Commodores in the NFL: Oren Burks Poised to Start in Another Super Bowl
How's this for strange-but-true? When the the Kansas City Chiefs take their first offensive snaps in Super Bowl LIX next week, they could be facing the same middle linebacker as the last Super Bowl, albeit on a different team and in both situations he was filling in for a standout starter.
A year ago it was for Dre Greenlaw following an Achilles injury at the start of the second quarter. Former Vanderbilt linebacker Oren Burks stepped in and made five tackles for the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII, which the Chiefs pulled out 25-22.
Although Burks didn't play especially well as the Chiefs went after him in the passing game, he's getting a second chance after spending nearly the entire season as a reserve on the Philadelphia Eagles' depth chart, and nearly didn't stay with the team after missing most of training camp with a knee injury. He stepped at middle linebacker after Nakobe Dean underwent surgery for a torn patellar tendon suffered during the Eagles’ wild-card win over Green Bay.
“I don’t take anything for granted, even though I’ve been in the playoffs a bunch of times,” Burks recently told Philadelphia Eagles on SI. “There’s so much to say about how everybody goes through their journeys, specifically, to get to this point.
“Collectively there will never be a team like this next year, so I really just embrace it and take this mindset of consistency, doing my job, and finding ways to add value. It’s fun. This is what I signed up for when working in the offseason, sweating and grinding and everything, this is when it counts.”
Burks hasn't looked like the same linebacker as a year ago during this Super Bowl run, having started in four of the last five games for the Eagles. He set a career best with 17 tackles, including eight solo and two for a loss, in the regular-season finale against the New York Giants.
In the playoffs, he was credited with four tackles and a forced fumble against the Packers. A week later Burks started and made six tackles and broke up a pass against the Rams. Last week in the NFC Championship Game against the Commanders he started and made nine tackles and had another forced fumble.
Burks has forced a fumble in three of those five games, beginning with knocking the ball loose from Dallas Cowboys tight end Justin Ferguson in the second quarter on Dec. 29. However, his big hit on Packers return man Keisean Nixon, which was not flagged, later resulted in a $8,333 fine from the league for unnecessary roughness (use of his helmet).
OREN. BURKS. WHAT A HIT 💥
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) January 12, 2025
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“Proud of him,” head coach Nick Sirianni said about the seventh-year veteran after the Rams win. “Proud of the effort he had. To say I was surprised by it, not even a little bit. He's a warrior and he gives everything he has to this. He's a special teammate. The guys really respond to him.”
Perhaps another reason why Burks may have looked comfortable last week was that was his fifth NFC Championship Game, having played in two with the Packers and two with the 49ers. Few players get that kind of opportunity in the National Football League, and even fewer have played in back-to-back Super Bowls on different teams.
“I feel like I always believed I could do it,” Burks told WHTM in Harrisburg, Pa. “I just needed the opportunity. Most of my career has been up and down, a lot of special teams. Throughout all that, I just wanted to grow, to get better. You don’t see the praise and everything, but I fell in love with the process and finding ways to get better. Then you have guys around you that believe in you, coaches that believe in you, that goes a long way.”
Vanderbilt Players on NFL Rosters
Oren Burks, linebacker, Philadelphia Eagles
Adam Butler, defensive tackle, Las Vegas Raiders
Zach Cunningham, linebacker, Denver Broncos
Allan George, cornerback, Washington Commanders
Matthew Hayball, punter, New Orleans Saints
Jaylen Mahoney, safety, San Francisco 49ers
Jordan Matthews, tight end, Carolina Panthers
Dayo Odeyingbo, defenisve end, Indianapolis Colts
Anfernee Orji, linebacker, New Orleans Saints
Trent Sherfield Sr., wide receiver, Minnesota Vikings
Justin Skule, tackle, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
See Also: Vanderbilt Football's Greatest Upset in Program History Named Game of the Year
Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.