Philadelphia tight end Trey Burton catches a pass in front of Minnesota’s Anthony Harris during the second half of the NFC championship game Jan. 21 in Philadelphia. Burton was also a standout at UF. [Michael Perez/Associated Press]
By Doug Fernandes, GateHouse Media Services
The scene last Sunday night at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. Minutes earlier, the Eagles had defeated the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game.
The next stop, the final one: Minneapolis for a Super Bowl LII date with the New England Patriots.
Standing amid it all, Trey Burton, football player, suddenly morphed into Trey Burton, husband and father.
“Just remember going crazy for a second and then remembering they’re letting the family come on the field to celebrate,” he said. ” ‘Oh, man, where’s my family?’ I knew the tunnel they were coming out of so I ran to the tunnel and almost as I was getting to the tunnel my kids were running out to come meet me with my wife. A special moment for all of us there.”
At that precise moment, 26-year-old Trey Burton wasn’t the high-school all-state quarterback who led the Venice Indians to 27 victories over three seasons. He wasn’t the Florida Gators’ Swiss Army Knife, once scoring six touchdowns in a game against Kentucky, a Gator record that may never be broken.
Achieving an athletic dream doesn’t automatically trigger a memory rewind of how that dream got realized. It was a moment in time — with his wife, Yesenia, and three children by his side — Burton wanted to last forever.
“Those thoughts of how long it takes to get here or how hard it is or the road, all that is for after the Super Bowl,” he said. “Until you get to the NFL, (the Super Bowl) is always a