By: Henry
McKenna | 1 hour ago
Rex
Burkhead’s versatility goes back to pool noodles and Nerf footballs.
Somehow,
those two items helped build Burkhead into someone that New England Patriots
running back Sony Michel called “the best back on the team” and who Bill
Belichick called “one of our most dependable players.” Burkhead contributes on
every down, whether he’s running between the tackles, executing routes with
precision, demonstrating reliable hands or applying proper technique in pass
protection. But that’s just on offense. The Patriots trust Burkhead on special
teams, too, where he can contribute on all four elements between kickoffs and
punts.
Rex’s versatility
was discovered in pee wee football, when he was coached by his father, Rick
Burkhead. Rick had pursued an NFL career but failed to make a roster after
attending the Dolphins’ training camp in 1992 and the Eagles’ camp in 1993.
Rick’s failure, in part, fueled Rex’s success. Rick was a fullback out of
Eastern Kentucky, where they ran the option. The 1992 Miami Dolphins were not running
the option.
“You’re standing with Dan Marino in
practice, and Marino is changing the play three times before the snap in the
first week of practice,” Rick said. “And I had no clue what he was saying.”
Rick did his best to learn and apply the
passing concepts which were well beyond what he’d seen in college. And he felt
he was doing a nice job. On one particular play, a defender clobbered Rick in
coverage, yet Marino threw it to the fullback’s left knee and he caught it.
“Dude that was crazy,” Rick remembered
saying to Marino. “Guy was all over me.”
“No, you were open,” Marino said. “I threw
it to the open spot.”
It was another level of football.
When fullback Tony Paige came out of
retirement at the end of that training camp, the Dolphins cut Burkhead. One
year later, he tried out for Philadelphia, but the Eagles didn’t end up keeping
a fullback on its 53-man roster. Rick landed with the FBI in Dallas, where he has enjoyed a 20-year
career and runs the critical response teams. Rick had learned a lesson he would
relay to his sons, Rex and Ryan, many years later.
When
Rick coached Rex in pee wee and 7-on-7 football (a version with no offensive
line and consisting exclusively of passing plays), Rick instilled an emphasis
on versatility. He said he did his best not to be one of those crazy football
dads — although it sounds as if he teetered on the edge.
Rick sat Rex down one day and asked if the
NFL was Rex’s goal. Rex said it was, and they became committed to that goal
together. But Rex said he didn’t feel added pressure to make the NFL just
because his father didn’t.
“I didn’t honestly,” Rex said. “He made sure
I had as much fun as possible. Yeah, he pushed me. … But he never put that
pressure on me that if I didn’t make it, he’s going to frown upon me. It was
always a great relationship between enjoying the game and continuing
improvement.”
Rex Burkhead
carries the ball during the third quarter against the New York Jets at Gillette
Stadium in Week 3. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images)
From
the perspective of Robyn Burkhead, Rex’s mom, that pressure was
“self-inflicted.” And Rick and Rex, a pair of perfectionists, were a perfect
match in Rex’s pursuit of the NFL.
“This was the kid that had goals stapled
above his bedroom door every summer and hit it before he went out the door
every morning,” she said. “It’s not like we had to enforce anything at all. It
was pretty much on him. … He’s always been wired a little differently. As a
little boy, every little thing was about a ball. The drive and the desire was
always there.”
Rick used drills that he learned in Miami —
with adaptations to suit youngsters. Instead of smacking ball-carriers with
blocking dummies, Rick would have a running back run through a line of
teammates with pool noodles.
“We’re doing the same stuff out here (with
the Patriots),” Rex said. “[Although] we may not have pool noodles.”
Indeed, New England coaches throw white rags
at players’ faces when they try to catch the football at practice. Belichick
will even squirt water in the face of the holder to simulate rain on a
field-goal attempt.
Rick and Rex invented similar drills
together, often emphasizing a player’s ability to catch the ball. One drill had
a player lying on his back while another player ran in circles around him while
they threw the ball back and forth. (This emphasized catching the ball away
from the prostrate player’s body). Another had a player get in a
wheelbarrow-like position on his hands, push up, catch the ball and retain it
through contact with the ground. Rex also performed drills with the offensive
line, which surely paid off in his pass blocking.
Then there was the Nerf drill, a maniacal
exercise mixed with father-son bonding. They’d stay up late at night, with Rick
chucking the ball at either one of Rex’s ears, a spot which Rick had found was
the hardest spot for him to make a catch.
“He would basically bring me balls every
night, kind of like a dog,” Rick said. “I would stand behind the couch and
throw it as hard as I can, and he didn’t know which ear (I was targeting).”
They drove Robyn crazy. She is a big
football fan who takes pride in her own passing ability and might enjoy
watching football on TV more than Rick. But she didn’t enjoy the broken
lampshades and picture frames. Rex also would host “knee football” games which
left holes in the wall and the blood on the carpet from rug burns.
“It drove her crazy. … We kept doing it,”
Rex said with a laugh.
Rex’s
strong play at Plano High School in suburban Dallas earned him a scholarship at
Nebraska, where he ran the ball (3,329 rushing yards, 30 touchdowns), caught
the ball (507 yards, five touchdowns), passed the ball (4 of 7 for 46 yards and
three touchdowns) returned punts and logged special teams tackles.
After four college seasons, the Cincinnati
Bengals selected Rex in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He was stuck on
the depth chart behind Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard, only getting a shot as
a feature back when both players sat out in Week 17 of 2016. That game — with
119 rushing yards, two touchdowns and 25 receiving yards — helped raise Rex’s
profile, and the Patriots signed him the following offseason. Although Burkhead
has endured injuries in New England, he has been a nice fit with Tom Brady and
the offense.
At
Nebraska, Rex Burkhead catches a long pass over Idaho Vandals cornerback Aaron
Grymes on September 4, 2010 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Eric Francis/Getty
Images)
Rex has gone through
many of the same things with Tom Brady that Rick went through with Marino. In New England, the media often
refers to Brady’s circle of trust — Rex is in it. Rick was trying to do
the same, soaking up feedback from Marino, whom Rick said was enormously
helpful, patient and instructive in Rick’s development. In his early days, Rex
needed a few nudges from Brady, who paid close attention to the
running back’s routes and helped him understand the timing that is
paramount when playing with the Patriots quarterback. Rex has since become a fixture in the New England
offense and on special teams.
“You
know, there’s a handful of guys like that that can just play on every down but
those guys are rare, and then to play at a high level like Kyle (Van Noy),
Devin (McCourty), Pat (Chung), Rex do,” Belichick said in a press conference
last week.
“As a coach, that’s a tremendous luxury to have on your team, to have players
that are that versatile in terms of the variety of things they can do, and then
that versatile in terms of being able to do it at a high level in all of those
situations. You’re lucky to have one of those guys on your team, maybe two of
those guys on your team.”
In Week 3 against the New York Jets,
Burkhead had 11 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown, plus six receptions for
22 yards, while playing 74 percent of the offensive snaps. He also pitched in
on 40 percent of the special teams plays. Burkhead statitically outperformed
the lead back, Michel, who has been unable to contribute in the passing game
since joining the Patriots as a first-round draft choice in 2018.
That
hearkens back to something Rex said last week: “The more you can do, the longer
you can play.”
It’s
not a novel concept in the NFL. But it’s a phrase that clearly holds special
meaning to Rick and Rex Burkhead.