CHENEY – Awe has no place in Nate Burleson’s psyche.
When the 24-year-old wide receiver joined the Seattle Seahawks last spring, he didn’t gasp at the sight of reigning league MVP Shaun Alexander. Burleson’s knees didn’t rattle when Super Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck offered to throw him a few passes, nor did his face twitch when Pro Bowl left tackle Walter Jones passed by in the hallway of the team headquarters.
Burleson has lived among athletic idols before, so Seattle’s most prominent stars did little to crack his unimpressed exterior.
Even before he played alongside Randy Moss and developed into Daunte Culpepper’s go-to receiver with the Minnesota Vikings, Burleson found himself surrounded by remarkable athletes.
And he didn’t even have to leave his parents’ basement.
Burleson grew up in an athletic household that included a football star father (former University of Washington safety Alvin “Al” Burleson) and three siblings that went on to play Division I sports in college (Al Jr., University of Washington football; Kevin, University of Minnesota basketball; and Lyndale, University of Nevada basketball).
“Growing up, having four boys in the house who are very competitive, that was an unbelievable feeling,” Nate Burleson said from the Seahawks’ Eastern Washington University training camp facility last week. “Every time something went down, whether it was dinner, or throwing the ball around, or doing pushups or situps, we were always trying to outdo each other.
“And it hasn’t stopped, not even to this day.”
Since signing with the Seahawks, Nate Burleson has already suffered two crushing losses. His 51-year-old father out-bench-pressed him, 340 pounds to 300, and then his 27-year-old brother Kevin, who’s currently playing summer-league basketball with the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, beat him in a game of H-O-R-S-E.
No matter how old Nate Burleson gets, he’ll always have plenty of Burlesons with which to compete.
“It’s been fun,” he said, “and we’ll always be like that, no matter how old we are.”
Nate Burleson often refers to his father as his most inspirational athlete, but he can probably thank another Al Burleson for helping him develop into an NFL starter.
Alvin Burleson Jr., the oldest of four brothers, is five years older than Nate and has always served as a (barometer) of athletic achievement.
“I wanted to be like him the most because he’s the oldest brother, and I modeled my career choices after him – playing football, basketball and track in high school,” said Nate Burleson, who attended O’Dea High School a few years after his oldest brother was a star at Garfield.
“He would always beat me up because I wanted to do everything he did. I would wear his clothes. I would follow him around. We’d be sitting there watching TV, and he’d go get a bowl of cereal. Then five minutes later, I’d go get a bowl of cereal.”
Al Burleson Sr., who raised the boys with wife Valerie, saw that relationship have a direct effect on Nate’s athletic career.
“A lot of what my other kids have athletically, I get a lot of credit, but the credit should go to Al,” Burleson Sr. said of his oldest son, whose college football career was cut short by a back injury. “In a lot of ways, he was the best athlete. He did stuff people just didn’t do at his age. He brought that physical mentality and toughness to the others.
“… Al would bully them all the time, just to make sure everyone knew he was the big brother. But not in a bad way.”
The four Burleson brothers – the youngest, 20-year-old Lyndale, will be a third-year sophomore at Nevada in the fall – spent a good part of their youth playing sports. Intra-family games of 2-on-2 would see the football players (Alvin Jr. and Nate) play against the basketball players (Kevin and Lyndale) or the oldest-youngest (Alvin Jr. and Lyndale) against the middle two (Kevin and Nate).
“But the majority of the time, it was three-against-one, the three youngest trying to take down the big bear,” Nate Burleson said, referring to oldest brother Alvin Jr.
The family bonding, which sometimes got pretty spirited – “Tempers might’ve gotten out of control, maybe a punch or two,” Al Burleson Sr. said – helped make Nate Burleson into the athlete that he is. After starring as a receiver for the Nevada football team, he got drafted in the third round of the 2003 NFL draft and was the Vikings’ leading receiver (68 receptions) by his second year in the league.
In March, the Seahawks signed him to a seven-year, $49 million contract.
Burleson has come a long way from being the little tag-along brother that Alvin Jr. used to beat up.
And he credits his competitive upbringing for where he is today.
“There’s definitely a bond that you have with brothers,” Nate Burleson said. “We cherish each other’s presence, no matter where we are in our lives.
“That’s the same way I feel about football. Whoever I’m with, we have that brotherhood that I’ll do whatever I can for the team, the organization. Even through the tough times, I’ll be here.”
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