Colorado University Athletics
BEN BURNEY BIOGRAPHY
BEN BURNEY, S
5-11, 190, Lone Tree, Colo. (Mullen)
HIGH SCHOOL?An honorable mention all-state (5A) performer by the Denver Post as a senior, when he also earned second-team all-Centennial League accolades at safety. After tearing his ACL and meniscus his junior year, he bounced back strong in 2004 to be named the Comeback Player of the Year, as he also garnered Mullen’s Hang Tough Award for the second-straight season. During his senior campaign he posted 126 tackles (62 solo) to rank eighth in the state. Of those stops, 10 were tackles for loss, while he also added two forced fumbles, one recovered fumble, one interception, three quarterback pressures and seven pass breakups; he also recovered a blocked field goal. Top games his senior year: in a win over Poudre, he had seven tackles and a fumble recovery that he returned for a 70-yard touchdown; he had five tackles and an interception in a victory over Montbello; and in a win against Smoky Hill, he had nine solo tackles and 15 overall. Under coach Dave Logan, Mullen was 13-1 and won the 5A State Championship his senior year, and was 12-1 his junior year before falling in the state semifinals. An all-around athlete, Burney played basketball and ran track as a freshman and sophomore. He owns personal bests in the 100 (10.7) and 200 (24.0); he also ran the 4x100-meter relay.
ACADEMICS?He is interested in film studies or business as possible majors at Colorado. He owns a 3.6 grade point average as a prep, as he’s been an honor roll student all four years of high school and is a member of the National Honor Society. He earned several prestigious awards, the National Spanish Award, the Academic Athlete Award and the Scholastic Achievement Award, and as a junior, he was given Mullen’s Outstanding Subject Achievement Awards in English and government.
VITALS?Has 4.56 speed in the 40 and bench presses 275 pounds.
RECRUITING?He chose Colorado over Virginia and San Diego.
PERSONAL?Born March 29, 1987 in Tulsa, Okla. Hobbies include drawing, photography, producing music with a beat machine and lifting weights. He also enjoys making digital movies with his family members, and aspires to have a career in film someday. He spends time as a leader for the youth group “Off The Chain,” and he also helped refurnish a local Denver church for a community service project. He has lived in nine different states; while living in North Carolina, he helped out with the Special Olympics; in addition he taught math and reading to underprivileged children at elementary schools. His father (Jacob) has been the defensive line coach for the Denver Broncos since 2002; he was a four-year starter at defensive tackle at Tennessee-Chattanooga and had tryouts with the Detroit Lions in 1981 and 1982, but injuries cut short his potential NFL career. An older brother, Jacob Jr., plays is a defensive tackle at Bucknell.