The 49ers agreed to terms on a two-year deal with linebacker Oren Burks on Tuesday, giving them a player who can add depth and athleticism on defense and special teams.
But there's a lot more to Burks than just football, as you're about to find out.
Here's a look at what the 49ers are getting in Burks as a player and as a (rather fascinating) person.
He was a pre-draft riser
Burks' list of scholarship offers after he finished his standout career at South County High School in Fairfax Station, Virginia included Penn State, Virginia Tech, and the University of Virginia, but he chose to sign with Vanderbilt, where he went on to a productive college career on and off the field. We'll get to Burks' impressive off-field resume in a bit, but on the field he totaled 228 tackles, 4.5 sacks, five interceptions, 15.5 tackles for loss, 21 passes defensed, and two fumble recoveries while starting at three different positions (safety, hybrid safety/linebacker, and inside linebacker).
Burks then saw his stock skyrocket with strong showings at the 2018 Senior Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine. Burks ranked among the top performers at his position at the combine, clocking a 4.59 in the 40-yard dash at 6-3, 233 pounds with a 39.5-inch vertical jump, a 131-inch broad jump, a 6.82-second 3-cone drill, and a 4.15-second 20-yard shuttle. Those performances were enough to push him into Round 3, where he was selected by the Green Bay Packers with the 88th pick overall. The Packers traded a fourth-round pick and a fifth-round pick to move up to pick 88 in order to select Burks.
"Before the Senior Bowl and the combine, I was a late-round guy," Burks said in 2018, per Connection Newspapers.
His time in Green Bay fell short of expectations
Burks ultimately fell short of delivering what the Packers likely hoped they'd get from him on defense. He wound up starting just seven games for the Packers, playing in 480 defensive snaps over four seasons. He totaled 92 tackles, two forced fumbles and 0.5 sacks in 59 regular season games with two tackles for loss.
Matt Hendershott of ZoneCoverage.com says Burks didn't quite fit into what the Packers were trying to do on defense until they hired Joe Barry as defensive coordinator in 2021.
"Early injuries and a square-peg-round-hole positional conundrum kept Burks from becoming a major player in the Packers' defense, though he was one of the bright(er) spots on special teams," wrote Hendershott. "He had his best year as a defender in Year 1 of the Joe Barry system, with a career-high 53.8 PFF grade."
Burks will likely continue being a key special teams piece for the 49ers while also providing depth at linebacker. He played on 1175 total special teams snaps in Green Bay.
He's Social Justice-oriented
When it comes to social issues, Burks follows in the footsteps of his great uncle Andrew Jackson White, who worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. Burks wasn't afraid to speak up about race and social justice issues at Vanderbilt and has also gotten involved in politics on multiple occasions.
"Seeing the impact that (White) and others had in their generation motivates me," Burks said in 2016, per the Nashville Tennesseean. "I love playing football, but I want a purpose beyond just what's on the field."
Burks also co-founded a group called REVAMP (Revitalizing & Empowering Vanderbilt's African Man Population) during his days at Vanderbilt, whose goal is "to establish and foster a sense of unity, strength, and love among Black men and to direct it towards uplifting the community at large."
He loves to be involved in the community and seems to have a wide variety of interests
In addition to his football and social justice efforts, Burks has a track record for giving back to the community.
During his college days, according to Vanderbilt.edu, Burks "served in 2016–17 as president of Vanderbilt's Student-Athlete Advisory Council, which represents the concerns of student-athletes and connects them with the rest of campus through community service and other activities. His work with SAAC and Soles4Souls, a global nonprofit that fights poverty through the distribution of shoes, helped earn him a spot on the 2016 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, which honored 12 Division I-A football players from across the nation for their commitment to community service. He also was one of four national finalists for the prestigious 2017 Wooden Citizenship Cup."
Learn more about Burks' involvement at Vanderbilt in this video:
Burks was also involved with a number of causes during his days with the Packers, including House of Hope, which was dedicated to helping women and children out of homelessness in Green Bay.
Burks has his own web site where he refers to himself as a "Husband, Believer, Businessman, Philanthropist who just so happens to play linebacker for the Green Bay Packers." He invites people to connect with him on the topics of real estate, investing, Bitcoin/blockchain, music, social enterprise, and antique cars (with a preference for Chevrolet).
It runs in the family
Burks' sister Whitney has a resume as impressive as his. Whitney played softball at Stanford, where she was a four-time Pac-12 All-Academic honoree. She hit 23 home runs with 103 RBI in four seasons, while majoring in Materials Science and Engineering. Whitney's bio at GoStanford.com says she began working in a bio-nano technology lab on campus during her junior year in 2016 that went on to become a company for which she took a role as the head of product design and product assembly. And in 2013, she had a science fair project that was recognized by the CIA, which resulted in her getting a tour of CIA facilities in Langley, Virginia.
And now it's Oren's turn to make his mark in the Bay Area. Let's see what he can do.
