- Joined
- Dec 23, 2019
- Messages
- 2,152
‘I want to be known for being a light’: After tough rookie season, Rams DB Terrell Burgess hopes to shine
By Jourdan Rodrigue Jun 24, 2021
Ingrid Burgess, mother of Rams safety Terrell Burgess, watched her son crumple to the ground after a freak hit across his lower body in late October via a television set at a sports bar in San Diego. She rushed to her car along with Burgess’ sister and they hit the phones, trying to figure out what his prognosis was after he got carted off the field.
Burgess had fractured his ankle and would not walk again until December. But it only took until his family reached him at his apartment near Los Angeles for him to decide he wouldn’t let the injury, or the inevitable pain and loneliness of the long rehab ahead, drag him under.
“It hurt a lot, but I wanted to put it away and be positive,” Burgess told The Athletic. “That was the card that I was dealt. … I did my best to not want anybody to feel sorry for me.”
His approach to recovery stood out. Isolated from teammates not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic protocols in place around injured/non-traveling players, but also because he was laid-up for several weeks, Burgess was perhaps the loudest and most supportive “Rams fan” on Twitter during games. He tweeted play-by-play and messaged his teammates during and after wins and losses with words of enthusiasm. He connected with them constantly, even from afar — and even though the mental and emotional distance between an injured player and a healthy one spans immeasurable lengths.
“If you know T-B, that’s just him,” said second-year safety Jordan Fuller, smiling. He’s a close friend of Burgess’ as the two were in the same draft class and play the same position. They hit it off all the way back at the NFL Scouting Combine last spring and were delighted to see each other’s names get called for the same team (Burgess was a third-round pick, and Fuller a sixth-round pick). Fuller started as a rookie, and Burgess was well on his way to having a similar impact before his injury. The two may even start carpooling to Thousand Oaks, Calif., together with other defensive backs (Burgess drives a Tesla, a savvy rookie purchase considering the notorious Los Angeles commutes), and Fuller and Burgess team up in The Park on NBA2K — two NFL players, talking smack anonymously to the unwitting souls who dare to take them on.
“He’s just one of the most supportive people, one of the most positive people you’ll come around,” Fuller said. “It wasn’t surprising to me, when he got hurt, that he still had a smile on his face and was still attacking every day. … That’s what I love about him, and that’s what everybody loves about him. He’s always happy, and he’s great to be around.”
View: https://twitter.com/RamsNFL/status/1400915536872054784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1400917673433722882%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F2667472%2F2021%2F06%2F24%2Fi-want-to-be-known-for-being-a-light-after-tough-rookie-season-rams-db-terrell-burgess-hopes-to-shine%2F
After surgery, recovery, a stint on a four-wheeled scooter and a lot of work in the trainers’ room over the course of seven months, Burgess was moving at 90-95 percent during OTAs and minicamp and expects to be at 100 percent by the time the Rams’ training camp begins in late July. Through the spring, he placed an emphasis on building confidence in his ankle’s strength and mobility.
“I feel like I’ll never take for granted walking again,” Burgess said. “That was a long process … I didn’t realize how long I was not even going to be able to bear any weight. That was the longest I’ve ever sat out. … I’m definitely going to be a little nervous in the beginning. But I’ll be ready, for sure.”
His positive energy is felt by teammates, who share on social media and in interviews what a joy Burgess is to have around.
“On a personal level, he’s the guy who should be a politician — he should be the president or something,” linebacker Kenny Young said with a laugh. “He connects with everybody. He’s everybody’s friend, at the end of the day. He works hard, he busts his butt … unfortunately he had the injury last year, but he still carried that energy — you know, on his little scooter, riding through (practice) doors.
“But his energy, honestly, it’s infectious. It matters. It means something.”
Burgess brought that energy with him into his work with special needs programs in Utah, when he was a starting safety for the Utes. A kinesiology major, Burgess worked with several children with special needs at an elementary school in the area, along with some of his teammates. In his senior year, he enrolled in a physical therapy program for adults with cerebral
palsy and autism. Burgess worked at the facility once a week through football season, balancing his sessions with finishing his degree and practices. Simple victories — like the day one of his patients took an extra step on the box-stepper — turned into some of the best days of Burgess’ memory.
“Seeing people with almost all odds against them come in there ready to work every day,” he said, “it showed me that I can always keep moving when things get down for me. … It’s an underserved community that not many people take notice to. And it just made me a better person. I’m always going to stick with it.”
Burgess worked with the Exceptional Children’s Foundation in Inglewood, Calif., this year, and will be the featured guest at the organization’s charitable gala. He ran a free camp for kids in San Diego this month and used the platform to honor
health care workers in the area — and even provided lunch to 120 workers on-site at Tri-City Medical Center. He plans to start a foundation this year, with an emphasis on helping children and adults with special needs — and one day, he said, his voice rising with excitement as he brainstormed in the moment, he believes it’s possible for him to even open a school.
Burgess’ role on the field will expand immensely in 2021. As a versatile all-around defensive back in college, he can play everything from nickel to safety, the Rams believe, or even pop outside in certain packages — snaps that are increasingly important after the loss of Troy Hill in free agency, as Hill acted as a “master key” that helped unlock the Rams’ sub packages as well as the ability to move star corner Jalen Ramsey all around the field. In a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic earlier this month, Rams COO Kevin Demoff nodded toward Burgess as the expected replacement for Hill in that regard.
But Burgess believes it’s what he will do off the field — from something as simple as how he connects with teammates on tougher days, to the large-scale impact he hopes to have in the community — that will build his reputation, and then ultimately, his legacy.
“I really do believe that I’m a humanitarian first, and a football player second,” he said. “Obviously I love football. But I don’t want to be known as just a football player. If I can impact someone else’s life in any way, that’s more important to me.
“I want to be known for being a light.”
