Nate Burleson was the featured VIP to raise the Seattle Seahawks 12th Man flag in the 2016 Season Vs Arizona Cardinals at CenturyLink Field. Burleson was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. At the time his father, Alvin Burleson, was playing defensive back for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was born into a prolific and tight-knit sporting family. His oldest brother, Alvin Jr., played college football for the University of Washington Huskies and the Western Illinois University Leathernecks. Another older brother, Kevin played professional basketball and was formerly a point guard for the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His younger brother Lyndale played college basketball for the University of Nevada Wolf Pack. Kevin and Nate Burleson are one of only two sibling duos in which one brother played in the NBA while the other played in the NFL. As a mark of his father’s influence, Nate Burleson’s jersey number on the Seattle Seahawks, 81, was his father’s high school number.
In 1983, when Burleson was an infant, his father signed with the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League (USFL), moving the family back to the United States. However, Burleson remains proud of his Canadian heritage, sporting a maple leaf tattoo and expressing interest in playing for Canada in a World Cup of football to the media. After an injury ended Alvin Burleson’s playing career, he moved the family to his hometown of Seattle, Washington, U.S., where he worked for Associated Grocers. Nate Burleson attended Rainier View Elementary School in Seattle. He attended Lindbergh High School in the suburb of Renton as a freshman, and then transferred to O’Dea High School in Seattle, where he graduated. As a senior, he was named Seattle Times City Athlete of the Year.
Burleson was also on the school’s track and field team, competing as a sprinter and hurdler. He won the state title in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 38.70 seconds in 1999, and finished eighth in 110-meter hurdles as junior.
