George Burhenn sets sights on breakthrough campaign after return from injury

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Just a few months ago, Purdue tight end George Burhenn spoke about his injury and recovery process that wiped out nearly his entire 2024 season, which was was supposed to be a breakout campaign. Days later, another ailment slowed that hype once again.

Burhenn was carted off after a gruesome ankle injury in spring practice, with his leg in an air cast, and casting doubt on his redshirt sophomore year in West Lafayette.

“All I could think was, I just want to play, because, I’ve been through it before and it’s just really the worst feeling I’ve ever had, really, but I just want to play. That’s all I was thinking about, and had a long road ahead of me, but I’m here now, so it’s all good,” Burhenn said.

A miraculous recovery in less than four months has Burhenn back on the field for the Boilermakers during fall camp, albeit in a limited role as he’s slowly worked back into full participation. The talented tight end has been seen working off to the side as Purdue practices, but is ramping up toward a return to provide the Boilermaker offense with a valuable weapon.

“It’s amazing,” Barry Odom said of Burhenn’s recovery during Big Ten Media Days. “The injury that he had and what he’s done recovery wise ― he’ll be cleared for practice one.”

“I mean, I’ve just been putting everything I have into the recovery and the rehab,” Burhenn said. “I haven’t left this place in a long time, spent the whole summer, all of May, just getting through that. Definitely an unfortunate circumstance but it’s just the cards I got dealt. So I gotta go through the best I can and just keep moving forward.”

Burhenn is no stranger to the training room and the highs and lows of the recovery process, dealing with various ailments during his Purdue career. That helped him manage the dark days and frustration that comes with working your way back from a significant injury.

“Definitely at the beginning, I thought it was going to be a lot easier for that, but there were some dark days. But I knew, I mean, everything’s hard in life,” Burhenn said. “Whenever you want something, that’s on the other side of hard work. So I knew that, like hard work comes with everything. So it kind of just helped me push through, just knowing I gotta keep going.”

An enlightened outlook on life on the mend, along with the aforementioned hard work, has Burhenn back on the field for the Boilermakers and expected to be a key cog in Josh Henson’s offensive plans at tight end. Burhenn has flashed, with his showing in the Old Oaken Bucket Game in 2023, and is an athletic freak.

The rising sophomore has been pegged by some as Purdue’s best player and a healthy George Burhenn could be a difference-maker in 2025. The pressure that comes along with that? Burhenn isn’t fazed.

“Pressure is kind of like, not fake, but I think it’s fake. I mean, I expect that for myself, so I don’t really feel any pressure for that. I just want to work as hard as I can to prove those people right and prove myself right. So I just think getting healthy from this and doing what I do is next up for me,” Burhenn said.

Burhenn leads a versatile tight end group in West Lafayette that features a myriad of skill sets in 2025. 6-foot-8 behemoth Christian Earls, fullback turned tight end Christian Moore, athletic pass catcher Rico Walker and up-and-comer Luca Puccinelli make up the core of the room. The size has been bolstered for Josh Henson, who says his unit still needs to use that size to be more physical up front.

“It’s a big group. We’ve got to use our size better. We’ve got to impose our size on the other side of line of scrimmage, and that’s got to be an advantage for us, with the size that we have,” Henson said.

Burhenn is perhaps the most well-rounded in the group, serving as a downfield threat, while also having the physicality and willingness to be a blocker. The “jack of all trades” is expected to be a big part in Purdue’s plans of winning this fall and has impressed UNLV transfer Christian Moore.

“George, he’s definitely a vertical threat and he’s also not scared to put his face on people and block. So he’s kind of the jack of all trades, and he’s going to be a good guy and help us win this year,” Moore said.

Burhenn is the perceived top dog in the tight end room for the Boilermakers, which has been a strength of the program for the last several years, with Payne Durham, Max Klare, and others standing out. Could Burhenn be in line for the crown of Purdue’s next great tight end? If he stays healthy, there is no ceiling to what the redshirt sophomore could be for the Boilermakers.