CFL best record of 13–5 in 2010, finishing first in the Western Conference. Looking for revenge against his play-off nemesis, Burris lost to the Roughriders for the fourth time in the post season, 20–16. He won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player award for that season.

Burris's string of professional starts ended at the end of the 2011 season, when Drew Tate replaced him as the starting quarterback for the last three scheduled regular season games. Burris performed short-yardage duties for the team as the back-up quarterback. Burris returned to quarterbacking the Calgary Stampeders in the second half of the Western Conference Semi Finals against the Edmonton Eskimos. Burris was unable to lead a second half comeback throwing only 7 completions in 15 attempts with 0 touchdowns, having to settle for multiple field goals.

Entering the off-season there had been much speculation regarding the future of Burris with the Calgary Stampeders. The Stampeders seemed ready to move on and hand the starting job to Drew Tate while Burris had stated that he did not want to be a backup quarterback. The Calgary Stampeders confirmed on January 3, 2012 that they had traded Burris to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for quarterback Kevin Glenn and offensive lineman Mark Dewit.^[2]

Hamilton Tiger-Cats[edit]

Burris in Winnipeg on November 2, 2013.

In his first season with the Tiger-Cats, Burris had a career year. He threw for 5,367 yards and 43 touchdowns, with a passer rating of 104.4, all career highs. Unfortunately, the Tiger-Cats defense struggled, giving up an average of 32 points per game, which resulted in the team falling to 6–12 and missing the playoffs.

On September 13, 2013, midway through the 2013 CFL season, Burris became the 5th CFL quarterback to throw for 50,000 career passing yards.^[3] Burris' 4,925 passing yards was enough to lead the league in passing for the second consecutive year. Burris led the Tiger-Cats into the post-season with a record of 10–8, they defeated the Montreal Alouettes and then the Toronto Argonauts, but ultimately lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 101st Grey Cup game. Entering the off-season, Burris was set to become a free-agent in February 2014 unless he re-signed with the Tiger-Cats. He expressed his desire to stay with the Ti-Cats, saying, "I want to be back here, we've had a great run. I still feel like I can get it done."^[4] However, Burris was released by Hamilton on January 30, 2014, following the signing of Zach Collaros.^[5]

Ottawa Redblacks[edit]

On February 4, 2014, Burris signed a three-year contract with the Ottawa Redblacks. The 2014 CFL season was Burris' worst season statistically since his 2003 year with the Roughriders. Burris led the inaugural season of the RedBlacks to a 2–16 record. His completion percentage was his lowest since 2009, and only managed to score 11 touchdowns in 18 games, while throwing 14 interceptions. He threw the first passing touchdown in Redblacks history in their first game on July 3, 2014 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He also led the team to their first victory during their first home game of the season on July 18, 2016 against the Toronto Argonauts.

Henry Burris (1), leading the Ottawa Redblacks on offense against the Calgary Stampeders in the 104th Grey Cup.

Burris returned as the starter for the 2015 season and was the only quarterback in the league to start all 18 games that year. With the addition of offensive coordinator, Jason Maas, and several key free agent signings, Burris experienced a renaissance season. On October 1, 2015, Burris set a CFL record for completions in a game connecting on 45 passes for a career-high 504 passing yards.^[6] On November 7, 2015, Burris became the CFL's record holder for most completions in a season with 481 completions.^[7] Additionally, Burris finished the 2015 season as the league leader in passing yards and completion percentage. He led the RedBlacks to a record of 12–6, earning a first round bye in the process. In the Eastern Final, Burris lead the Redblacks over his old team, the Tiger-Cats, personally advancing to the Grey Cup for the second time in three seasons. Prior to the Grey Cup, he was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Player for 2015.^[8]

