West Morris Central standout, Michael Burton is to some a hometown hero, but to many just a friend. He walks the halls of West Morris just like any other person, but on the football field he is no ordinary athlete. Burton, a running back-linebacker for the Wolfpack, was The All Daily Record Player of the Year, and was also first team all-state in his senior year. Over the course of his four year career Burton amassed an astronomical 3,372 rushing yards and 4,498 all-purpose yards, but his career will not stop their. On February 3rd Michael Burton committed to Rutgers University with a preferred walk-on spot from Coach Greg Schiano which guarantees Burton a scholarship if anyone were to leave the team.

Burton also received offers from Lehigh, Maine, Monmouth, New Hampshire, Towson, and received the same preferred walk on position at Pittsburgh. Burton chose Rutgers over all the other Univerities because of the “great atmoshphere, and coaching of Greg Schiano.” When Burton is not in the film room or training he will be studying Sports & Medicine at Rutgers University.

As most articles focus on Burton’s future at Rutgers there are those who wonder how he got to this point in his athletic career. Burton explained that he realized football was his passion ever since the days of Long Valley Raider’s flag football. The motivation throughout Burton’s entire football career has just been the thrill of competing and winning.

He loves being with his friends on the field and competing harder than anyone. When Burton was not able to compete last year due to a toe injury he was devastated. “The biggest obstacle of my football career was my junior year, where I was unable to be with my team on the field.” Burton explained.

Burton was elected one of the captains his senior year and when asked how he kept his team motivated after a tough loss he responded: “There is always another game next week, but you can not show any sign of weakness because you must hold the team together.” The perfect ending to Michael Burton’s high school career was winning the state championship which he described as his best football memory.

Junior running back and cornerback, Tom Cabarle, commented on his teammate: “Even though he is not as good looking as me, he is a great teammate and a better guy. He pushed us on and off the field, and helped us achieve our goal of winning a state title.”

Offensive Coordinator, Coach Wydner described what Burton does for an offensive by saying: “As an offensive coordinator it is my job to call the plays. The defense could have the perfect solution for the play called, but with Michael the team still has the ability to break a big play.”

“I have seen some hard working athletes, but nobody that works harder than Burton.” Head coach Kevin Hennelly said of his senior runningback. The West Morris coaches were very confident in Burton’s career, and so was Burton himself.

Burton is willing to play any position at Rutgers and will do anything to get out on the field. He likes his chances at seeing the field, and he knows it will take much preparation and hard work, but he is willing to accept the challenge. His overall goal at Rutgers is to help the team and bring yet another championship to New Jersey. When asked if he had ever coached anyone like Michael Burton, Coach Hennelly responded: “I have coached players that may have had more speed or explosiveness than number 32, but nobody that had the whole package like Michael Burton.”

Knowing Burton, being on the preffered walk-on list at Rutgers will only motivate him and keep the scholarship athletes on their toes.