Ron Burton, a College Football Hall of Fame running back from Northwestern and devoted supporter of the NFF's Eastern Massachusetts Chapter, died Saturday after a long battle with bone cancer. He was 67.
Recruited out of Springfield, OH, by legendary Hall of Fame coach Ara Parseghian, Burton led the rebirth of Wildcat football. In 1957, Northwestern went 0-9, Burton’s sophomore season, but as he matured, the speedy Burton led them to a 5-4 turnaround in 1958 and a 6-3 ledger, including key victories over Oklahoma and Notre Dame, in 1959.
Along the way, Burton earned All-America honors in 1959 and All-BIG TEN Conference selections in 1958 and 1959 while setting Northwestern records for most points in a season (76), touchdowns in a career (21) and points in a career (130).
In 1960, Burton was selected by the Boston Patriots of the American Football League, the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and the Canadian Football League’s Ottawa Rough-Riders. After choosing to play for the Patriots, Burton enjoyed a six-year professional career before retiring to work on the businesses he had begun during his football off-seasons.
He joined the John Hancock Insurance Company in Massachusetts and became an executive consultant with the firm - also becoming well known for making fine motivational speeches to youth groups.
In 1990, Burton was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
"I wanted to try out for the team in the seventh grade, and the coach wouldn't give me a uniform, he thought I was terrible,” said Burton at his College Football Hall of Fame induction. “I cried so hard, he gave in. When you consider how far I have come, making the Hall of Fame, it is quite an honor."
Community minded and devoted to the youth in the city of Boston, he founded the Ron Burton Training Village, a summer camp for inner-city youth. Maintaining a very active role with the Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of The National Football Foundation, Burton would yearly make presentations to the area scholar-athletes.
“The highlight of the year for our chapter would always be Ronnie presenting the scholar-athlete awards at our banquet. The kids would be awestruck when he would address them,” said Jack Grinold, executive director of the Eastern Massachusetts Chapter. “Ronnie spent 365 days a year doing good.”
In June 2001, he received the “Heroes Among Us” award for community service from the Boston Celtics.
Burton is survived by his wife, JoAnn, and five children.
