Brian Burns’ reconnection with God, and how it fueled an emotional day at Panthers-Falcons
It was only the third play of the first drive of the first game of the 2023 NFL season — but Brian Burns had something to say.
Something to unleash.
So he did.
It was a third-and-long on Sunday’s opening drive at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder dropped back for a pass, but just as he took his steps back, he almost immediately thrusted himself forward, trying to elude a Panthers pass rush. Burns, as he recalled postgame, “burned the edge” and stretched his long arms out there and knocked the ball loose for a strip-sack.
Burns followed the play up with a flex and a scream to a stunned crowd — celebrating, yes, but also, perhaps, letting something go.
“A bit,” Burns said postgame when asked if that play in particular was cathartic. “It was. Like I said, it’s been a time.”
Burns, the defensive captain and charismatic star whose long-term future with the Carolina Panthers as of Sunday evening was still up in the air, played a special game in his team’s season-opening, 24-10 loss to the Falcons. The team’s only Pro Bowler a year ago finished with seven tackles, 1.5 sacks, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble.
He seemed to play in a way that suggested more was on his mind than just his fifth season debut in a to-this-point standout career.
And a lot of that has to do with the fact that, earlier this week, it was unclear whether he’d play at all.
The conclusion of Burns’ preseason was riddled in tension, a result of he and the team being unable to agree to terms of a contract extension. He missed two practices (while still showing up to the facility and going to meetings) and chose to not publicly discuss the ongoing negotiations between him and the Panthers. Head coach Frank Reich lauded Burns for never being a distraction to the team — and his teammates pretty much unanimously had Burns’ back, all of them saying he deserved to get his due pay.
But as talks stalled, the possibility of not playing Sunday lingered. Burns even entertained the option earlier this week, he admitted postgame, before ultimately deciding to line up with his team Sunday.
“Spent a lot of time, spent it with myself, I cut the world off for a minute,” he told reporters in the locker room postgame. “I got some great advice from a friend, (veteran linebacker Justin Houston), he gave me some great advice: ‘Sometimes, you just gotta cut off the world and talk to God.’
“So that’s what I did. And I played.”
Burns added, though, that despite what’s going on between the front office and him, he plans on playing the rest of the season: “I’m playing” were his exact words, adding, “God got his hands on me, he’s gonna protect me. It is what it is.”
“I always had a relationship with (God), but through these times that I’ve been going through, He’s shown me a lot,” Burns continued. “He’s talked to me. He’s gotten me through a lot, and He’s really developed my mental in a way that I can deal with what I’m going through.”
Burns added: “I feel like you go through some challenges, and like I said, my relationship with God has gotten stronger, and I want to continue that. I hate that it took this long to really get into it, but we’re trying.”
His teammates could discern what this game meant to Burns. That was evident in the first quarter alone.
“I mean, he came out and did what he’s been doing ever since the day he reported to camp,” defensive lineman Derrick Brown said. “Super electric. Got out there. They eventually stopped doing things that he could get to. He had a great game.
“Brian is our brother. Despite what’s going on between him and front office — that’s his situation to talk about, leave that to him — but on the field, off the field, that’s my brother.”
Shaq Thompson agreed with Brown’s sentiment.
“Brian had the first five stops, I think,” Thompson said. “That just shows you who the guy is, man. He’s a leader of this defense. He’s the energy guy of this defense.”
Burns’ production slightly dipped after the first quarter. But that had to do with a lot of factors outside of Burns’ control: Atlanta started game-planning around him, mostly — chipping him on the line and running the ball more as the Falcons managed a lead built off the turnovers of a fledgling Panthers offense.
“I don’t feel like I have anything to prove,” Burns said. “I feel like I’ve done what I’ve needed to do, being consistent. I’m just taking the next step in my game. I want to dominate, you know? So coming down in that first quarter, first half, whatever. That’s all that was on my mind: dominate. I just gotta make sure I don’t fizzle out when they change their game plan.”
Burns’ impact was still felt after the game, though. The 25-year-old Florida State alum said he spoke to his teammates after head coach Frank Reich addressed everyone postgame. The way he phrased it, it was as if he was speaking to himself and everyone else all at once: Make sure things happen for you, not to you.
This is all what a younger Burns would’ve done, sure: the loyalty to his teammates, the speaking to his team postgame. But he showed a few moments of an evolved Burns on Sunday, too. His reconnection with God, for one. For another: “I’ve been reading. Got a little book (of devotions) … gives you a message every day.”
The most revealing change, perhaps?
He forgot to do his Spider-Man pose after each of his two sacks Sunday — a trademarked move celebrating Burns’ favorite superhero.
Emotion overcame him and took over, he said.
Catharsis tends to do that.
“Like you could see, I didn’t do the pose today,” Burns said, trying to recollect what he’d just lived. “Just raw emotion.”
He added with a smile: “Now that I got it out of my system, it’s time to ball.”
This story was originally published September 11, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
