THE FLATS – Georgia Tech Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champion Morgan Burnett represents Tech in the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Football Honors class, which was unveiled on Tuesday.
Burnett is part of a group of 14 ACC legends that will be honored during the 2021 ACC Football Honors ceremony, which will take place in Charlotte, N.C. on Friday, Dec. 3, the eve of the 2021 Subway ACC Football Championship Game.
One of the most decorated defensive backs in Georgia Tech history, Burnett was a member of Tech’s famed recruiting class of 2007 (which was spearheaded by current head coach Geoff Collins when he served as the Yellow Jackets’ director of player personnel in 2006) and played three seasons for the Jackets (2007-09). Burnett helped lead Tech to 27 wins, a pair of ACC Coastal Division titles (2008 and 2009) and an appearance in the 2009 ACC Championship Game in his three seasons on The Flats.
Despite playing just three collegiate seasons, Burnett’s 14 career interceptions remain tied for second in Georgia Tech history. His seven interceptions as a sophomore in 2008 are tied for the fourth-most in Tech single-season history and were tied for the most in the nation that season. He led the Yellow Jackets in interceptions each of his three seasons and also led the team in tackles as a junior in 2009. He was named first-team all-America in 2008, earned second-team honors in 2009 and was a two-time all-ACC honoree before being selected by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 2010 National Football League Draft.
Burnett went on to play 10 NFL seasons with the Packers (2010-17), Pittsburgh Steelers (2018) and Cleveland Browns (2019). He played in 121 NFL games, started 112 and racked up 770 career tackles and 10 interceptions. As a rookie, he and the Packers defeated the Steelers, 31-25, in Super Bowl XLV.
A metro Atlanta native (North Clayton H.S.), Burnett was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in October.