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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Article on Artie Burns and his family. Talks about how Artie's experiences have shaped him and why Tomlin selected him.
By Stephen J. Nesbitt / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
MIAMI — As draft day dawned on South Florida, John and Barbara Cason parked their pickup near the back fence at Caballero Rivero Dade North cemetery and stepped outside. They have come here often, to think and pray, in the six months since their daughter’s death.
Dana Smith was 44 when she died Oct. 27 after a heart attack. She left behind three boys: Artie, now 21, Thomas, 16, and Jordan, 13. With their father stuck in a South Carolina prison since 2006, she had raised the boys to be dreamers, as devoted as they were driven.
Draft day had to begin here, with her. The NFL was as much her dream as it was the dream of Artie Burns, now a Steelers rookie.
So, before the Casons went to their grandson’s watch party at The Betsy Hotel on South Beach, where ESPN and NFL Network cameras would broadcast Artie Burns’ football fate, they dressed up their daughter’s gravestone with a fresh bouquet of roses and chrysanthemums, red and white, pink and yellow.
“We’ve come the last mile,” John Cason prayed aloud. “Everything you worked for, Mom and I have taken care of it. Artie will be a first-round draft pick. You raised a beautiful son. You have to be proud of him.”
Draft experts were divided on Burns, a cornerback who possessed elite speed but flimsy film after three years at the University of Miami. What caught the attention of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was the twisting road Burns had taken. The night before Miami’s pro day in April, Tomlin had dinner with Burns and had him tell his story...
UPDATED the link!
Death, prison and a 'village' of support: Rookie Artie Burns' road to the Steelers | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
SB Nation
What truly attracted the Pittsburgh Steelers to Artie Burns in the 2016 NFL Draft
What truly attracted the Pittsburgh Steelers to Artie Burns in the 2016 NFL Draft - Behind the Steel Curtain
Article on Artie Burns and his family. Talks about how Artie's experiences have shaped him and why Tomlin selected him.
By Stephen J. Nesbitt / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
MIAMI — As draft day dawned on South Florida, John and Barbara Cason parked their pickup near the back fence at Caballero Rivero Dade North cemetery and stepped outside. They have come here often, to think and pray, in the six months since their daughter’s death.
Dana Smith was 44 when she died Oct. 27 after a heart attack. She left behind three boys: Artie, now 21, Thomas, 16, and Jordan, 13. With their father stuck in a South Carolina prison since 2006, she had raised the boys to be dreamers, as devoted as they were driven.
Draft day had to begin here, with her. The NFL was as much her dream as it was the dream of Artie Burns, now a Steelers rookie.
So, before the Casons went to their grandson’s watch party at The Betsy Hotel on South Beach, where ESPN and NFL Network cameras would broadcast Artie Burns’ football fate, they dressed up their daughter’s gravestone with a fresh bouquet of roses and chrysanthemums, red and white, pink and yellow.
“We’ve come the last mile,” John Cason prayed aloud. “Everything you worked for, Mom and I have taken care of it. Artie will be a first-round draft pick. You raised a beautiful son. You have to be proud of him.”
Draft experts were divided on Burns, a cornerback who possessed elite speed but flimsy film after three years at the University of Miami. What caught the attention of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was the twisting road Burns had taken. The night before Miami’s pro day in April, Tomlin had dinner with Burns and had him tell his story...
UPDATED the link!
Death, prison and a 'village' of support: Rookie Artie Burns' road to the Steelers | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
SB Nation
What truly attracted the Pittsburgh Steelers to Artie Burns in the 2016 NFL Draft
What truly attracted the Pittsburgh Steelers to Artie Burns in the 2016 NFL Draft - Behind the Steel Curtain
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