Burris left the 2016 season opening game in the third quarter after injuring the pinky finger on his throwing hand. He was replaced by backup quarterback Trevor Harris who was brought in as a free-agent during the offseason to replace the 41-year old Burris in the event of an injury or diminished performance. Initially it was reported that Burris would miss only one game,^[9] however he was quickly transferred to the six-game injured list.^[10] After an injury to backup quarterback Harris, Burris returned early from his hand injury to play in Weeks 6 and 7. In a halftime interview during their Week 7 match against the Eskimos Henry Burris sounded off in response to criticism from some of the TSN staff regarding his poor performance in Week 6 and the impressive play by Harris before his injury. He was quoted as saying, "So all the people talking junk out there, you can take that and shove it. All right? That's all I have to say".^[11] Following a bye in Week 8 Burris started in Week 9 but was once again unable to lead the Redblacks to victory. Harris returned to the starting lineup from Week 10 through 15 with mixed results. Burris returned to the starting role in Week 17 (the fourth last week of the regular season).^[12] Ottawa split their remaining 4 games, winning 2 and losing 2 to finish below .500 with a record of 8-9-1. This was the first time in CFL history that a team with a losing record finished first in their division. Following their first round bye Burris led the Redblacks to an East Division Final victory over the Edmonton Eskimos in a snowstorm, advancing the team to its second consecutive Grey Cup game.^[13] In the 104th Grey Cup, Despite suffering a slight knee injury during warmups, Burris passed for 461 yards and 3 touchdowns leading the Redblacks to a 39-33 over time win over the Calgary Stampeders to win the Grey Cup for Ottawa for the first time in 40 years.^[14] At the Grey Cup parade two days following the victory Burris was in crutches stating he would likely need surgery to repair his knee which he injured in warm-ups before the Grey Cup game. He also told the 40,000 fans in attendance that he would delay his decision regarding the future of his playing career until January 2017.^[15]

On January 19, 2017, it was reported that Burris was leaning towards retirement, citing the desire to spend more time with his wife and help raise their children; while at the same time wanting to play in 2017 to help Ottawa win back-to-back championships at the 105th Grey Cup in Ottawa.^[16] On January 24, 2017 he officially announced his retirement at a press conference.^[17]

Career statistics[edit]

		Passing									Rushing
Year	Team	Games	Started	Comp	Att	Pct	Yards	TD	Int	Rating	Att	Yards	Avg	Long	TD	Fumb
1998	CGY	18	0	5	11	45.5	83	0	1	33.5	2	4	2.0	2	0	0
1999	CGY	5	2	36	60	60	529	4	4	83.3	13	81	6.2	16	0	1
2000	SSK	18	16	308	576	53.5	4,647	30	25	79.6	68	188	2.8	17	8	12
2001	GB	0	0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
2002	CHI	6	1	18	51	35.3	207	3	5	28.4	15	104	6.9	17	0	1
2003	BER	10	NA	55	99	55.6	589	5	5	69.0	7	59	8.4	26	2	–
2003	SSK	10	0	11	24	45.8	130	1	0	76.7	2	16	8.0	9	0	0
2004	SSK	18	16	322	544	59.2	4,267	23	18	84.4	84	464	5.5	34	7	14
2005	CGY	16	15	265	435	60.9	4,290	23	12	100.1	82	513	6.3	31	9	15
2006	CGY	18	18	305	537	56.8	4,453	23	18	84.3	70	480	6.9	21	5	7
2007	CGY	16	14	285	471	60.5	4,279	34	14	102.0	84	623	7.3	39	5	6
2008	CGY	18	18	381	591	64.4	5,094	39	14	103.8	87	595	6.8	35	3	9
2009	CGY	18	18	339	571	59.4	4,831	22	16	88.0	105	552	5.3	30	11	8
2010	CGY	18	18	370	558	66.3	4,945	38	20	102.0	70	491	7.0	27	3	6
2011	CGY	18	15	281	442	63.6	3,687	20	12	93.6	51	385	7.5	34	4	13
2012	HAM	18	18	391	604	64.7	5,367	43	18	104.4	45	343	7.6	23	0	11
2013	HAM	18	18	373	567	65.8	4,925	24	19	93.2	46	298	6.4	19	0	6
2014	OTT	18	18	315	517	60.9	3,728	11	14	78.7	57	258	4.5	20	2	6
2015	OTT	18	18	481	678	70.9	5,703	26	13	101.0	75	274	3.7	14	7	10
2016	OTT	13	7	180	264	68.2	2,419	12	9	98.0	21	88	4.2	11	4	6
CFL totals		277	229	4,648	7,452	62.4	63,369	373	227	93.5	963	5,653	5.9	34	68	130
Pro totals		283	230	4,666	7,503	62.0	63,576	376	232	93.1	978	5,757	5.9	34	68	131

Games mean "Dressed For", not "Played In"
Pro totals include CFL and NFL totals only

Personal life[edit]

Burris is married to Nicole Burris and they are the parents of two boys: Barron and Armand. He was granted permanent residency in Canada on April 28, 2017 after a long bureaucratic hurdle.^[18]

On February 17, 2017, Bell Media announced that Burris would begin his broadcasting career with them as a co-host on CTV Morning Live.