Former Arkansas Razorback star Bill Burnett, sat down to chat with a reporter for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Burnett, still the program’s all-time leader with 46 touchdowns from 1968–70, was already battling severe memory loss and believed he was suffering from CTE, the brain disease linked to repeated head trauma and, in some cases can lead to dementia.
The once-dominant running back who carried the ball 526 times for Frank Broyles’ powerhouse teams is now a popular resident at Clear Creek Memory Care in Fayetteville.
Yet Burnett’s impact goes far beyond football. After college he helped build the Fellowship of Christian Athletes across Arkansas and founded a crisis pregnancy center in Fort Smith, raising the money and launching it without seeking credit.
Bill’s wife Linda visits and spends hours with him at Clear Creek every day. She helps feed him, keeps him comfortable, prays with him and reads him passages out of the Bible.
As for Bill’s football glory days? While his illustrative career was rewarding, it is far from the highlight of his life. Both Linda and Bill believe that those acts of faith and service matter much more than all those touchdowns that made him famous.
You can learn more about Bill’s and Linda’s journey by reading the full article in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
(Image credit: AP published by Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette)