North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame
Coming out of Port Arthur Lincoln High School, Burks Washington was a blue-chip prospect, an all-district, all-state, Super 22 defensive tackle. But when he arrived at North Texas in 1975, coach Hayden Fry and his staff moved the 6-2, 217-pound Washington to linebacker.
Washington made the transition with the same speed he played the game, and quickly became one of the most feared tacklers in school history.
“When you consider that Burks has been a linebacker for only three seasons, you better appreciate the outstanding job he’s done,” Fry said prior to Washington’s senior season.
By the middle of his freshman year, Washington had cracked the starting lineup and recorded 59 tackles and three interceptions. He had 98 tackles and three more interceptions as a sophomore, 110 tackles and one interception as a junior, and 84 as a senior, and his four-year total of 351 tackles is fifth best in school history.
“He’s the head-hunter type,” Fry said in 1978. “There are always Burks Washington hits that are shown over and over on game films. He possesses exceptional speed and aggressiveness.”
Washington was a pre-season All-America candidate on teams that compiled a combined record of 33-11 under Fry, teams that scored some of the biggest wins in the program’s history, including a 21-14 win at Tennessee and a 24-13 win over SMU at Texas Stadium. The 1977 team, anchored defensively by Washington, is one of two at North Texas to win 10 games in a season.
In 2013, Washington was named to the North Texas All-Century team.