Recruiting: Denzel Burke Out for Season After Shoulder Surgery
Class of 2021 Ohio State commit Denzel Burke (Scottsdale, Ariz.will unfortunately miss the remainder of his senior football season for Saguaro High School after recent shoulder surgery.
Burke, recruited as an athlete but very likely to settle at defensive back in Columbus, suffered the injury in the team’s opener a couple weeks back. He then underwent the operation this past Thursday to begin the healing process.
“My first game, I ran a corner route, and the safety kind of ran through my shoulder,” Burke recently told Stephen Means from Cleveland.com. “It popped out, and then kind of went in by itself.”
Saguaro held a 2-0 record after finally starting its season earlier this month. The team then dropped a 13-7 nationally-televised contest Friday night.
“It really hit me hard,” Burke added. “I really wanted to play my last year. I was really looking forward to it. I’m a captain too, so that role of just being a leader for my guys, and letting my game talk for itself, it kind of got cut short because of this. It lets me hit reality a little bit because I can be a leader for my guys, and how I am (as a teammate) when I’m not playing. That’s what I’m working on.”
Burke was originally hoping to visit Columbus (for the first time) this past weekend for the “Buckeye Bash” recruiting get-together assembled by Jack Sawyer. He will now start rehabbing before traveling east.
An SI All-American candidate, Burke is considered a top-10 athlete in the recruiting cycle and a 150-200 player nationally regardless of position. He committed to Ohio State back in late May without ever stepping foot on campus.
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