Adversity made Burns flourish, not falter

[stillers4me]

Artie Burns former college coach, Al Golden, shared what makes the Steelers No. 1 pick so strong.If there is one thing that makes Al Golden, the former University of Miami head coach, who is now the tight ends coach for the Detroit Lions, happy it’s that Artie Burns (http://www.steelers.com/team/roster/artie-burns/505d9991-a3bb-419d-a81a-3d2f276a4fab/) hasn’t changed since he was a teenager.

Sure, Burns has matured as a player and a person, but the Steelers first round draft pick is still the same person that Golden fell in love with when he was recruiting him to become a Miami Hurricane.

“He was quiet by nature, then and now,” said Golden. “He is a smiler. He is someone that listens and takes it all in. He is very family-oriented, has a great relationship with his grandparents, with his brothers, with his entire family. He has strong family values. He was a good kid then, and he still is that same good kid.”.......

read more @ http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Adversity-made-Burns-flourish-not-falter/92046027-be1d-46b0-b3ca-78f081527865

[BlackAndGold]

Death, prison and a 'village' of support: Rookie Artie Burns' road to the Steelers

Burns’ mom died in October. With his father imprisoned, the rookie — with plenty of love — is now a “provider” for his younger brothers

By Stephen J. Nesbitt / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

MIAMI — As draft day dawned on South Florida, John and Barbara Cason parked their pickup near the back fence at Caballero Rivero Dade North cemetery and stepped outside. They have come here often, to think and pray, in the six months since their daughter’s death.

Dana Smith was 44 when she died Oct. 27 after a heart attack. She left behind three boys: Artie, now 21, Thomas, 16, and Jordan, 13. With their father stuck in a South Carolina prison since 2006, she had raised the boys to be dreamers, as devoted as they were driven.

Draft day had to begin here, with her. The NFL was as much her dream as it was the dream of Artie Burns, now a Steelers rookie.

So, before the Casons went to their grandson’s watch party at The Betsy Hotel on South Beach, where ESPN and NFL Network cameras would broadcast Artie Burns’ football fate, they dressed up their daughter’s gravestone with a fresh bouquet of roses and chrysanthemums, red and white, pink and yellow.

“We’ve come the last mile,” John Cason prayed aloud. “Everything you worked for, Mom and I have taken care of it. Artie will be a first-round draft pick. You raised a beautiful son. You have to be proud of him.”

Draft experts were divided on Burns, a cornerback who possessed elite speed but flimsy film after three years at the University of Miami. What caught the attention of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was the twisting road Burns had taken. The night before Miami’s pro day in April, Tomlin had dinner with Burns and had him tell his story.

Burns later described their dinner conversation as, “Ball, life, everything.”

Just after 10:45 April 28, draft night, Burns’ cell phone rang. He bowed his head and smiled. The Cincinnati Bengals were on the clock, No. 24 overall. For about five minutes, everyone at the party was certain Burns was headed to Cincinnati.

Finally, Artie Burns looked back up and said, “All right, Coach T.”

“Coach Who?” his agent Melvin Bratton asked.

“Coach T,” Burns replied. “We’re going to Pittsburgh.”

Ready full story: http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2016/05/08/Rookie-Artie-Burns-road-to-NFL-and-Pittsburgh-Steelers/stories/201605080129

[stillers4me]

I'm going to post this article as a separate post.

I am asking... again... to please not bury articles in other threads. It's ok to post articles with new information in separate posts at Steelers Universe. All the new threads get automatically posted to Twitter, which creates hundreds of hits to our site. It's not necessary post an article that's essentially a repeat of another. If there's one little piece of information in a second article that you want to bring attention to, you can post the quote with a link in the original topic. An article like this one can be posted as a separate tread. It contains a completely new story. When you bury it, half of our members will miss it because they already read the original story, plus it will never get cross posted. There has just been way too many buried article lately. I would miss them myself if I weren't a mod and checking all the posts.

If an article is actually redundant, a mod will merge it with another thread. Thanks for sharing all the articles. I really appreciate seeing them already here, especially when I'm really otherwise busy. I know you guys are on it! :drink:

[BlackAndGold]

My apologies, didn't realize post(s) went to a twitter page that helps the site. Still used to posting at forums like SF & SX.

[hawaiiansteeler]

My apologies, didn't realize post(s) went to a twitter page that helps the site. Still used to posting at forums like SF & SX.

I did the same exact thing when I first started posting here.

this is the only message board I've ever been at where you are encouraged to start a new thread whenever you post a new article. there's certainly nothing wrong with that at all, it just takes some getting used to because if you do that at other message boards you will encounter immediate whining about how we already have x amounts of threads on that subject...

[stillers4me]

My apologies, didn't realize post(s) went to a twitter page that helps the site. Still used to posting at forums like SF & SX.

You guys are awesome and we appreciate the articles everybody shares! :hug:

Occasionally, we will merge some posts if they get too redundant, but it's just to clean things up a bit. No harm done! :drink: