Richard Burton didn't play high school football before coming to Queen's.

The sport wasn't offered at his high school in Ottawa, Ont. but Queen's Football's star receiver got on the field playing competitively in both the National Capital Amateur Football Association (NCAFA) and the Ontario Varsity Football League (OVFL) throughout his high school years.

Playing in those two leagues, Burton was part of a number of strong teams, winning a city championship in NCAFA and a provincial championship in the OVFL. That was also when Burton first started playing with Queen's Football quarterback James Keenan. The two competed against each other in NCAFA but were teammates in the OVFL.

They brought that partnership to Richardson Stadium, where they both joined Queen's Football in 2017 and have been with the Gaels the past five seasons.

Burton had 23 receptions for 349 yards in his rookie season in 2018 and followed that up with 38 receptions for 572 yards and five touchdowns in his 2019 season. Despite missing two games to injury last year, Burton led Queen's Football in receiving with 19 receptions for 244 yards and a touchdown while helping the Gaels host the 113^th Yates Cup. He currently has 12 receptions for 162 yards through three games this season, helping Queen's to a 2-1 start to the year.

Burton sat down with GoGaelsGo.com to share more about himself on and off the field.



Why did you choose Queen's?

Both of my sisters attended Queen's and one of them was a varsity student-athlete (former Queen's Women's Soccer star and current Interim Manager, High Performance Team Operations, Breanna Burton). So I was really able to get a gauge of what Queen's was, and what made it a unique place, it's kind of blend being a great academic school, a school with a great sense of community, and then also an outstanding athletics program. Those three things were really the most important to me when looking for a school and Queen's checked all the boxes.

What do you most look forward to when you arrive back on campus every year?

I was here in the summer, but, all the students arriving back on campus is what I most look forward to. It really transforms the city and it brings a different energy and it gets you excited for school and gets you excited for football. That energy that comes when all the students are up and on campus is really awesome.

What's your favourite spot on campus?

It definitely has to be the ARC, my favorite spot. It's an awesome place in terms of having the ability to work out, whether it's at the High Performance Centre or the main gym, and then also having fun playing basketball, playing squash. And also just hanging out, grabbing a bite to eat, it's an awesome spot.

What's your favourite spot in the Kingston community?

My favorite spot, I'd go with Woodenheads, the restaurant. Great food, and a great spot right down by the water.

What advice would you give to a first year student at Queen's?

I would tell them to embrace all that Queen's has to offer, whether that be its tradition, its clubs, the events, there's so much that Queen's has to offer. You're never going to regret joining a club or going to an event, so I'd say try to embrace all that Queen's has to offer.

What's your pre-game ritual and how did it come about?

Pre-game ritual, at least for home games, is making breakfast with roommates. How that came about, you have to eat before the game, and that gets us in the in the right mindset to get focused around the game and what's going on for the day.

What's your favourite pre-game meal and why?

It'd be the breakfast meal. It's an open-faced sandwich with a hash brown, piece of bacon, and an egg and cheese. We make a couple of those.

What's your favourite team memory at Queen's?

It would be that playoff run last year, which was awesome. It really showed the accumulation of the hard work we put in over the past number of years with this new coaching staff and we really got to see some of those results come to fruition.

What do you hope to accomplish next season, both individually and as a team?

We have three main team goals. The first one being the most respected team on campus, the second one being to improve everyday. Those are really the process-oriented goals. Everyday we're looking to be the most respected team on campus and to improve because football is a game of relentless improvement. There's always something that every single person can improve, whether you're playing amateur football or whether you're the best player in the NFL. We really look to focus on those process-oriented goals, and then our results-oriented goal would be winning the Yates Cup. That's really the ultimate goal of this team.