Building and planning are skills with which what BYU safety Jon Burbidge excels.
If he's not helping build BYU's football reputation or planning for an NFL career, he is planning and building homes and businesses.
Although Jon enjoys playing for the Cougars, he also spends his time working construction with plans to graduate soon in this field.
"I plan to graduate next April in construction management," said Burbidge, a 6-0, 205 senior and father from Tumwater, Wash.
"I did an internship last summer in Salt Lake for a construction company. That internship focused more on the commercial projects like hotels, hospitals and businesses."
MAKING CHOICES
One of the biggest factors in deciding to pursue construction management at BYU came from within his family.
"My dad had the greatest influence in me choosing construction," he said. "He was a general contractor for a little while. I started doing jobs for him during the summer time and that just sparked my interest in it. I just decided to get into it for school and focus on the business side more than doing grunt labor."
With only a year left of school, he sees a future full of building houses, but he also has his sights on playing professional football.
"I definitely want to try and make it to the next level," he said. "I think that would be anybody's dream, and I want to pursue that as far as I can."
"I also want to have something there like construction that I can to do when that time comes," he continued. "And I would like to eventually be in a position to build homes and live in them for a while and sell them."
BUILDING CONFIDENCE
Although he thinks about the future and is planning for a NFL career, Burbidge still has much on his plate right now.
As a senior, he wants to make a huge impact at the safety position and felt very confident coming into this season.
"I think it was a good offseason for the whole team," he said. "I personally felt the best I've ever felt coming into this season. I think we'll be a top contender this season, definitely in the conference and in the nation."
Although BYU did not claim a top three spot in the Mountain West Conference preseason rankings, Jon wasn't too worried.
"In the conference, I like being an underdog because people lower their expectations," he said. "I don't believe that with BYU because there are always high expectations, but when you're rated lower, you have the opportunity to prove people wrong. It doesn't bother me one bit."
Burbidge knows that with such a rich tradition, teams still have reason to fear the Cougars' football team.
"There are teams that are going to be scared of us because of who we are and what we have accomplished," Burbidge said. "It'll be a good year because we have a lot to achieve."
Having several top nationally ranked teams on their schedule will also give BYU an opportunity to shine this season.
"I don't think BYU has had a better schedule than this year because we have the perfect schedule to be nationally recognized with the chance to play Notre Dame, USC and Boise State," he said. "We're very capable of beating those teams."
Burbidge will look to lead in the starting strong safety position and sees strength on both offense and defense.
As one of the 13 seniors on the team this season, he also will be an integral part of the Cougars' success because of his experience and knowledge of the defense.
"We have a solid core of experienced players and leaders and a lot of new guys coming in that will also help us be successful," he said. "Hopefully I can be one of those leaders and help mold the team to contribute to the success of the team."
STARTING YOUNG
Although Jon started playing organized football as soon as he could, he was always playing lots of sports growing up in Washington.
"I started playing football in sixth grade in peewee league," Jon said. "There was an age limit when we could start peewee football. Plus, my older brother, Barrett, had a big influence on me because he started playing football about five or six years before me. He started playing sports before I did, and I have just followed in his footsteps.
Coming from a very athletic family, Jon always had some sport to play or to watch, especially with athletic siblings.
"I had an influential family in sports, especially my brothers who all played football," he said. "There was always some type of sport going on, and I started really young with soccer and T-ball. In high school, I played baseball, soccer, football and basketball."
In football, Jon earned all-state and all-league MVP honors as a senior. He also enjoyed playing running back and safety. At BYU, playing safety became his niche.
"I love playing safety," he said. "Throughout middle school and high school I played a lot of offense and defense, but when I was recruited here, I just concentrated on safety. The coaches put me where I would best contribute. It has really grown on me. I've really enjoyed it and being apart of the defense. I think it takes a different mindset to play defense than it does to play offense."
REMEMBERING THE PAST
Although Jon has had many great memories while playing at BYU, his fondest memory came during his sophomore year.
"My most memorable moment in football here came during my sophomore year against New Mexico," he said. "I intercepted a pass and went 80 yards for a touchdown."
During his junior year at BYU, Burbidge was named Defensive Back of the game for the Georgia Tech and Boise State games and was also named Special Teams player of the game for the Notre Dame game.
