The Cardinal Countdown: 13 Days Until Kickoff

#13 Ethan Horton

Class: Sophomore

Ht/Wt: 6-0/208

Position: Quarterback

Hometown: Hyden, KY

Twitter: @EHorton15

Thoughts: Ethan is a walk-on who looks to get the majority of his reps as a part of the scout team this year..although, Petrino did still say the QB job is still open. Can’t wait to see the look on Muschamp’s silly face when Horton runs out there. Didn’t see that one comin’ did ya Will? Watch any tape on Ethan, Malzahn? I didn’t think so. Can only imagine how many times Horton hears a ‘who…is that guy’? (If you thought I was too high brow to do a Dr.Seuss joke then you obviously don't know anything about me.)

Ethan was a solid QB for Leslie County a couple years back and earned his spot on the Cards last season. I've said it many times before but it bothers me when people discard the importance of a walk-on or a scout team player. Once you walk into that locker room or out on the field there aren’t labels assigned to players like “walk-on” or “backup” or “starter”, you’re simply part of a team. Each is an important piece of the puzzle and each can be called upon at some point in their career to make a big play. Congrats to Ethan, keep it rolling man.

Sweet Tweet:

The best time to plant a tree was 15 years ago, the next best time is today. #motivation #inspiration

— Ethan Horton (@EHorton15) August 13, 2014

I’m pretty sure I used the same quote a few years back. My buddy was hesitant to throw money in a 401k but I was telling him over time it’s a solid investment option. I believe his response was something along the lines of…Yeah, but I’d rather have a 70” plasma TV with surround sound than some big ass tree….something was obviously lost in translation.

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#13 James Burgess

Class: Senior

Ht/Wt: 6-0/229

Position: Linebacker

Hometown: Homestead, FL

Twitter: @HomesteadLB

Thoughts: I went back and found an article from last season because it legitimately stuck with me for well over a year. This part in particular caught my eye…

While I don’t disagree with any of the five captains Petrino named last week the coaching staff loves James and I was slightly surprised Burgess didn’t make the cut. In my opinion, if he performs anywhere near the level people are expecting him to this season; I promise you won’t see him omitted from that same list next year.

Wow, good call by the author. If you want to check out some more of his work then feel free to keep reading son…because it was me, but you probably already knew that.

I’ve been in love with James since before his momma laid eyes on him, well, maybe not that far back, but without a doubt since he stepped foot on campus. James has been a beast in uniform since he was a freshman, making an impact statistically very early in his career and since then he has only solidified his name as one of the best in the history of great linebackers who’ve come through here. If you like stats, he had some really good ones last year (71tkl/3int/3sacks), if you enjoy leaders he’s a great one (team captain, represented Cards at ACC media days), if enjoy big hits he’s been known to lay the wood three or four times while here, and if enjoy players with enough swagger/confidence to put their name and jersey number on the back window of their car …well, Burgess is your man.

I love linebackers. Almost an unhealthy amount. Don’t get me wrong, I really like seeing us drop 50 on teams and I love to see an offensive gameplan come to fruition, but when our defense is on the field I’ll catch myself for series at a time not even watching the ball, just watching how our linebackers operate. It got so bad I actually went to a sports psychologist to see if I need an intervention of some type…

Dr: Welcome to my office Mr…CardinalStrong??? You know, not telling me your real name probably isn’t a great start to getting over this, if I’m being brutally honest sir.

Me: Oh, sorry about that. Please, Doc, feel free to call me CS or CardStrong, I’m not a real formal person.

Dr: Sounds as if this may be the first of many sessions…Ok, today I want to address this linebacker infatuation you spoke of on the phone. We’re going to do a very standard test I start off with for all patients, a simple association game. I’ll show you a picture and you tell me what you see.

Me: Sounds great, I was always pretty good at those photo hunt games at the bar.

Dr:---- Ok. Here we go. What do you see?

Me: Starting off with an easy, huh, Doc. Obviously this is the 2013 Burgess hit on Crawford. Poor soul never stood a chance.

Dr: Alright, what about this one?

Me: Might as well be a photograph Doc. Plain as the nose on my face, thats Burgess making the Virginia kid sneeze blood for a week

Dr: I’m sensing a pattern here..ok, one more just to establish a baseline. This one here, what do you see right here?

Me: Finally, thought I was losing it there for a minute. That’s there is a butterfly.

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Sweet Tweet:

No more asking for billboard Burgess lol cardnation it's finally here #L1C4 #DoWork pic.twitter.com/0pnSSJpJHy

— James Burgess (@HomesteadLB) August 21, 2015

Nice billboard James but a few years back they actually had a ‘CardinalStrong’ banner hanging on the side of the stadium. Hit me up when you ge…

Oh….cool, cool…pretty sweet man. Well, um, yeah, um…I mean, I guess you know I write like a hundred something countdown posts every year soooo…kind of a big deal…but nice banner though.