Hochman: ‘It just saved my life.’ How Mizzou’s Luther Burden III emerged at a STL Boys and Girls Club

ARLINGTON, Texas — Two days after Christmas, it finally snowed at Grand and Dodier, a flurry of flakes swirling as if to stir up something. And as I stood there in the cold quiet, the memories percolated. Well, not my memories — St. Louis’ memories.

For a certain generation, this is where Stan Musial stroked singles and Red Schoendienst stole singles and Dizzy Dean gave baseballs vertigo. Sportsman’s Park. It’s where “The Gashouse Gang” and “The St. Louis Swifties” and the fabled 1964 Cardinals won championships.

And for a newer generation, on this snow-sprinkled football field, this is where football prodigies would emerge from the pack, sprinting toward glory … all while out-running the what-ifs.

“For me to be able to have some place to, basically, save me? It’s just a blessing,” said Luther Burden III, Mizzou’s star receiver, as his Tigers were headed into Friday’s Cotton Bowl in Texas against Ohio State. “There are so many different ways to go (the wrong direction) in St. Louis and in that area. For me to have football, it just saved my life, you know? I feel like if it wasn’t for Herbert Hoover (Boys & Girls Club), I wouldn’t be in this position right now.”

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Mizzou receiver Luther Burden, left, poses as a young kid along with Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club teammate Amir Turner and coach Anthony Blue Sr. 

Courtesy of Anthony Blue Sr.

This past year alone, more than 4,600 kids came through Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club in St. Louis. The site of the old ballpark is still a sight — children challenged by nurturing mentors to reach their potential. There are classrooms filled with bright books and computers, a studio to record podcasts and music, a swimming pool, a recreation room and, yes, numerous places for the Herbert Hoover Eagles to play sports such as basketball and football. Local legends emerged.

“Herbert Hoover means a lot because sometimes you just need a place to just release whatever you’ve got to release,” said Jameson Williams, the former Alabama star receiver and first-round NFL Draft pick, by phone.

Burden grew up in the inner-city neighborhood of St. Louis called The Ville. Said Burden’s youth coach, Anthony Blue Jr., “it’s full of drugs and violence.” And on a day that’s now part of St. Louis sports lore, Blue went to The Ville because, as Blue told Burden’s dad that day, “I need this kid with me!”

Blue had coached at Herbert Hoover since 1997. He taught life lessons through football. And he won a bunch of ballgames, too.

“I was the coach of the defense that was pretty dominant — you could barely score on us,” Blue said. “I always specialized in defense. And Luther was originally at Wohl City Rec. He was 8 years old. And he ran two touchdowns on my defense. I was furious! And they were some good runs, too. He turned down the sideline and nobody could catch him. And I said, ‘WHO is this kid?’

“They said, ‘You might know his daddy, he played basketball at SLU.’ So I found out where he lived and I went by his house. And I knocked on his door.”

Blue was joined by his fellow coach Lamont Johnson. They told Burden’s parents about their reputation in the community. And the benefits of the Boys & Girls Club. And how Luther could blossom from their coaching.

“His dad said, ‘Let me think about it,’” Blue recalled. “And I said, ‘How much time do you need? Because I need this kid with me! If you trust me with your son, I promise you, he will get what he’s got coming. I see the potential in him.’ We thought this kid could be a pro.”

Today, Burden is one of the top receivers not only in the Southeastern Conference, but in college football. He’s 10th in the country with 1,197 receiving yards (on 83 catches). He scored eight touchdowns, including two against nationally ranked Kansas State, another against No. 2 Georgia and one more against No. 13 Tennessee.

And while Blue clearly saw the talent, he also saw something else — well, he saw what Burden himself saw in those fierce eyes.

“He was determined, he had more of a purpose,” Blue said. “You could see it in his eyes when he’d run that football. If you could look through that boy’s helmet, you could see when he was running that he was running for something.”

From age 9 into his eighth-grade year, Burden played for Blue and Herbert Hoover — “As a young kid, I feel like you always need someone to believe in you,” Burden said.

They started him at receiver and in the defensive secondary. He was teamed with Blue’s great nephew Amir Turner, who played quarterback.

“They were my Batman and Robin throughout little league,” Blue said.

An assistant coach named Will Franklin, who previously played for Mizzou, helped out with the offense — Franklin taught the 9-year-olds how to run a shotgun spread offense. Oh, and they used hand signals from the sideline to have a no-huddle offense.

“It blew everybody’s mind,” Blue said. “Blew my mind. We started beating people, 40-something to nothin’. Blowing people out. Nobody had seen this before. We went to the league’s Super Bowl that first year. It was played at Sumner High School. It was 5 degrees outside. We played against the U. City Lions and they had Kevin Coleman, who went on to play college football at Louisville. We ended up winning. It was a big thing for us.”

Over the next few years, Reggie Jones of Herbert Hoover said, you could clearly see Burden separating himself from other football players.

“That’s when the nickname ‘Touchdown Luther’ started,” Jones said.

Blue recalled the audacity of parents of opposing players. They were determined to have their kid be the one who could keep Luther in check.

“And I would tell Luther — ‘Run them over. His daddy wants him to tackle you so bad.’ And he would run these kids over. Drop his shoulder. He’d hit them, their feet would leave the ground and they would look like a propeller! And he had a lot of stiff arms — he had a real nice stiff arm.”

Blue said he had the blessing of Burden’s parents to coach Luther with passion and intensity. Blue treated him like he did his own son. Burden became one of the greatest high school football players ever from St. Louis. And Burden chose Mizzou over Alabama and Georgia — a Pied Piper-like decision that influenced other recruits. Remember, Mizzou wasn’t even a top-25 team at the time of the 2021 decision. Now, Mizzou is No. 9 after a 10-2 season.

“He took guys with him and turned the program around,” said Williams, who will try to attend the Cotton Bowl because his Detroit Lions play the next day at the Dallas Cowboys. “I love Luther. That’s my little brother.”

In the summer of 2023, Burden returned to Grand and Dodier. He put on a football clinic for the kids. Deenen Busby from Herbert Hoover had never met Burden before. She was touched by “Touchdown Luther.”

“He was nice, so down to earth,” she said. “It was amazing what they did that day. When you look at him, he looks like he’s at home. He feels comfortable. And he’s so familiar with the kids in a way that, I think, you would have to be a (Boys & Girls) Club kid to know. And that’s what is really cool about him.”

Eli Hoff of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

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