COMING TO THE Y
Before coming to BYU, Jon was recruited by schools in the Northwest. Because he grew up there, he was more familiar with teams like Washington and Washington State, but when the time came, BYU proved to be the best choice for him.
"When the opportunity made itself available to come and play here, it became a pretty easy decision after talking with family," he said. "Plus, with the tradition and legacy of football here at BYU, I didn't even think twice about it. It was obviously the right decision."
Although BYU was the right pick for Jon, he has had to learn how to balance athletics, work, family and academics here. He has many things important to him, but football has been at the top of list for the last four years.
"Everyday last summer after we did our morning workouts, I would drive up and go to work in Salt Lake," he said. "I was glad that I was able to not lose anytime because football comes first right now. It's the priority."
BALANCING LIFE
However, family took a little precedent over football about a year ago when he and his wife had their first child.
"We had a baby last football season before the Stanford game, so any of my free time is spent with the little guy, Jace, and my wife, Jeni," Jon said.
Burbidge was a little bit worried that having a baby and playing football might cause some scheduling conflicts, but its worked out so far.
"Jace came on a Tuesday, so I only missed one day of practice," Burbidge said. "It was a little bit stressful because he came a month early and wasn't due until October. So he was a surprise, but it worked out well because he was due on a week we would be gone at an away game."
Although he follows such a hectic schedule, Jon gives much of the credit for juggling everything to his wife and parents.
"Life would hard to juggle everything without a supportive wife," he said. "She does a lot and handles everything so well. She's dedicating her time to raise him. Plus, my mom and dad are so supportive and have traveled to most of my games since I was a freshman. They have to travel from Washington for all the away games and even the home games."
Focusing on his family has been advantageous for him because he can take a step back from his busy life.
"Having a baby has really helped me too," he said. "I'm pretty focused on what I do and everything, and it helps me because it puts life in perspective even more for me. If football is something I want to keep doing to support a family, then it helps me focus and concentrate and try harder to put myself in a position to do that."
TAKING IT EASY
No matter how hectic things get for this strong safety, he always manages to find time for a little rest and relaxation. When he's not camping or doing watersports with this family, Jon enjoys a sport other than football.
"In my spare time, I like to golf a lot if I can," he said. "I like doing that with guys on the team. It's a good way to get out and relax. You cannot get too uptight about playing golf bad."
PLAYING HARD
Burbidge is already having a big impact on this year's team. Certainly USC felt Burbidge's impact. On the reigning national champions first possession of the game, Burbidge stepped in front of a streaking Trojan receiver near the sideline to intercept Heisman candidate Matt Leinart's pass.
The pick was Leinart's first in 111 attempts and was also the Cougar defense's first of the season. Burbidge returned the ball 23 yards, giving the Cougars a chance to score.
The safety also finished second on the team in tackles against USC with 11 total, including seven solo takedowns and one for a four-yard loss.
"MY DADDY IS BIGGER THAN YOUR DADDY"
While 25 percent of BYU students are married, there are surprisingly about 34 percent of those competing on the football team with wedding rings.
Not only are 35 players married, there are 10 players with children on the BYU squad.
"We have quite a few guys on the team with kids and more on the way," said BYU safety Jon Burbidge.
"Obviously, there's a lot of players on the team that are married."
Within the last three months, four babies will have been born to members of the team and their wives.
Nose tackle Manaia Brown and his wife, Tupusina, celebrated the birth of their first child, Manaia Vaega Vaifoa, on Aug. 9. Defensive end Brady Poppinga and his wife, Brooke, welcomed the arrival of their first child, Jasmine Rene on Aug. 12. Receiver Jason Kukahiko and his wife, Kristin, were blessed with a daughter, Kate, on Sept. 7.
Defensive back Brett Cooper and his wife, Diana, are expecting their first child this month.
Although football players must balance so much with such a grueling schedule, it's a rare case to have so many members of the BYU football team becoming husbands and fathers.
"BYU is such a unique place," BYU head football coach Gary Crowton said. "We have so many married players who have to juggle school work, family and football. They have a lot of responsibilities and it's great to see them succeeding as they balance those roles. It's great to see them excited about being parents, proud to be good fathers."