Archives for May 24, 2004

‘As the starting center and captain of the Boston Patriots, he faced Buffalo’s defensive tackles Tom Sestak and Jim Dunaway and middle linebacker Harry Jacobs in the Bills’ very first playoff game in 1963. After both teams finished the regular season with 7-6-1 records, they met in a snowy War Memorial Stadium on a sub-freezing late December afternoon for the division title. "I’ll tell you what we had to do," recalls Cudzik. "Before the game, they had us doing some of the manual labor to get the field cleared enough to play. We were out there with shovels trying to get the markers and yard-lines clean. I don’t think we did the whole thing, but I thought that was kind of interesting."’

‘Q: Growing up did you ever imagine yourself to be where you are today?

MG: No, I didn’t start playing football until my sophomore year in high school. I always wanted to be a basketball player. I was a huge basketball fan. I still am but football has taken over that.

‘"My second dream job is to be a high school history teacher," said Burns. "There were a lot of teachers in my younger days that pushed me to go to college, and encouraged me to do other things besides just graduating from high school. I want to give other kids that same opportunity and motivate them so they know they can achieve any dream they have."’