University of Connecticut Athletics
Burns Makes An Impression, On And Off The Field
8/21/2022 10:47:00 PM | Football
UConn Athletic Communications / Aug. 22, 2022
STORRS – If Robert Burns doesn't carry the football once this season, if he doesn't gain a single rushing yard, if he doesn't even make a game appearance, he will still be an asset to the UConn football team.
Of course, the reality is that Burns will carry the ball numerous times for the Huskies this season, he will gain plenty of rushing yards, and he will appear in a game as soon as Saturday's season opener at Utah State.
And he most certainly will be an asset to the UConn football team.
"Robert Burns has been an absolute blessing for this team," UConn coach Jim Mora said after a recent practice. "Number One, his character and his maturity are off the charts. This is a real man.
"He's really a role model for others on this team, certainly the young people on this team. Hopefully, he's a role model for other college athletes because the balance he brings to academics, athletics and all the other stuff he does in the community is amazing. It shows you that if you have a platform like he has because he's a college football player, or a basketball player, or a pro, use it to benefit others. And he is the epitome of that."
Burns, a graduate student in his second year at UConn after transferring from Miami, has already made an impact off the football field. While at Miami, he and good friend Mo Hasan founded Second Spoon, an organization dedicated to collecting leftover food from universities, grocery stores, and restaurants and using it to feed the homeless. Hasan, now at USC, has expanded the organization to Southern California, while Burns is looking to bring his philanthropy to UConn.
"Here, the demographic is a little different," Burns said. "The places where Second Spoon is, they are more condensed city areas. In Storrs, the need isn't as great. But I have an app that I have been working on. It's called Invicta and the idea behind it is to help student-athletes transition to the real world.
"I've come across guys who are really talented and maybe even had a great career, but they struggle three or four years after football is done. Our app is to help them with life skills – networking, body language, things of that nature. It was just an incredible opportunity that I had a couple of partners present to me and I felt it was just something I had to be a part of."
UConn football is also something Burns wants to be part of – a major part.
"My role will be however Coach elects to use me," he said. "Coach (Nick) Charlton (UConn offensive coordinator) is a creative guy and he finds a way to put me in winning positions. You're going to see a lot from me."
Mora maintains that Burns' versatility has made him a big part of the Huskies' game plans.
"His versatility has given Nick a whole lot of flexibility to do different things," Mora said. "Once he gets going, he's really tough. Another thing is, he's really bright as a football player. He's very bright as a human being, but he's got really great football intelligence, so he can do a lot of things – he can line up in the backfield, he can line up as a tight end, he can line up wide, he can line up as the single back -- and that gives us the flexibility to do a lot of different things with the same personnel group."
On and off the field, Burns has clearly made an impression.
"You just love being around people like that," Mora said. "You hope it rubs off on everybody and you hope other people notice it and then they try to emulate it and do the same thing. That grows not only your internal culture, but the perception of your program outside is like, 'Wow, these people are not entitled, they don't just care about themselves, they do care about the community.' And Robert Burns, that's who he is. It's awesome." Â Â Â
