Chadron State College Athletics

A native of Morrill, Burden played football for the Eagles in 1939, ’40 and ’41 before he was called for military duty during World War II.  He returned to college in 1947 and was an all-state center on the school’s conference co-championship team.  He played linebacker on defense. Prior to the war, Burden played what was called “running guard” on the short side of the Eagles’ single-wing alignment. He was positioned between the center and the end and often pulled and tried to block ahead of the ball carrier. He had been a sprinter in high school and had the speed to handle the position.
Burden also played football two years while he was serving in the Army Air Corps. He spent much of his 3½-year hitch in London helping repair U.S. warplanes that had been damaged while bombing Nazi territory.  He said 60 football teams were formed to help keep the GIs who played in shape and to entertain the thousands of others who were stationed in England. In both 1943 and ’44, Burden was on teams that played six or seven games.  As a senior at CSC, Burden weighed 197 pounds, about 35 more than before the war, and was a much stronger and more experienced player.    
Burden spent his entire 31-year teaching and coaching career at Hill City, S.D., retiring in 1979. His football, basketball and track teams won at least 20 conference championships.  When the new gymnasium was opened in Hill City in 1978, it was named in his honor.