Happy Birthday to Morgan Burnett!
Packers S Morgan Burnett celebrates his birthday on Jan. 13. See photos and facts from his career. Photos by Evan Siegle and Corey Wilson, packers.com.


Burnett ranks No. 3 among Green Bay safeties (since 1982) in career sacks (7.5), according to STATS, trailing LeRoy Butler (20.5) and Mark Murphy (11.0). Is tied for No. 4 among NFL safeties in sacks since 2011 (7.5).

42, played in and started 15 games in 2016, leading the Packers with 92 tackles (78 solo) while finishing second on the team with 13 passes defensed. His career-best three sacks ranked No. 2 in the NFL among safeties (Giants S Landon Collins, four).

He finished tied for No. 4 on the team in tackles (74) and tied for No. 3 in solo tackles (55) despite missing five games due to a calf injury in 2015. Started both postseason contests and tied for the team lead with 14 tackles (11 solo).

Burnett led the team with 125 tackles (99 solo) and was tied for No. 3 on the team with a career-best 11 special teams tackles in 2014, despite missing one game due to injury.

42, posted two sacks and an interception in the 2014 NFC Championship Game at Seattle, becoming the first defensive back in franchise history (since 1982) to register two sacks in a postseason contest.

He started each of the final 13 games in 2013, posting 106 tackles (77 solo), nine passes defensed and a career-high and team-leading three fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for his first career TD.

Burnett opened each of the team's 16 games (plus both playoff contests) for the second consecutive season in 2012 and finished second on the defense with a career-high 137 tackles (97 solo), two sacks, 13 passes defensed, two forced fumbles, an interception and a fumble recovery.

42, participated in all 1,088 plays for Green Bay's defense in 2012, and, according to NFL participation statistics, was one of only four non-offensive linemen in the NFL to appear on 100 percent of his team's snaps, joining St. Louis LB James Laurinaitis, Indianapolis QB Andrew Luck and San Diego QB Philip Rivers.

He started each of the team's 16 regular-season games in 2011, the first two at strong safety and the final 14 at free safety in place of an injured Nick Collins (neck), one of only two Green Bay defenders to start all 16 games (NT B.J. Raji).

42, suffered a hand injury in practice in advance of the team's Week 6 contest vs. St. Louis in 2011, but remained in the lineup and played the ensuing six games with a cast on.

Despite the injury, Burnett continued to fill in the statistics sheet in his first full season of action, posting a secondary-high 107 tackles (83 solo) and a career-high 14 passes defensed. Added three interceptions, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and his first career sack.

He was one of only two players on the team (CB Charles Woodson) to record a sack, an interception, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble in 2011.

He posted three INTs in the season's first three games, and combined with his one in the first four games of 2010, became the first Packer since S Chuck Cecil in 1988 to have four INTs in his first seven NFL games.

Burnett started the first four games at SS in 2010 before his rookie campaign was cut short by a season-ending knee injury (ACL) sustained in Week 4. Became just the third Packers rookie to open the season as a starter at safety since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, joining Tom Flynn (1984) and Collins (2005).

He was selected by the Packers in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft with the No. 71 overall pick. Green Bay traded up 15 spots from No. 86 overall to get him, surrendering that selection plus a fourth-round pick (No. 122 overall) to the Philadelphia Eagles, the third straight year GM Ted Thompson moved up in the draft to select a defensive player (Jeremy Thompson in 2008, Clay Matthews in 2009).

Burnett intercepted 14 passes in three seasons for the Yellow Jackets, which was tied for second most in school history at the time of his departure, behind only the 16 of Willie Clay (1988-91).

42, also compiled 235 career tackles (147 solo), eighth most at the time by a Georgia Tech defensive back and just five tackles shy of cracking the top five.

He played in 40 career games, starting 28, with all but one start coming at S (the other at CB).






