'Why quit now?': How Deante Burton defied odds, overcame confidence issues to reach NFL

When Dr. Ian Connole worked at Kansas State as its director of sport psychology, his office was a place of reflection.

In it were two big purple chairs where Connole sat with athletes, trying to delve into their “why” in hopes of sparking their passion.

When Deante Burton — then a K-State wide receiver who grew up in Manhattan — first approached Connole, he felt as if an anchor was tying him down.

“You can’t do what you want to do because you’re unsure, and when you’re unsure of yourself, you move slower, you think slower, you react slower,” Burton said. “You’re a step behind. You’re not who people have seen you be.”

Burton always has been ambitious.

Since his childhood, he and his friends talked about playing on Manhattan High’s varsity team, then college ball, then the NFL.

Burton was about halfway through the second step and looking to push for the third.

But during that time, one in which he said he wasn’t his best self, he lacked confidence and needed guidance. Connole’s role was helping athletes enhance performance through mental training.

He aided players in creating habits that aligned with their goals, and usually setting them up with a routine to follow.

When Connole first meets with athletes, he asks them questions to gain background knowledge. He’s looking for what makes them tick and what bothers them. He wants to drill down to what’s important to that athlete.

“One thing I really appreciated about him is the fact that football was never his life,” Connole said of Burton. “It was a game he had the opportunity to play.”

And that’s where Connole began when working with Burton. Many times, Connole said, athletes are identified and defined by their on-field performance, which leads to a roller-coaster life that never slows down long enough for them to regain balance.

Burton, on the other hand, had that balance.

What happened on the field didn’t dictate the rest of his life. In Burton, Connole saw someone who wanted to succeed for the people in his life — he was doing it for them, not himself.

Can I play at this level? Am I good enough?

Those are questions Burton tried to answer, as he’d lost all confidence at the time. He didn’t know what was wrong.

“You’re not giving the people around you your best self, because you’re battling yourself,” he said.

It wasn’t until the end of his senior season at K-State that Burton felt like he made progress with his mental health. He said he still has days where the “cloud” hangs over him. But he’s largely freed from the anchor and its debilitating side effects, finding himself in the process.

Speaking about his struggles during a recent phone interview, he said, is proof he’s grown.

He’s owned it, and he’s not afraid to have battled it. He now knows it’s not a sign of weakness.

His NFL career has taken him to Atlanta, Green Bay, back to Atlanta and now to Houston.

He wants to remain in the league as long as possible.

Nowadays, he wakes up each morning and writes down five things for which he’s grateful.

They can be people, experiences, places, and anything and everything else.

It gives him a daily boost.

It helps him remember his why.

“I’ve been an underdog for so long, why quit now?” said Burton, now 24. “If the cards are stacked against you and you give everything you’ve got, you can’t lose.

“You can’t.”

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Right before Terrale Johnson transferred into K-State to play football, he received a text from Burton.

“I don’t know if I want to be here,” said Burton, who was about to begin his junior season.

“What? You have a chance to be great,” Johnson responded.

Burton and Johnson had grown up together.

They were childhood best friends who went from playing pee wee football together to tearing it up on MHS’ varsity squad.

“I might need to try a different route,” Burton told Johnson.

“No way, man. You really have something in front of you that you can succeed with and go get,” Johnson told him.

That’s when Johnson found out about Burton’s confidence struggles.

He couldn’t believe it.

Ever since they were kids, they’d talked about playing Division I football and making it to the NFL. Johnson said that, when they were younger, it had been just a dream. But playing major college ball in the Big 12 meant they were so close.

They were just a step away.

Burton was lost. He needed answers. He needed to dig deep down and find something that would continue to drive him.

When he worked with Connole, the sports psychologist, his outlook improved. He gained perspective. Those around him saw it.

Valentina Burton, Deante’s mother, said her son always had drive, but the direction of their conversations changed after visits with Connole. They were more positive.

Johnson knew Burton was in a much better place because he soon he was able to help others. For years, Johnson had heard Burton say, “I want to do this for my mom.”

Burton had seemingly rediscovered that motivation.

There were days when Johnson was down. “What’s your why? Burton would ask him. That kept Johnson going, and it showed him Burton had turned a corner because he was now the one keeping others afloat.

“If he was able to contribute to the people in his life in a positive way, then everything was going to work out great,” said Connole, who is now the senior associate athletic director for Dartmouth Peak Performance and a partner at Vision Pursue, a mental health firm. “I think that focus really allowed him to thrive, because so many athletes over-identify with their sport and the moment something doesn’t go well, it’s a reflection on them as a person.”

Each year, K-State’s seniors speak in front of the team at the last meeting before the bowl game. Johnson didn’t recall Burton speaking in front of people at any other time, and the rest of their teammates were in awe.

Burton was honest. He told the younger guys he would soon be fighting for a spot in the NFL. He shared his struggles, which no one but Johnson had known about.

Burton told his teammates he could have been even better, but he had takem some parts of his journey for granted. For so long, he hurt. He finally got help, and during that last team meeting, Johnson knew Burton had come a long way.

“Do not wait to be great,” Johnson said of Burton’s message to the team that day.

Burton spent the final day of the 2017 NFL Draft with friends because he didn’t want to stress out his mom. He and his buddies watched the draft, but they also kept busy by eating pizza and reminiscing about their favorite memories throughout the years.

As the draft was winding down, Burton began to field calls from teams. A few told him they would be interested in signing him if he went undrafted.

At the same time, he was on the phone with his agent trying to seek out a good fit based on the organization’s current roster, coaching staff and style.

“It was a pretty crazy 10 minutes,” he said.

