The Grueling Truth - Where Legends Speak / Latest College Football News & Rumors / Gone Too Soon: The Tragic Yet Uplifting Stories of Football Players Joe Roth and Brandon Burlsworth

Gone Too Soon: The Tragic Yet Uplifting Stories of Football Players Joe Roth and Brandon Burlsworth

The Tragic Stories of Joe Roth and Brandon Burlsworth

Mike Goodpaster

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Publish Date: 12/14/2022

Fact checked by: Simon Briffa

In the history of football, you always hear about players whose careers were cut short by injury, like Greg Cook, Tony Hunter, Ickey Woods etc… Today, we are going to look at two players Brandon Burlsworth and Joe Roth, two men that I believe would have had brilliant NFL careers had they lived long enough to play in the NFL. The thing that ties these two players together for me was not just the fact that they were great football players. The common thread I found with both of these young men was their impact on people at the time of their lives and on their lives today. Anybody that ever came in contact with them will never forget them as they were more than just football players. Check out the best football odds.

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Brandon Burlsworth, Indianapolis Colts

Burlsworth was a walk-on offensive lineman at the University of Arkansas who, throughout his career at Arkansas, went from being a red-shirt out-of-shape freshman to a player that the Indianapolis Colts would draft. When Burlsworth arrived at Arkansas he was a sloppy 300 pounds and looked destined to never earn a scholarship. Burlsworth as red-shirt freshman lost 40 pounds to get down to 260 pounds. From there, he bulked back up to 300 pounds the right way and became a dominant force for the Razorbacks. Burlsworth graduated from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. He was the first Razorback football player to complete a master’s degree before playing in his final game, the Cotton Bowl, a 27-6 victory over the University of Texas on January 1, 2000. Burlsworth was a leader on the Razorbacks team who set the tone on and off the field for the Razorbacks.

Eleven days after being drafted, Burlsworth was killed in a car accident near Alpena, Arkansas, on April 28, 1999, on his way back to his hometown of Harrison after a workout in Fayetteville. Arkansas made Burlsworth’s jersey only the second jersey to be retired in the school’s history, and Burlsworth’s impact is still felt today with the Brandon Burlsworth foundation. A movie was made about the life of Burlsworth called Greater it is a movie that I highly recommend.

Greater Official Trailer 1 (2016) – Neal McDonough, Nick Searcy Movie HD

Joe Roth, QB, University of California

The story of Joe Roth on the outside looks like one of the saddest most tragic stories you could ever hear. That was until I interviewed his former teammate Jim Breech. After talking to Breech, I realized this young man had an impact on so many lives in his short time on earth and it was absolutely amazing. Initially a backup when he got to Cal, Roth won the starting role in the fourth game of the 1975 season and led the California Golden Bears to the Pac-8 title as co-champions. The 1975 team had stars like running back Chuck Muncie and wide receiver Wesley Walker. Cal led the nation in total offense, remarkably gaining the same yardage, passing and rushing, with 2,522 yards, respectively. Probably the most significant win that year was a stunning upset of the USC Trojans that people at Cal still talk about.

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1975 USC/Cal Highlights

1975 11 01 USC at CAL broadcast highlights

Roth entered 1976 as a leading Heisman Trophy candidate, but the season didn’t start well, and Roth’s performance seemingly got worse as the season went on. After the season ended, Roth revealed that halfway through the season, he had been diagnosed with terminal melanoma – apparently the metastasis of a mole that had been removed from his face several years earlier while playing at Grossmont Junior College. So Roth played almost all of his final season at Cal, knowing he had cancer and could die at any time. Despite his deteriorating physical condition, he honored his commitment to play in both the Hula Bowl and the Japan Bowl. According to a friend’s reminiscence, Roth had agreed to sit for a thirty-minute autograph session during the Japan Bowl festivities. However, finding hundreds of children still waiting at the end of the allotted time, Roth continued to sign until every child had an autograph, after which he left the building and vomited. Roth’s biggest concern was always other people and that was why he made such an impact on the people around him. One of those people was former NFL Coach Tony Dungy who played in the Hula Bowl with Roth, and he sent Roth this telegram. Check out the top football betting strategies.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “a doctor wanted to amputate both legs, but Roth did not want to die in pieces. He wanted to die among his friends and family at his Berkeley apartment. The ambulance delivered him, and his teammates carried him up three flights of stairs. Two days later, they carried his body back down”.