AT COLORADO: This Season (Sr.)-After multiple shoulder surgeries, he feels 100 percent healthy for the first time a long while and his return will provide leadership and experience for a young secondary.

2008 (RS)-Redshirted; he underwent surgery following the Independence Bowl to mend chronic shoulder problems and had additional surgery later in the year.  He did not practice in the spring or fall. 

2007 (Jr.)-He started all 13 games including the Independence Bowl at right cornerback, one of just eight players to start every game for the Buffaloes in 2007.  He tied for the team defensive high with 796 snaps play (sitting out just 34), as his improvement was evident from start to finish over the course of the season.  He had 55 tackles (37 solo), with four for losses totaling 27 yards, along with eight pass deflections, six third down stops, three touchdown saves, two near-sacks, a tackle for zero and a caused interception. He had a career high eight tackles (four solo) at Arizona State, with seven stops each against Kansas State and Missouri; his six solo stops against the Wildcats was a career high as well, when he had three third down stops.  He added three solo tackles on special teams coverage duty.  In the bowl game against Alabama, he had two tackles (one solo) and a pass deflection.  He shifted to cornerback from safety for spring practice.

2006 (Soph.)-Saw action in all 12 games, nine on defense with two starts at free safety (Montana State, Baylor) and in all on special teams.  He recorded 23 tackles on the year, including 14 solo and one for a loss, as he was in for 195 snaps from scrimmage.  He had a season and career high seven tackles in his two starts, with five solo stops against Baylor and four versus MSU; he also had five tackles against Kansas State.  He tied for fourth on the team with five special team points, as he had three tackles (one solo, one inside-the-20), a knockdown block and a first downfield credit to alter a return.  He moved to safety from cornerback during two-a-days.

2005 (Fr.)-He played in 11 games as a true freshman, including the Champs Sports Bowl (no starts), mostly on special teams and in four on defense at cornerback.  His first action came in the second game of the year against New Mexico State, but he missed the next game at Miami due to illness before seeing action the remainder of the way.  In 43 snaps from scrimmage, he had six tackles (four solo), including two unassisted stops in the NMSU game when he made his first career interception.  His other four tackles all came at Texas in the regular season match-up.  On special teams duty, he recorded two knockdown blocks on returns. 

HIGH SCHOOL-An honorable mention all-state (5A) performer by the Denver Post as a senior, when he also earned second-team all-Centennial League accolades at safety.  After tearing his ACL and meniscus his junior year, he bounced back strong in 2004 to be named the Comeback Player of the Year, as he also garnered Mullen's Hang Tough Award for the second-straight season.  During his senior campaign he posted 126 tackles (62 solo) to rank eighth in the state.  Of those stops, 10 were tackles for loss, while he also added two forced fumbles, one recovered fumble, one interception, three quarterback pressures and seven pass breakups; he also recovered a blocked field goal.  Top games his senior year: in a win over Poudre, he had seven tackles and a fumble recovery that he returned for a 70-yard touchdown; he had five tackles and an interception in a victory over Montbello; and in a win against Smoky Hill, he had nine solo tackles and 15 overall.  Under coach Dave Logan, Mullen was 13-1 and won the 5A State Championship his senior year, and was 12-1 his junior year before falling in the state semifinals.  An all-around athlete, Burney played basketball and ran track as a freshman and sophomore.  He owned personal bests in the 100 (10.7) and 200 (24.0); he also ran the 4x100-meter relay.  He was a member of state champion teams in basketball (at Charlotte Country Day as an 11-year old) and track (at Mullen as a sophomore).

ACADEMICS-He is majoring in Film Studies at Colorado, and has earned first-team Academic All-Big 12 Conference honors both as a sophomore and junior.  He owned a 3.6 grade point average as a prep, was an Honor Roll student all four years of high school and was a member of the National Honor Society.  He earned several prestigious awards, the National Spanish Award, the Academic Athlete Award and the Scholastic Achievement Award, and as a junior, he was given Mullen's Outstanding Subject Achievement Awards in English and government.  He was also listed among the Who's Who Students of America.    

PERSONAL-Born March 29, 1987 in Tulsa, Okla.  Hobbies include drawing, photography, producing music with a beat machine and lifting weights.  He also enjoys making digital movies with his family members, and aspires to have a career in film someday.  His father (Jacob) has been the defensive line coach for the Denver Broncos since 2002; he was a four-year starter at defensive tackle at Tennessee-Chattanooga and had tryouts with the Detroit Lions in 1981 and 1982, but injuries cut short his potential NFL career.  An older brother, Jacob Jr., played defensive tackle at Bucknell, completing his career in 2005.  He spends time as a leader for the youth group "Off The Chain," and he also helped refurnish a local Denver church for a community service project.  He has lived in nine different states: while living in North Carolina, he helped out with the Special Olympics and taught math and reading to underprivileged children at elementary schools.  Active in the Denver chapter of Jack and Jill of America, he was one of 36 African-American males honored nationwide for 2004.  

ADDITIONAL STATISTICS—Interception Returns: 1-16, 16.0 avg., 0 TD (2005). Special Team Tackles: 1,1—2 (2006); 3,0—3 (2007).