Finally, he and his agent decided Atlanta was the right place. He was signed and spent the entire 2017 season on the practice squad. He also switched from receiver to defensive back, a position he hadn’t played since high school. He said the coaching staff made it a seamless transition because they were always available.

Sometimes, he’d go into head coach Dan Quinn’s office at 8 p.m. to ask questions. Who’s the best cornerback you’ve coached? What made him so good? Burton wanted to soak in everything he could.

“He was a very perceptive player,” K-State head coach Bill Snyder said. “He was one of those young guys that we talk about in here often, about processing information. He had a sense about him in regards to football.

“Good sandlot player, but a bright young guy that embraced the knowledge of the game extremely well. He was a good leader in that regard. He kind of helped his teammates, guided his teammates around.”

It seems there’s a common perception of the typical NFL practice squad. “A tackling dummy,” Burton said. But it wasn’t that way in Atlanta. The Falcons treated practice squad players like they were part of the team, and Burton was grateful for that.

Burton couldn’t speak for the practice squads of other teams, but in Atlanta, those players were involved in team meetings learning game plans and different schemes. The coaches trusted the practice squad players.

Before Week 1 of this season, the coaches told Burton he’d be put in the game at Philadelphia. He got in the game and was involved in a tackle. He said it felt “normal” to play, if only because he and his teammates had focused on being prepared for the moment.

On Sept. 11, Burton was claimed off waivers by the Green Bay Packers. A week later, they waived him to make room for another player, but on Sept. 25, the Falcons added Burton to their practice squad. The Texas just signed him off of Atlanta’s practice squad.

“I knew he had a shot (to go pro),” Johnson said. “You can’t just pass up on a 6-foot-2 guy who can jump out the gym and can run, and who’s smart and studies the game and knows the game.”

Added Snyder: “He was certainly well above average as a capable player, but by the same token, I think just his knowledge and understanding of how the game works itself really enhanced his performance level.”

Back in the day, Blake Debord was Burton’s coach — in multiple sports — from fourth through seventh grade. Debord remembers Burton as an “ultra-talented” kid, but one who hated contact. Not exactly ideal for football.

Burton still excelled. He bounced runs to the outside and took kickoff returns all the way down the sideline. He was faster than everyone, and he knew it.

One game, Debord told Burton, then a tailback, that he was calling a run play where Burton had to run between the tackles. From then on, Burton loved contact.

“He just had ‘it,’” Debord said. “He was one of those kids who was super nice to adults, he understood it. He was very, very coachable. You could tell him and then do it. You could show him and he would then get it.”

Burton is living out a dream, and he wants to “ride this train” as far as it’ll go. He knows it’ll take hard work and sacrifice, but he’s used to that.

During his K-State days, Burton would often wake up as early as 5:15 a.m. He’d go get treatment before practice. He stretched. He even ate well.

If Burton went out with the guys, Johnson said, it was for an hour. Then he’d go back home and sleep. To this day, Burton misses out on many of the fun experiences his peers enjoy. While it may be a bummer, he doesn’t regret anything.

“You can do anything you set your mind to, it’s just about how much you’re willing to sacrifice and how hard you’re willing to work for it,” Burton said.

He’s in the league now. He’s living everything he and his buddies talked about when they were kids.

He’s more confident nowadays. No longer is anything bringing him down. He’s comfortable with the path he’s on, and the work he’ll need to do to continue climbing the ladder to reaching his goals.

He feels freed from the anchor.

“You begin to be more of yourself, more of the person that people see on tape,” Burton said. “The one that plays free, the one that plays without thinking. That’s the person people scout and recruit and the one people want.

“They don’t want the guy who questions himself, the one who’s like, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to do this or that.’ The game moves way too fast at all levels for you to do that.”

Valentina Burton takes a moment to reflect on her son’s journey, as well as her own. The two always said it was them versus the world.

She and her son were both born in foreign countries. They both sacrificed throughout this process. Today, Deante is playing professional football in the United States.

If someone would’ve told Valentina that 10 years ago?

“I would say: impossible,” she said. “But it’s not. It has happened.”

When Deante was claimed by the Packers, he found out three minutes before the 4 p.m. deadline. He then had a flight from Atlanta to Green Bay at 8 p.m. that day. He filled out paperwork in the Falcons facility before heading home, packing and getting a ride to the airport from his girlfriend.

The small-town kid is living the fast life compared to those he grew up with, but he hasn’t forgotten about anyone. He still visits Schartz, his high school coach, when he returns home. He also texts with Johnson and other former classmates.

When Burton’s friends and former coaches hear or see good news about him, they drop him notes. He always responds. His humility is appreciated by all, and it’s something he’s always had. He’s never forgotten where he came from.

“This is my hometown,” he said of Manhattan. “These are the people who raised me.”

When Atlanta signed him as an undrafted free agent, he told Valentina, ‘Momma, we’re going to be all right.’ His mother, brother Sheldon and sister Michelle share in his success because they’ve supported him from the beginning. Deante always lets his family members know they matter, regardless of the money he’s making or the people he’s meeting.

“That gives me chills because it’s hard to know somebody is doing something for you, but there’s nothing you can hold in your hand,” Valentina said. “It’s just something you feel in your heart.”

Deante aims to play football as long as Father Time allows, but he wants to make an impact beyond the box score. He knows there are kids in Manhattan who might doubt themselves, whether it be because they lack confidence or they’re not sure small-town boys can reach the top.

He hopes those kids see him and what he’s doing, and know anything is possible.

“He has made all of us such believers in what a person can accomplish when they put their minds to it and they work hard for it,” Valentina said.