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Jim Burns started his career as a defensive lineman for
the Glasgow Lions in 1986, and played in Summerbowl II vs the
Birmingham Bulls. In 1988, he made a positional change that would lead
to him becoming one of the stars of the Lions and Britball for years to
come. Moving to RB he finished the 1988 season in 4th
place in the rushing charts, and over the next 5 seasons would come in
the top 6 rushers (leading the list in 1991). 1988 1312 yards 14tds (4th on
rushing list) In 1993, Burns switched to SS and continued to play for the Lions until the mid 90s finishing his Lions career with 66 TDs. Some memorable Jim Burns games 25th July 1992 – Burns
ran for 152 yards and 3 scores vs Blackpool You played with two exceptional QB’s in Mike Hasskamp and Darren Trainor – how do you rate them compared to each other and to other QB’s the Lions played? Hasskamp
was a better pure passer but Darryn was a better QB for us. Mike tended
to want to pad his stats while Darryn did what was best for the team.
He was braver and more of a team player. There were some real good
QB’s around when I played. Valentine in the ’93
final was a pain. I think Darryn’s longevity was a big plus
for us though as he ended up living in Scotland. I never looked at
other QBs and wished for a swap. What NFL and NCAA teams do you support? No real NCAA favourite but I’m a long suffering Jets fan. Joe Klecko was my inspiration for initially playing DL. I used to copy his cock-eyed NT stance back when you could do what you liked as a DL. I’d no idea of defensive schemes back then; it was just get the guy with the ball. I won’t be holding my breath for a 2nd Jets SB win though. Pennington ain’t Joe Namath. Who is the best coach you’ve played for and why? Dave Johnston who came in 1990. I don’t go in for the red faced, vein popping nonsense that some coaches come up with to "motivate" players. Dave really prepared the team well and could make apposite and helpful points to improve your game. He was the first guy I ever saw scout a team and I was amazed at his speed and efficiency. His hard work and enthusiasm rubbed off and he was a nice guy into the bargain. What do you consider to be your best season? 1990 was the year I was at my
peak as an RB. I was physically at my best and had a couple years under
my belt playing there. I was vying with Leeds import Chris Thomas for
the rushing title and was averaging almost 10 yards a pop for the
season when I broke my leg on my 6th carry
against The Hoods. I could never look at Harvey Hadden stadium the same
way again. I don’t think I came back from the break as strong
as before. What was the best game you have ever played in? Prob the ’93 semi against The Panthers when they were heavy favourites to go to the final. Some said the programs had already been printed with their name on, although I’m sure that’s an urban myth. We fell behind a couple of scores but really fought back to win it at the death. Darryn’s tough winning TD run was the type of thing Hasskamp wouldn’t have done. As an RB I’d say my 178 yards on 9 carries against a good Bulls D was maybe the best pure running I did. In the late 80’s there was some exceptional British talent in the backfield (players such as St.Louis, McKenzie, Victor Ebubedike, Dunkley, Bailey, Carthy and of course yourself). Did you go to GB Lions trials in that period? I think only 2 players from The Lions went to GB trials. We all felt there was an English bias as the trials were always in London so the rest of us gave them a body swerve. We felt they should have made an effort to come see us because we had talent. We looked at it as more of a Team England. If I could go back I’d act differently. You broke your leg vs the Hoods in 1990 – how did that happen if you’re prepared to talk about it! I got a hand-off at their 25 and broke through into the secondary. As I neared the GL, I planted my right foot and tried to jump-cut right to avoid the safety who was angling across. My foot stuck in the mud and the rest of me went over. I got in the EZ but the refs gave the ball at the 1!! I knew it was bad news immediately. The worst thing was the reaction of my OL; they were pleading for me to get up and be OK. I missed the rest of the season including losing to The Spartans in the semis. Standing on the sidelines is just terrible- you don’t feel part of the team. Did you play in the infamous Lions v Nottingham game in 1991? Hoods QB Mike Grossner 'took a knee' on 4th down to end the game but the timekeeper ruled that a quarter of a second remained in the game. Glasgow took over on downs and scored on the last play of the game, missed the extra point and the game went into overtime. What’s your take on that? Madness to be honest although we were secretly pi##ing ourselves. They could have easily run about a bit with the ball to kill the clock. I remember the play we scored on. We went trips right with Jerome at TE left so he had a lot of field to work with. Good pass pro and Darryn hit him low in the EZ on a deep out. We KNEW our kicker would miss the EP though. In overtime we got the ball and drove easily for the score. It was a very exciting game but the refs’ decision was ridiculous to be honest. There was nothing to do though except try to score.
The Lions were banned from post season play in 1991 for fielding "ineligible" players, and subsequently demoted to Div.2 in 1992 as a result? Was there a witch hunt out on the Lions in that period do you feel? The "ineligible" players were all vets and it was purely red tape that could have been handled better. Some of those guys had been there from the start. We blamed Panthers GM Barry ( surname??) for this. To us it was a petty decision led by a petty man. He wanted us weaker so his team would have an easier ride. We played these players against The Panthers anyway and beat them 68-2!! It was a point of principle and very enjoyable, even though we knew we were "going down" as a result. Our game has always been invaded by self-servers unfortunately. It was really the beginning of getting us pesky jocks out. In 1992, the Lions were rampant. Must have been very satisfying winning not just the Div.2 Bowl against a very good Kent side (where you were MVP), but also the promotion playoff with Blackpool? The team must have been very focused after the "relegation" We never belonged in Div 2 and I think we all took a step back that year. It prob was the sense of injustice that kept us going knowing we’d get back to play the best teams again, particularly The Panthers. Kent were a good, physical side but we prob made that game more difficult due to a little complacency. They were the first team to give us a game that year. I won MVP but I don’t think I played well in that game; Scotty Couper scored 3 TDs and prob should have got it. I think my 96 yarder was the main reason. The Falcons were pretty much shot by the time we played them. It was a very comfortable victory and a nice day by the beach.
My old knees were crumbling a little and I couldn’t lift hard and heavy enough to keep my weight up for RB. I felt my best days there were gone. They also say a change is as good as a rest. I wanted to trim down to ease the knees and I felt SS would allow me to submarine RBs instead of having it done to me. I never really got to grips with pass coverage though and hated when we called cover 2. I much preferred up tight to the LOS playing the run since I knew that side of the game. SS was OK but it ain’t RB. In 1994 BAFA made the Lions play their "home" games in England. Why was that? There was and is no justification for that other than some teams got their way by threatening to take their ball home with them. The league was very weak for buckling to such crass threats. We were left with no choice but to eventually back out as we were being punished financially and sportingly. How a home team can be asked to travel 3 times the time and distance than the away team is something only those in power in our sport could rationalize. I’m sad to say I still see a little madness from those in power today. Making mistakes is human but to repeat them is stupidity. When did you retire from the sport? I retired in 1994 although I came back briefly to play a game or two at RB again in the newly formed Scottish league the following year. I actually had a decent few games but I knew that the level was way below what I’d played at so I gave up. It was football by numbers at that stage and not a good time for the sport. Others like Stevie McCusker and Scotty Couper were doing the same before The Claymores turned up to re-ignite interest. Are you in still in Britball in any capacity? I’ve coached youth ball ( Glasgow Tigers) in the past few years and was DC for Scotland Youth last year in our victory over England. I was HC this year but resigned after clashing with BYAFA over the cancellation of the game. I was involved with EK Pirates briefly but was unable to devote the necessary time to it. I’ve no intent to be involved in ’07. What was the most satisfying win in your career?
I think it would be against The
Panthers since we really didn’t like them. The semi
–final victory in ’93 was excellent as they were
prob a better team than us at that point and were getting a little
cocky when they were up. It was important for us to show our strength
after having spent an enforced year in Div 2. The 68-2 game was very
satisfying in a different way though. If you could select an all-star team with some of the players you played with and against who would you select?
That’s a very difficult one. There have been some talented players over the years and I might not get a game in my own side!! Whatever Britball team was put out, we’d struggle to find a QB to match any of the imports. I’d be putting a lot of Lions players in the team in any case. |
