Joe Burnett Discusses His UCF Hall of Fame Career

This week, we will publish an exclusive five-part series as we interview every member of the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2022, which will be inducted this Friday night.

We begin with defensive back and kick returner Joe Burnett, who helped the UCF Knights to their first two bowl berths (2005 Hawai’i Bowl and 2007 Liberty Bowl) and the first-ever conference championship in 2007.

Burnett owns the school record for interceptions with 16, and also is tied for the record for most punt return touchdowns with three, plus he ran back two kickoffs for touchdowns. He was first-team All-American as a senior in 2008.

Burnett was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round (168th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played three seasons in the NFL with the Steelers (2009-2010), New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars (2011), but would achieve notoriety in the CFL from 2011-2018, playing for the Edmonton Elks (2011-2014), Calgary Stampeders (2015-2017), and Montreal Alloutes (2018).

Burnett spoke to us how he ended up at UCF, and discusses some highlights of his UCF and professional career and more: