Kevin Burnett: From Compton to Knoxville

Linebackers are physically tough. It is an essential requirement of playing the position.

All of the greats have it, from Butkus to Singletary to Seau to Ray Lewis. And at 6-4, 235 pounds, junior Kevin Burnett fits the bill of being a tough, true linebacker.

The fact is Burnett has been tough for a long time. But it’s the kind of tough you don’t learn about on the football field. The kind of tough you don’t necessarily learn by choice, but when you’re five years old and told that your dad is dead, there is no other option. And for Burnett, the long-hard road to toughness has been full of turmoil, chaos and disappointment.

Growing up in Compton, California:

On April 8, 1989, five-year-old Kevin Burnett’s life changed forever. Burnett’s father, Kevin Bradley Burnett, Sr, was driving in Oklahoma when he was killed in an auto accident. That next morning, Burnett’s mother, Rhonda Hickman, had to do the hardest thing of her life. She had to tell her son that his father was never coming back to see him.

“It was really hard to tell him,” Hickman said. “You just can’t find the words. I got up the next morning, went in his room and told him. ‘I said, “Kevin, daddy went to heaven.”’ He just sat there then went out to play and a couple of hours later he came back in the house and said, ‘Momma, why did God take my daddy?’”

Kevin Burnett, Sr. did not live with his family, but according to Rhonda, the elder Burnett was very much a part of her son’s life.

“They loved each other and saw each other quite a bit,” Hickman said. “When

they were not seeing each other they talked on the phone everyday.”

Kevin Burnett II remembers his father as a man who was always looking out for

his kids.

“He was very protective,” Burnett said. “He always kept my pockets full of money and made sure I had whatever I needed. He always said whatever you need let me know and I just try and take that attitude on to my brothers and sisters.”

Burnett admits he remembers little about his father’s funeral and the days around his death.

“The little bit from the funeral that I do remember, it was really hard,” Burnett said. “I remember he had a blue casket and it was a closed casket funeral. I remember the pain I felt. I did not cry. I was so young that I really did not know. I remember seeing the pain in my mom’s eyes when she had to tell her five year old son that his daddy was never coming back to see him again.”

Rhonda said that she did not see great changes in her son following the passing of his father, but she did see a kid who was dealing with a lot.

“He had a lot of frustrations,” Hickman said. “He would get so angry and I did not know why he was mad. I just told him to save it and put it into sports.”

Burnett’s frustrations through the years were not just from the passing of his father, but from his way of life.

Burnett and his mother lived in Compton, California, that area of Los Angeles mad famous by Hollywood and rap music, as well as some very real, real-life drama. In fact, they lived just two blocks from were the Rodney King riots started. Burnett remembers that day vividly. His mother came to get him from school and got him inside just before the riots started.

“I just remember people running down the street with bags of stuff,” Burnett offered. “They had hats, towels and whatever you needed they had it for you. It was a very sad day. I really did not know what was going on, but my mom came to school and got me. All she said was Kevin we need to go home because there is going to be some stuff today.”

But Burnett saw “stuff” everyday. Granted, riots did not occur every day, but Burnett heard the gunshots and was in the middle of the gang wars and the violence that goes with it. It was the type of stuff that most of us know only through the lens of a movie camera.

“It was not pretty,” Burnett offered. “Sometimes you walk home and you get beat up for no reason. One day I was in the eighth grade and got beat up by a twelfth grader because he did not like the way I talked. Those were the kind of things you had to deal with growing up. You had to learn toughness at an early age. I got into boxing and karate at a real young age. I was taught you had to scratch and claw for everything you got. My mom used to tell me stories where she made clothes and would go sell them downtown just to put food on the table. Stuff like that just forced me to say I am going to be determined and make it in whatever I do.”

And after the incident when Burnett was beaten up in the eighth grade, she knew it was time to get out.

“It was a day where he had to catch the bus,” Hickman remembered. “He was going

to a magnet school. There was this kid who was torturing him and Kevin was scared to death. He kept telling Kevin he was going to take his shoes and steal his stuff. One day the bus stopped at the railroad tracks and the kid jumped Kevin in the seat and beat him up. That is when I actually made up my mind to get him out of there. I started saving my pennies and a year later as Kevin entered high school, we moved.”

Burnett and his mother moved to Carson, California, which is a suburb of Los Angeles. Once there, Burnett attended Dominguez High School. At Dominguez, he went on to star on the football field, but not in the classroom. In fact, Burnett really struggled with the standardized test to be an eligible college athlete.

“He was really disappointed with a lot of his friends,” Hickman recalled. “They did not try as hard as he did to pass the ACT. But Kevin took it, took it and took it. The other kids he hung around were not willing to do that. Kevin went to a tutor at the local college and we got him a private tutor for two months. He studied and studied. We went over words and had flash cards. He put in a lot of effort to pass the test. His friends did

not which added to his frustrations.”

In addition to passing the test, Burnett had to pick a school. His mother was very involved in the long process from the standpoint of asking a lot of questions, but she never picked a school for him. However, she did eliminate a school or two.

“Since he was five years old I told him that he was going to go away to college,” Hickman explained. “I wanted him to go away. I just have always felt that there are too many distractions at home.”

Struggling at Tennessee:

Burnett’s school of choice ended up being Tennessee, some 3000 miles from

everything and everyone he knew. Since arriving in Knoxville in the summer of 2000 he has rarely gone home. For one thing, he has been driven academically. Secondly, Burnett has little desire to return to the streets of California.

“You have to be determined,” Burnett said. “I am determined to the cause. I really want to make it in football. That is my life’s dream. The number one thing is you have to get out from under mom’s wing. You have to grow up sometime. I had to grow up at 17 years old. For me, it was get out of California. California is not the place for me to live. It is a fast life with a lot of violence and I needed to get away from that. Coming out here

helped me get away from that and keep me out of trouble.”

However, everything has not been a bed of roses for Burnett.

There was the incident as a true freshman where freshman basketball player Andy Ikeakor made some offhand remarks about Burnett and Compton. Burnett promptly

punched him in study hall and Ikeakor broke his hand trying to catch himself.

Then there were the frustrations of his freshman year where Burnett played sparingly leading him to question his college choice.

“When I wasn’t playing as a true freshman, there was a time where I said you know I am ready to go home,” Burnett said. “But my mom would not let me. She kept me here.”

Rhonda Hickman said that is not exactly the case. Her son could come home, but she let him know she had a plan for him if he did.

“That first year he was really frustrated,” Hickman said. “He talked about wanting to come home. I told him to turn in his truck at the car dealership and get on a plane to come home and he could walk to work at the McDonald’s they just built down the street from the house.”

Hickman said that was the end of the transfer talk. The following spring, Burnett seemed to be back on track and on his way, but a non-contact injury in a drill during the coaches’ clinic forced him to have shoulder surgery.

Then there was last year. It was 339 days ago and Burnett was in full control of his life. He was healthy and his plan was simple. After a stellar season, he was heading to the NFL, but the fourth play against Wyoming during the 2002 season opener in the Nashville Coliseum changed Burnett’s plans. The Vols’ starting outside linebacker was hit as he was up in the air and landed awkwardly on his left leg tearing the ACL in his left knee.

“I was at my aunt’s house,” Hickman recalled. “We were having a family dinner and everyone was pumped to watch the game. I was watching and did not see him get hit. We saw it on the replay. I got up and said, ‘Oh God, Kevin’s hurt. We saw him get carried off the field and he was crying. My heart dropped. I went outside and turned on my cell phone because I knew he would be calling. That was the worst conversation. It measured up to telling him his dad had died.”

A changed man:

For anyone, no matter who you are or where you’re from, life changes you regardless of whether your environment is good or bad. Rhonda Hickman said she has seen a lot of change in his son the last four years.

“Oh, he has changed so much,” Hickman said. “He has realized that anything can happen and you cannot control everything.”

It is ironically the same lesson Burnett was given at five years old when his father passed away.

Today, Kevin Burnett is a graduate student at the University of Tennessee. Burnett and Michael Munoz are two of the six captains on the 2003 football team. They are both juniors---the first juniors to be selected captain since All-American guard Bob Dobelstein in 1944. That’s right; it has been 59 years since a junior has been selected a captain on the Hill, giving you some idea as to the significance of the honor.

Burnett is the defensive leader and make no mistake, if you’re a college football coach, he is what you’re looking for in a college football player. And personally, he is very much different than when he was seventeen and coming from the streets of California.

“When I came here I was that hard California kid who did not want to talk to anybody,” Burnett said. “The country kind of wears off on you after a while. Everybody speaks to you. Before I never spoke to anyone I just walked by and would never say anything. If you walk by someone in California and speak to them you might get shot, you never know. Out here it is nothing like that. It has actually changed my view of the world.”

For Hickman that newfound openness towards people is the biggest change she has seen in her son.

“He came home earlier this summer and he was playing all of this 70-80’s music that I used to listen to,” Hickman offered. “We got up and were dancing around the living room and I thought wow how you have changed. Now anywhere he goes he seems to fit

in and that really surprises me. He used to be afraid to speak to people.”

Now, Burnett is not afraid to speak nor is he shy about sharing his feelings and he has also become a Tennessean. No, he does not say “ya’ll” and he probably does not know all seven verses of “Rocky Top”, but he has become more than just a player passing through as a Vol. He has become a fixture in the community speaking at schools, camps, and visiting with kids whenever he has the change.

He has really become a Tennessean.

The tie that binds:

Kevin Burnett and Rhonda Hickman may not see each other everyday but the two are still remarkably close. In May when Burnett received his bachelor’s degree, Hickman was in the crowd and overcome with joy.

“It was great,” Hickman said. “I was on cloud nine for three days. My mom and dad, some cousins and Kevin’s godmother were there. It was great and it was one of my proudest moments.”

And making momma proud is all Burnett is striving for these days.

“My mom is my backbone,” Burnett said. “Without your backbone you can’t do anything. Without your spine you are nothing. If my mom were to leave me today, it would be very, very hard to move on. My mom has been everything to me. She keeps me sound and keeps my feet on the ground. She let’s me know you can never get too high or too low. I never want to disappoint my mom. She put so much time and effort into me.”

Now, Burnett, who has just three starts in his career, is praying for good health and a season to remember in Knoxville. But despite all that he has been through on the road to toughness since April 8, 1989, Burnett’s outlook on things is pretty simple. He does not feel slighted and is not angry that he got a raw deal in life. Instead his focus is fixed on now and the future.

“It is just the cards I was dealt,” Burnett offered. “You have to take the bitter with the sweet. It can’t get any worse. It has to get better.”

And Rhonda Hickman is banking on it getting better because her son deserves a

fair shake.

“I am the proudest mother there is,” Hickman said. “He had every reason to turn out to be the bad kid because of the disappointments he has had in his life and he chose to go a different way. I think he is a great man.”

And those in Knoxville who know Kevin Burnett would never argue that.

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