GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Clay Burton skipped school on Friday. He'll do the same Monday, and then on Tuesday, he plans to be back in front of his social studies class at Venice (Fla.) High with stories to share.
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Burton's excuse for playing hooky is a good one: he is Minneapolis for Super Bowl LII between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. In fact, his colleagues and students at Venice High wanted him gone.Â
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They knew that if Clay Burton was not around on Super Bowl weekend, Trey Burton was playing in the Super Bowl.
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"I've been on the playoff run with him,'' Clay said Friday afternoon after getting settled in Minnesota. "He has earned it and deserves it. We're just so proud of him."
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Florida fans need no introduction to the Burton boys. They are now young men making a positive impact in their communities, Trey in his fourth season with the Eagles and Clay in his second year as receivers coach/teacher at Venice, where both starred before signing with the Gators.
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A year older than Clay, Trey is trying to follow in his younger brother's footsteps for a change. Clay Burton earned a championship ring in December when Venice High won the Class 7A state championship, the school's first state title in 17 years.
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Trey's chance comes on the grandest stage in sports.
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An undrafted free agent, Trey signed with the Eagles in 2014 and has worked his way from primarily a standout on special teams to an integral part of the Eagles' offense. Burton has 23 catches for 248 yards and five touchdowns.
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At Philadelphia's Super Bowl media session, Burton answered question after question about his rise from a relatively unknown player in his first three seasons to where he is today. More than one story this week paints Burton as a potential X-factor in Sunday's game.
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"You don't really know how much you are going to be able to play or how much you're not going to play,'' Burton said. "That's just my role. I've always prided myself in knowing what my role is and doing it well."
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Burton has worn many hats on the field his whole career. At Florida, he played five positions, spending time at tailback, fullback, tight end, receiver and quarterback. Now listed as a 6-foot-3, 235-pound tight end, Burton has developed into a secret weapon for the Eagles.
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At least earlier in the season.
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"He's a weapon, I'm not so sure he's secret anymore," Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich told reporters on Tuesday. "He's extremely reliable. If I took the 20 best routes our receivers and tight ends have run this year, Trey's going have his share of them."
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Burton plays behind Zach Ertz and veteran Brent Celek. While Ertz leads the team in catches (74) and receiving yards (824), Burton has supplanted Celek as the No. 2 go-to tight end in the three tight-end formation the Eagles use as part of their regular scheme on offense.
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Burton's emergence as an offensive threat is one of the reasons the Eagles' offense has remained effective despite the transition from injured quarterback Carson Wentz to Nick Foles.
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"He's valuable," Eagles coach Doug Pederson said Tuesday. "You can move him around a little bit on offense and obviously on special teams. We've got to find ways to continue to get him on the field."
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Off the field, Burton is active in the Philadelphia community and a fan favorite in a city with a reputation as one hard to please. He and his wife, Yesenia, are the parents of three young kids.
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The Eagles were the only team that showed significant interest in Burton after his UF career ended suddenly on a 50-yard run against Florida State in 2013. Burton injured his shoulder on the play and had to watch the rest of the game from the sideline.
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Trey Burton, left, and younger brother, Clay, during their time together as UF teammates from 2011-13. (File photo)
While Burton's career has taken off, he remains grounded. In trying to connect with him for this story, we traded direct messages on Twitter for a Friday chat. It never materialized. And then late Saturday night, less than 24 hours until kickoff, Burton responded to see if we could talk in 30 minutes.
The writer didn't see the message until hours later. Burton did answer one question in the notebook during his Super Bowl media session.
What does playing in the Super Bowl mean to you considering the road you had to take to get here?
"It's bigger than any game I've ever played in,'' Burton told reporters. "I'm going to try as much as I can not to be anxious. After my second year I knew I could be a really good special teams player in this league, but I didn't want to stop there."
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Trey isn't the only Burton who will try not to be jittery. Clay will have all sorts of memories running through his mind when his older brother runs onto the field at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Burton boys have been linked at the hip for a quarter century. Clay had a brief stint with the Bills during camp in 2015, but once that didn't work out, he moved into the real world.
He gets to share in Trey's world at the Super Bowl.
"It's just Trey and what he does,'' Clay said. "He's an incredible guy you want to have on your team. He's a positive influence in the locker room. When he's been presented the opportunity, he's produced and made the most of it.
"It's a dream to see him and all his hard work pay off. I've got a feeling he is going to make a play and cement his legacy."
That would be quite a story to share when Clay returns to Venice.
