A man of humble roots, Burton developed into an All-Ohio and All-American high school football player whose talents prompted scholarship offers from 47 different schools. Opting for Northwestern University, Burton’s development continued to the point where he was named the NCAA Back of the Year and nominated for the Heisman Trophy in 1959. He was selected in the first round by the AFL’s Patriots and the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles in their respective leagues’ drafts.

During his prime, Burton was a football player multi-talented enough to exceed 1,000 yards in three categories – rushing (1,536), receiving (1,205) and as a kickoff return man (1,119) – and add 389 yards in punt returns over six seasons with the Patriots. In 1962, Burton rushed for a team-leading 548 yards, caught 40 passes for 461 yards, returned 13 kicks for 238 yards and 21 punts for 122 yards, amassing 1,389 all-purpose yards. Following that stellar campaign, he earned the distinction of being named the winner of the 1776 Club’s first Patriots Most Valuable Player award, for a Mike Holovak-coached team that went 9-4-1. (The above text is an excerpt from the New England Patriots Gameday Magazine - August 27, 2003 article, “Ron Burton: Leading by Example” By Glen Farley)

New England (Boston) Patriots 1960-1965

All-Time Leader in Punt Returns (Based on return yardage)
Years: 1960-’65
NO: 56
FC: 0
YDS: 389
AVG: 6.9
LG 62
TD: 0

Year-by-Year Leader in Punt Returns
Year: 1965
NO: 15
YDS: 61
AVG: 4.1
LG 12
TD: 0

Year-by-Year Leader in Rushing
Year: 1962
ATT: 134
YDS: 548
AVG: 4.0
LG: 59
TD: 2