Where the hell have they been is a new weekly article here on ChiCitySports.com, finding random Chicago sports athletes and finding out, well….where in the hell have they been? We did our first “Where the hell have they been?” in 2010 with Bears quarterback Craig Krenzel and followed it up with Rex Grossman, but now we are back and ready to provide more memories of lost Chicago sports athletes.
For this edition we are giving you a stroll down memory lane to the player that was number ten on the field but certainly not number one in any fans hearts. The one, the only, Henry Burris.
Hey, I didn’t say they would be good memories.
Henry Burris
Oh, Henry. Where do I begin?
The 38-year-old is currently the quarterback of the Ottawa RedBlacks of the Canadian Football League after signing a three-year contract on February 4th, 2014. Burris has had a lustrous career in the CFL, as you can tell by his impressive Wikipedia page.
To be fair Burris was never really thought of as an NFL quarterback. He was undrafted out of the University of Temple and spent two seasons in the NFL. You can’t really blame Burris for not panning out in the NFL, but those CFL numbers? Impressive.
So why did the Bears bring in Henry Burris for that magical six-game ride back in 2002? Well the answer is simple, look at the Bears quarterback history. I’m pretty sure Jerry Angelo was sitting in his office picking names out of a hat and Burris was the lucky one. Damnit, Jerry. Sadly for Burris, he will go down as ‘one of those Chicago Bear quarterbacks’ that we all hate to remember and include into drinking games.
Career with the Bears
Before Kordell Stewart rocked the number ten Bears uniform, Bears fans were treated to another number ten who could run and not really, uh…pass the ball.
In six games with the Bears Burris completed 18 of his 51 pass attempts for 207 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions. But the final two games of the season was where Burris got his chance to shine.
The only bad part? He shined for the wrong reasons.
Burris put up Grossman numbers before Grossman numbers even existed. Against the Carolina Panthers he completed eight passes for 50 yards and a touchdown but fumbled twice. Remember when the Buccaneers couldn’t win a game when the temperature was below 40 degrees? Burris single handingly changed history.
Burris threw four interceptions and completed just eight passes for 78 yards. His quarterback rating? 10.3. After the 2002 season, Burris was history in Chicago.
Life after Da Bears
When Burris isn’t posing in a bra for pictures, he’s slinging the ball all over that weird field in Canada. The dude can flat out ball in the CFL and has recently eclipsed the 50,000 yard passing mark. I’ll drink to that.
Burris has passed for more than 30 touchdowns in a season five times in the Canadian Football League. Oh did I mention he could run the ball too? Burris has 55 rushing touchdowns in his CFL career. Safe to say he’s the Mike Vick, Vince Young and RG III of the CFL, without all of the problems. He’s literally the video game cheat code of the CFL.
Burris is collecting the hardware too. His trophy case includes two Grey Cup Championships, a Grey Cup MVP, a CFL Most Outstanding Player award, a CFL All-Star, 3x CFL West Division All-Star and a CFL East Division All-Star award. Oh, and some really small trophy he’s holding up in the picture above.
Remember this crazy CFL field goal that was destroyed by the wind?
Guess who the quarterback of that game was? None other than our man, Henry Burris.
Most recently
Want to meet Henry? The former Bears quarterback is hosting a weekend full of All-Star activities where you will be the presence of this CFL legend. Check it out here.
Burris will be the starting quarterback of the Ottawa RedBlacks for the upcoming CFL season. Go do you Henry, go do you.
So as we close the book on Burris, I leave you with the ultimate Henry Burris highlight video from Youtube.
Check back next week as we have a special, double-baseball edition of ‘Where the hell have they been’?
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