Former Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson has earned an honor from one of the pre-draft games for incoming NFL Draft prospects.
The Shrine Bowl, previously called the East-West Shrine Game, comes a few days before the Senior Bowl game, so it’s naturally a bit overlooked. But it’s an important opportunity for pre-draft prospects who may a little off the radar themselves, like former Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson was back in 2003 coming out of the University of Nevada.
The Shrine Bowl has announced that Burleson will be inducted into the East-West Shrine Bowl Hall of Fame this year.
"Nate was a unanimous choice of our East-West Shrine Bowl committee this year as he has been such a strong ambassador for our game and Shriners Children’s,” said Bob Roller, Director of National Sports Management, Shriners Children’s. “He has given back to the game following his outstanding professional career and has promoted and supported our cause on his national and international media platforms this past decade. We are thrilled to have Nate join us in Las Vegas and be enshrined in our Hall of Fame.”The East-West Shrine Bowl Hall of Fame is home to some of the greatest names ever to play the game. Burleson will join the elite group the week of February 2, 2023, during NFL Pro Bowl Week and East-West Shrine Bowl festivities. The Canadian-born football star is an alumnus of the 2003 East-West Shrine Bowl."
Nate Burleson spent final four seasons of his NFL career with the Lions
Burleson spent the last four seasons of his 11-year NFL playing career (2003-2013) with the Lions, with highs if 73 catches and 757 yards in 2011 and six touchdowns in 2010. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, with a 1,000-yard season in 2004, and after three seasons there he spent four seasons (2006-2009) with the Seattle Seahawks.
Burleson went to work for NFL Network after he retired, eventually becoming one of the original co-hosts on “Good Morning Football”, where he still appears as an analyst a couple days a week. He also works on CBS’ pregame show, and in September of 2021 he became a co-host of “CBS Mornings”, the network’s answer to “Good Morning America.” If that’s not enough, he also makes some appearances on Nickelodeon.
The 98th East-West Shrine Bowl will kick off at 5:30 p.m. PST (7:30 p.m. CT, 8:30 p.m. ET) on Thursday, Feb. 2, from Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders. It will be televised live on NFL Network.