VIDEO: Greenbrier QB now an SMU Mustang
GREENBRIER — Before family, friends and fellow students Wednesday morning, highly touted Greenbrier quarterback Neal Burcham signed with SMU, the school he had committed to three months ago.
"I liked what I saw there from the coach (June Jones) to the assistant coaches," said Burcham, who passed for almost 10,000 yards during his high school career and led the Panthers to 27 victories and three state playoff appearances in three years. "I just fell in love with the place and the campus. I just couldn't say no."
Burcham thanked his family, his teammates and fellow students and posed for pictures with many of them.
He is currently two months in rehabilitating from a knee injury sustained during the last regular-season game against Vilonia.
"It's going fine," he said. "I have about four more months of therapy. I should be ready to go by summer."
He is the first Greenbrier football player to ever sign with an NCAA Division I university.
"For a high school coach, he's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of guy," said Greenbrier coach Randy Tribble. "This community has gotten a fire for football and he was a huge part of that. People in Dallas and at SMU are gonna love him in a few years."
