SAN DIEGO -- Miles Burris was known as a relentless worker on and off the field when he roamed the defensive side of the ball from 2008-11.
Burris helped resurrect a program that went 2-10 when he was a freshman to 17-9 over his final two seasons. Burris played in the program's first two bowl games (2010-11) in over a decade, starting SDSU's active stretch of 10 consecutive bowl appearances, tied for the 11th-longest streak nationally. San Diego State is the only team in the state of California - college or pro - to play in the postseason each of the last 10 years.
While with the Aztecs, Burris was a two-time first-team all-Mountain West pick (2010-11) at linebacker and a four-time Academic All-MW selection (2008-11). He was a two-time recipient of the Byron H. Chase Memorial Trophy (2010-11) as the team's defensive player of the year and a winner of the President's Award (team's highest standards of athletic and academic achievement) in 2008 and 2011. For his career, Burris ranks third in tackles for loss (47.0) and tied for fourth in sacks (19.0).
The Granite Bay, Calif., native and current resident of Pasadena, Calif., recently chatted with GoAztecs.com in the latest "Where Are They Now" series.
GoAztecs.com: You had a short, but successful NFL career, starting 31 games in three seasons with the Raiders. But injuries seemed to derail your career. Tell us about how your playing career came to an end and your acting career began.
Burris: It was one of the darkest times in my life. Everything was going to plan. Everything that I worked so hard for - playing near my hometown, the way I was playing, everything I was hearing from everybody around me that I was going to get a big second contract which would set up my family forever. Part of the game and what you sign up for is that you can have an injury at any time that ends it forever. You understand that, but that's kind of what happened with me. I injured my same knee again and this time it took me a full year to kind of get it healthy where I thought I could play again. Then I took a bunch of workouts. It was a dark time because I was just working out all day. I was trying to catch on (with a team), calling my agent, taking workouts, not getting picked up. Finally the (New York) Jets came through with a contract for me. I worked my tail off. They liked me and they were going to give me a contract. I was like, 'Great!' Then I was at lunch with my family and we were all celebrating. Five minutes later my agent called me back and said he was so sorry, but the (athletic) trainers vetoed it. They didn't like my scans. It was a lot of that. Then I went to Minnesota and it was a three-day mini-camp. I could see my body wasn't where it needed to be to keep playing so I was forced to hang it up.
I was depressed for a couple of days and my wife got me off the couch. I always talked about getting into acting. Back in college in my junior year I started to fall in love with film. Any time I could catch a few minutes where we weren't pounding our bodies or working out, I would just lay in my bed and watch movies. I started going to Redbox a lot. I really liked Brad Pitt because I liked Fight Club. So I started renting every Brad Pitt movie I could find and I was like, man, it seems like it would be a pretty cool job to be an actor. I don't know if I'd be good at it, but I might want to give it a shot when football is done. (Jenna) remembered that. I took a few classes during the summer during college for acting, not on campus but outside of it. She kind of got me off the couch and into some acting classes in Los Angeles. I kind of ran with it from there. As soon as I got on set I had that similar performance feeling as a gameday just to a different degree. My passion immediately moved over to (acting) and I could let go of football. It was kind of like going dream to dream.
GoAztecs.com: Did you always have a back-up plan in case the NFL didn't work out?
Burris: I was never that great academically, definitely not smarter than most of the people in my classes in business school. I just worked really hard. It took me a lot longer to get the assignments done. I was always the last one to finish every test. I was so terrible at math and was like why am I putting myself through the torture of getting my business degree? Ever since I put pads on I wanted to play in the NFL but I knew it wasn't guaranteed. I didn't want to go to college and just bank on it that I was going to the NFL. I wanted to get a good degree and that was business for me.
GoAztecs.com: Is there anything that you took from your football playing days that transitioned over to the acting world?
Burris: This was one of the reasons I went to San Diego State. Some coaches told me along the way it doesn't matter if you go to a big school or a small school or a FCS school, if you are good enough the cream rises to the top and they will find you. It is true in football. If you are good enough they will find you. The takeaway is just hammer your craft and outwork everybody. Do everything in your possible power to be the best you can be. Acting is different than football. Football and anything sport wise is a team game. In Hollywood everyone is out for themselves. Everybody holds things close to their vest. In football you ask people around you how did you do X, Y and Z. In acting they say everything just right to avoid the question. The second thing is in Hollywood nobody says what they mean and they always have an ulterior motive. They are always doing things to try and get things from someone. In football you know exactly how somebody feels. If they are mad at you they will tell you straight up and you might fight on the field, but you get in the locker room and shake hands and you're cool. You can't read anyone's intentions out here in Hollywood. It's very different in those ways. When I got into acting I thought I'm not going to play these games. But once you figure it out acting is a lot like football. You don't have to do anything else but be great. Be so good they can't ignore you. If you are the guy you will be the guy. For me it's been hammering my craft. Just being as good as I can possibly be and making sure they can't ignore that. It wins out."
GoAztecs.com: What has been your favorite acting role so far?
Burris: Definitely, a movie called Safety which will come out on Disney+ later this year. That was my first time I've been one of the leads in a film. It's a football film and it's good, clean, family fun. Anybody can watch that so I'm looking forward to watching it with my son and my nieces. That was fun because it was three months on set and really getting to dive into a character. We shot it out in Atlanta. Everything about it was great."
GoAztecs.com: What are you currently involved in?
Burris: I'm shooting Lucifer right now. I've got a recurring guest spot in that one. I'll be in the last couple of episodes when they release that batch later this year.
GoAztecs.com: You saw it all when you were at San Diego State. You helped turn around a program that was 2-10 in 2008 and is now one of the best on the West Coast. What does that mean to you when you look back at your time with the Aztecs?
Burris: I came from a winning team in high school. It was a small town (Granite Bay, Calif.), but it was big on football. It was a football town and we won everything. (Those first few years) coming to San Diego State, it was like, man… There were a few times I said to my girlfriend (and now wife) Jenna, I might want to transfer. I'm not even playing. We're not any good. But I'm really glad we stuck it out.
(Turning around the program was) definitely one of the most gratifying things in my football career. You find out who you are when you get hit in the mouth a little bit. It's cool to see that they've had double-digit wins four of the last five seasons. It's been awesome that it wasn't just a one-off thing. We didn't turn it around for a season or two and go back to losing. It was changing the foundation and culture of the program in a huge way. I'm just beyond proud to have been part of that.
GoAztecs.com: What do you think it means for the program getting a new stadium?
Burris: I think that's awesome. Especially if they can get create a good environment for the students. I'm excited for (the players). It makes them feel like they are legitimate Division I athletes. It will be a great environment."
GoAztecs.com: Finally, what do you want your legacy to be as a player and student-athlete at San Diego State?
Burris: That I kept God first and gave it everything I had. I wasn't perfect my any stretch of the imagination, but I always kept those things first. Sometimes I hear that the coaches still pull up film of me and say, 'This is how you play with effort.' I wasn't perfect. I didn't play with 100 percent effort every single play, so I fell short in that way, but what the coaches taught me at that time, specifically when Brady Hoke and Rocky Long came in, was to play all the way to the whistle. Only you and God know if you gave 100 percent effort. Hopefully I did that enough times to leave a legacy of sorts for people to model that effort. I'm proud of that for sure. That was a big part of what got me drafted. I think a lot of these college kids maybe focus too much on numbers or this, that and the other, but effort gets guys drafted a lot more than people realize. When I got to the Raiders, that was one of the things the coaches noticed. They would say, 'Wow, you played your butt off! We love the way you play. You play with everything you've got.' That's what I led with. I've convinced that's why I had the career I had."