Getty Trey Burton #88 of the Philadelphia Eagles speaks to the media during Super Bowl LII media availability on January 30, 2018 at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Trey Burton, the Philadelphia Eagles football player who helped make a sensational play in Super Bowl 2018, has a complicated family background that he has spoken openly about to the news media. His also comes from a family with extraordinary athletic talent, including a grandfather who competed in the Olympics.
Burton, who was called ‘Super Bowl 52’s Most Unlikely Hero’ by Sports Illustrated just a few days before the big game, tossed a game-changing pass to QB Nick Foles. You can watch the play here. His excellent play in Super Bowl 2018 has a lot of people wondering about his family.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Burton’s Father Left When He Was Barely a Teen But Burton Has Forgiven the Man
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Philly.com described Burton’s complicated family background in a 2018 column by writer Mike Sielski. According to Sielski, Burton visited his father’s parents in Los Angeles. However, his father was not there.
Trey last saw his father, whose name is BJ Burton, when he was only 13. He’s now 26. “He left,” Trey to Sielski. “My dad’s parents are, like, hiding him because he owed years and years of child support. They move him around to different spots. It’s kind of complicated, a lot of stuff going on. I don’t ever really want to talk to him.” You can read the full column here.
His football coaches and grandfather stepped in as role models. According to Gainesville.com, Burton said: “I moved on from all of it. I don’t hold any grudges. I don’t have any reason to talk to him or talk about him to anybody because he’s never been there… I’ve forgiven him and shown him grace and I believe everybody deserves all of that.”
2. Trey’s Grandfather, Lawrence, Competed in the Olympics & Held a World Record
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It’s easy to see that athletic talent runs in the Burton family. You can trace it back to Lawrence Burton, Trey’s grandfather, who was drafted into the NFL, held a world record, and competed in the Olympics.
According to The Herald Tribune, Lawrence Burton “was an All-America football player at Purdue…was the first-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in the 1975 draft…decided to go out for track one day in college, and nine months later he was competing for a gold medal in the 1972 Olympics.” The newspaper reported that he “once held the world record in the 60-yard dash.”
Lawrence Burton and Trey Burton are close, the newspaper reported.
3. Trey Burton Is the Married Father of Three Children
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Yesenia Burton is the wife of Trey Burton, who highlights his family on his Twitter profile, writing, “Husband of @senyaamariee and Father of Ariella Skye, Jaxon Carter & Kaia Grace…. No fear can hinder the promises You’ve made!”
Trey has been involved in charity efforts, including for the International Justice Mission, “which works to combat slavery and trafficking,” according to ABC 6.
4. Trey Is the Son of Cindy Burton & Has Two Brothers, Including One Who Played College Football
One of Trey’s brothers also plays football, according to a Philadelphia Eagles biography for him. His mother is named Cindy Burton. His brother Clay Burton “played collegiately at Florida and went to training camp with the Buffalo Bills in 2015,” The Eagles biography notes.
He played football at Venice High School in Florida, where he “threw for 1,876 yards, 18 TDs and 1 INT and rushed for 821 yards and 22 TDs, earning FSWA 5A All-State First-Team honors,” according to the Eagles. His other brother is named Jack MacFarland. According to the Eagles, “Burton graduated from Florida with a bachelor’s degree in family, youth and community science.”
5. Burton’s Family Was Already Full of ‘Die-Hard’ Eagles Fans
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It’s a good thing that Trey Burton ended up playing for the Philadelphia Eagles because his family are big Eagles fans. “My whole family are die-hard Eagles fans,” he said to MCall.com, “so just being able to experience that with them was something special.”
Although Trey Burton grew up in Florida, his mother has Pennsylania roots in Bucks County, making him an almost native in the minds of some Eagle fans, the newspaper notes.