Local student attends prep school and gets football scholarship

Deep within the streets of Boston resides an aspiring athlete and student who has gone against the odds and has battled for a better opportunity.

“Being born in Boston was very cool and I have recently moved back which I enjoy,” Anthony Burnett said. “I heavily identify with Malden and made sure to bring a little piece of Malden wherever I go.”

Burnett has spent most of his life in Malden and East Boston, where he lives with his mom. He attended elementary school, middle school, and part of his high school in the town where he was born, making him a native to the suburban city.

When he was not in class, he could be found on the football field tackling his opponents to the turf, making them regret being on the opposing team and wishing they were on the same side as him.

“I like to call it pancaking,” Burnett said as he showed off his brutal strength and power while standing at a terrifying 6-foot-1 and 300 pounds. “Most of them do not stand a chance against me.”

Alongside being an offensive lineman on the football team, Burnett played baseball as a pitcher and first baseman, threw the shot put on the track and field team, and has recently picked up wrestling as a heavyweight.

“I credit my grandfather with getting me into sports. He was a legendary baseball coach in east Boston and introduced me to baseball,” Burnett said, as he showed off his grandfather’s old and worn baseball glove as well as his dirt-stained jersey he wore throughout his career.

During his time at Malden High School, Burnett broke the school record in 2016 for the farthest shot-put throw at 31 feet 4.5 inches at the Greater Boston Champs event, only to break his own record in 2017 with a throw of 37 feet 5.5 inches—this is his new personal best.

Academically, Burnett had received average grades and was no extra ordinary student. According to Niche, Malden High School ranks 103 out of 350 in best high schools in Massachusetts with an average ACT score of 26.

However, Burnett wanted to be challenged more and decided to pursue something outside of his repetitive life in Malden. His older cousin, Christ Capo, was an example of what he could possibly accomplish.

Capo had attended Brooks, a prep school, in North Andover, Mass. The school had a little over 350 students and provided a 6:1 student-teacher ratio in comparison to Burnett’s current 16:1 ratio. With the smaller average, this is what Burnett was in search of.

Burnett applied as a sophomore but was not accepted as his performance in the classroom did not meet the Brooks School standards. Hence, he made it his top priority to boost his GPA since he understood that his efforts would have a direct impact on his opportunities both on the field and in school.

Burnett applied once again as a repeat junior knowing this was his last opportunity. “The day I finally got in as a repeat was amazing. I woke up at 5 a.m. since the decisions came out early in the morning and I saw the word congrats and lost it,” Burnett said, as he shed a tear remembering the emotions he felt that morning. “I told my mother that I got in and she started crying. I texted Coach Foley and that started the journey of two of the greatest years of my life.”

With Malden High School in his past, Burnett was living on campus and starting his junior year at Brooks School.

“Brooks was a culture shock. I went from seeing young black kids roaming the halls of Malden High School with their pants sagging and durags on. Then I transferred to Brooks and saw preppy white kids wearing vineyard vines, designer and driving Audi’s and BMW’s,” said Burnett. “I couldn’t afford a car and my mother could barely afford her car. And you have a freshly licensed 16-year-old driving cars that cost more than the tuition I couldn’t afford to pay.”

However, starting his fall season playing football, Burnett fell into place once he stepped on the field for preseason practices. “He always brought a huge amount of energy for the team pushing us to win,” said Andrew Iferenta, Brooks School and Colby College football teammate.

“I enjoy playing offensive line. That’s really the dirty work. I always keep reminding the boys that we just have to work harder than everyone else,” said Burnett. “I live by the saying ‘Always in the trenches, never in the spotlight.’ I even have a shirt that says that.”

Through the team’s hard work, Brooks School had a successful season, winning the 2017 Ken O’Keefe Bowl against New Hampton School in a close 24–12 victory.

With the football season coming to a close, Burnett tried out for the Boys 2nd Basketball Team with the goal in mind to be a possible starter; however, Pat Hitschler, the Brooks School wrestling coach, had another plan in mind.

Hitschler told basketball coach, Kenya Jones, to intentionally cut him from the team since he needed a heavyweight for the upcoming season. “I had no idea Hitschler told Jones to do that. I thought I just was not that good,” said Burnett laughing with a smirk on his face. “I still joke about it too. I even brought it up in a speech about how I got cut because wrestling needed me.”

“We needed a heavyweight, so we knew he’d be out there right away. It was great to have him. He went out there every day and was ready to go. He would get to the match, go out there and give it his best,” said Hitschler.

In his first ever match, Burnett won the team award for the fastest pin of 19 seconds. “I liked it. Winning is amazing and winning in wrestling is better than winning in any other sport. You’ve just outmanned another person, and that feels really good.”

After a few months of competing in the sport, Burnett finished his season with only a few losses, making his way to finish 6th place in the Graves Kelsey Tournament, an all ISL school event.

Burnett also qualified for the New England Prep Tournament which consisted of all the top wrestlers in the New England area. He placed 5th and this ultimately qualified him for the National Prep Wrestling Tournament.

Unfortunately, Burnett lost his first match and at the end of his career, he finished with 30 wins and 10 losses.

After his wrestling season came to a close, Burnett went straight to training for baseball. He frequently visited the batting cages in the afternoons with the other baseball players to practice and gain a sense of what it was like playing for a new school.

Although Burnett did not have a starting position as pitcher or first baseman, he still embraced the culture of the team by showing up every day for practice as well as putting in extra hours on the weekends whenever possible.

Although he only had a couple of plays, he had a more optimistic approach to his role on the baseball team.

“I think a lot of people take who I am as a person. Even though I didn’t play a lot last year, I was heavily engaged in the sport, and I coached first base. I really embraced my role as backup,” Burnett said, with a glowing smile on his face.

In addition, Burnett was named to the All-ISL team in football and had received the team’s Coaches Award his senior year. He also received other coaches’ awards and league recognitions in wrestling and baseball.

Burnett was offered scholarships to multiple schools in the New England area for his skill and talent in football. He officially committed to Colby College in Waterville, Maine in the winter of 2018.

According to School and District Profiles, in 2019 only 21.8% of Malden High School seniors graduate and go to a 4-year private college and 30% attend a 4-year public college. However, Burnett is now one of the 95 Brooks seniors who will all attend a 4-year college.

“My intention of course was to play college football and I could’ve potentially done that coming out of Malden, but I was getting recruited by smaller local schools. Schools like Castleton who recruited me very hard at Malden with a 90 plus percent acceptance rate compared to Colby’s 9% acceptance rate,” said Burnett showing his college recruitment letters and flyers.

As Burnett looked towards the end of his Brooks career, he was sure to make his mark on campus. “At Brooks, I have learned to be kind and helpful where you can, whenever you can. The people here have always been kind and helpful to me, and they have changed my life,” said Burnett, motioning for a tissue as his eyes began to fill with water.

Burnett is currently a sophomore majoring in government with plans to attend law school after graduating. He also has intentions of running for public office as well as even becoming the mayor of Malden. Something he has been striving for since becoming involved in politics and law.

“I knew I would go to and graduate from college regardless,” said Burnett. “If not, I would have been just a another dumb kid floating by trying to pass his way out of some small public school that has more unwilling participants than students. Brooks is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”