Michigan State University Athletics
Burke is MSU's Top Gun
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
November 19, 1998
Bill Burke doesn't necessarily conform with the typical role of the starting quarterback - the big man on campus.
Burke is more likely to spend a night at home watching movies than maintaining a high profile around East Lansing. If he does venture out, it's usually to anonymous venues like a movie theater or a Shania Twain concert.
"I'm kind of a homebody in a sense, I don't like to be in the middle of everything all the time," Burke says. "Sometimes it can be difficult. When you go out to places, you notice that you get some strange looks - you don't know if they are good looks or bad looks, or if you know that person or you don't."
So Burke spends most of his Sundays and his nights at home in his off-campus apartment, with a Robert DeNiro or Joe Pesci film in the VCR. Or maybe one of his all-time favorites, "Top Gun."
Truth is, some on the MSU campus didn't know what to make with Burke in the role of starting quarterback at the beginning of this season.
With a heralded true freshman joining the Spartans in Ryan Van Dyke, many fans and media members - nearly everyone but the coaching staff - seemed ready to push Burke aside in favor of the youngster.
While Burke's facial features may suggest Tom Cruise, his play on the field is far from the style of Maverick, Cruise's character in "Top Gun."
Burke won't take an unnecessary risk to make a play - he makes the safe plays, the safe passes and would not, to quote the movie, "break a major rule of engagement."
For fans and the media, the potential for a more flamboyant, gunslinging quarterback may have been enticing. But the speculation didn't bother Burke.
"I try not to think about things that I can't control like that," Burke says. "I try to come out every day and do what I have to do. I put everything I have into it and let the chips fall where they may."
It's not as if Burke wasn't prepared to wait out the pre- and early-season hype to claim the job he felt he was ready for. Patience has been a quality of Burke's since high school in Warren, Ohio.
Burke was a late recruit to Michigan State, and didn't even visit the school until Coach Nick Saban's staff signed on after Burke's senior season was over. He had taken visits to Minnesota and Maryland, but hadn't fallen in love with a school - until he visited East Lansing.
"I think every kid who gets recruited has a fear of getting locked into a place where he won't be happy," Burke says. "I got really lucky to find this place. Once I got up here it really was the picture of what I wanted college to be. It's been a tremendous experience, and I'm still having a great time."
Once he got here, Burke had to be patient as well. He spent a year redshirting while Tony Banks was a starter and two more years backing up Todd Schultz. Save two starts in 1996, Burke was essentially waiting for Schultz to graduate before he got his chance.
"I didn't have any problem with waiting," Burke says. "I realized that I was going to have to be patient in terms of football."
Burke, quite simply, has been worth the wait for Michigan State fans. He has been at his best in the pressure situations - on national TV against Notre Dame, down the stretch vs. Indiana and, of course, against the No. 1 team in the nation, on the road, at Ohio State.
The win over the Buckeyes was the sweetest for the Ohio native.
"It felt great," Burke says. "If I could pick one team to be No. 1 in the nation and for us to beat them, it would be Ohio State. It was perfect, because I was from the area."
That win was so big, Burke's lifestyle changed in the immediate aftermath. He was thrown into the role that people were originally reluctant to give him - that of the big-man-on-campus, superstar quarterback.
"I've been thrust into the spotlight since the win over Ohio State, with a lot more interview requests," he says. "Reporters and fans alike have been coming out of the woodwork to talk about that game.
"But I understand the nature of this game - you're only as good as your last game."
That's why even after beating "the best of the best," Burke still spends his free time in his apartment, watching "Top Gun."
