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Georgia Tech Football: Former Jacket Morgan Burnett hangs up the cleats

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

Nov 14, 2019; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns strong safety Morgan Burnett (42) returns an interception to the Pittsburgh 30-yard-line during the second quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 14, 2019; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns strong safety Morgan Burnett (42) returns an interception to the Pittsburgh 30-yard-line during the second quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Former Georgia Tech football standout Morgan Burnett has hung up the cleats after a 10-year NFL career. The Memphis, Tennessee native announced his decision via his Instagram account on Monday. The announcement came after Burnett did not play in the 2020-2021 NFL season after being released by the Cleveland Browns last March.

Over his 10-year playing career, Burnett was a highly productive safety and one of the most consistent in the NFL. After being drafted in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers, Burnett played in 121 games including making 112 starts in his career. After playing in just four games as a rookie for the Packers due to a torn ACL, Burnett was quite a durable safety over the course of his career. From 2011 to 2018 he appeared in 109 of 128 possible regular-season games. In his 121 career games, Burnett totaled 770 career tackles including 540 solo tackles, 9.5 sacks, 52 pass deflections, and 10 interceptions. Also worth noting is that as a rookie, Burnett was a member of the Packers Super Bowl XLV winning team.

Burnett came to Georgia Tech as a member of the Jackets vaunted 2007 recruiting class and was the second-highest rated recruit in the class as he was considered a top-100 player in the nation. In high school, Burnett played all around the field spending time at quarterback, wide receiver, not to mention his time in the secondary. However, once he got to The Flats, the Jackets moved him to safety and the rest is history. Over the next three seasons, Burnett would play in 40 games for the program, totaling 235 tackles including 13.5 tackles for a loss and one sack. He also grabbed 14 interceptions in his career including an incredible seven during his sophomore season in 2008. He capped off that season with a pick-six of Matthew Stafford in a 45-42 win over Georgia. He would earn both First-Team and Second-Team All-American honors in 2008 while also earning First-team All-ACC honors.

Burnett would go onto be honored by Georgia Tech as a selection for their Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame class of 2020. As seen in his Instagram post above, Burnett keeps The Flats as a special place in his heart with the background of his retirement post featuring the Tech campus including the famous Tech Tower. Yellow Jacked Up wishes Morgan all the best in his next career and congratulates him on a fantastic NFL career.