DATE: Friday, October 24, 1997              TAG: 9710240687

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                   LENGTH:  125 lines

COMIMG FULL CIRCLE HE'S GONE FROM HERO TO ZERO AND BACK IN 2 YEARS.

There is a wonderful story about Adrian Burnim the football player, who made a goal-line play two years ago to preserve the greatest victory in University of Virginia history.

U.Va. was leading No. 2-ranked Florida State 33-28 in the closing seconds when Burnim rushed from his safety position to slap the ball out of the hand of the Seminoles' Warrick Dunn inches from the goal.

Burnim, an unheralded redshirt freshman, had entered the game minutes earlier to replace injured starter Paul London. Suddenly he was the toast of Charlottesville and a highlight on ESPN's ``SportsCenter.''

It is a good story.

But there is another, lesser-known story about Adrian Burnim the student that has an even more heart-warming ending.

It's about a young man who took a tumble from sudden stardom and, with the support of his family, turned his life in the right direction.

As Burnim's football career was blossoming two years ago, his future at Virginia was turning sour. By the end of the spring term, he had been suspended from the university for academic reasons and had spent a couple of nights in jail following a campus incident.

He returned to his parents' home in Elizabeth City, where his father, Mickey, is chancellor at Elizabeth City State University.

It didn't take long for him to realize his mistakes.

``I was a 19-year-old who thought I was 25 and could do anything I wanted,'' Burnim said this week in his first interview with the media since the 1995 season. ``I was a wild guy. I thought I could out-think everyone and do things my way all the time.''

Some people thought they had seen the last of Burnim when he left Charlottesville that spring of '95. They saw him as just one more spoiled athlete who had flunked out of school, gotten in trouble with the law and probably shouldn't have been in college to begin with.

But Burnim's friends and family knew better.

Burnim was well-qualified to be in college, and there was more to him than being a talented athlete. His mother, LaVera Burnim, says a lot of people had expected much from her son because of his talent and academic background.

``You could tell he was really hurt that he had let his family and friends down,'' she said. ``But part of the growing process is having to go through something and come to a realization on your own. . . . Some people have to experience something before it really comes home.''

It came home with a bang for Burnim last fall when he was in Elizabeth City as the Cavaliers played football.

``Every day I was out, for that whole year, every day had a cloud over it for me,'' Burnim said. ``I wasn't where I wanted to be because I had messed up.''

Burnim tried watching games on television but had to turn them off.

``Every time someone scored (against Virginia) on a pass play, I couldn't bear it,'' he said. ``It was hard watching, knowing I had let my teammates down.''

As disappointing as it was, the year away was not a waste. LaVera Burnim says her son and husband grew closer during the year he was in Elizabeth City. He attended classes at his dad's university although he didn't receive credit.

``Primarily, we wanted him to be in school as opposed to being on the streets and out of the educational process,'' she said. ``It gave him a chance to develop his study skills, to grow up and mature and realize what he really wanted was what he had given up.''

Burnim said his father was supportive but reminded him that his future was in his own hands: ``He told me I knew right from wrong, and I knew what I needed to do to reach my goals.''

But it was something his mother said that hit home like a ton of bricks.

``What hurt me the most, my mom . . . she actually called me selfish, and I haven't forgotten that to this day,'' Burnim said. ``My mother is one of the most generous persons I have ever been around, always helping people and doing things in the church. When she said I was selfish and didn't care about other people, that really set off a bell in my head. It was time to get this train back on track.''

LaVera Burnim helped her son define his goals. She gave him a piece of paper and told him to list what he wanted to accomplish. He wrote down that he wanted to play Division I football, that he wanted to get a degree, and that he wanted to have a shot at the NFL.

His mother then told him to write down the schools where he could accomplish these goals.

``I wrote five or six schools, and Virginia was my first choice,'' he said.

LaVera Burnim wasn't surprised that her son wanted to return to Charlottesville, where coach George Welsh said he'd be welcomed back if he got his grades and life in order.

Burnim was eligible to return to school in the spring, but he had some heavy academic work to do before reclaiming his football scholarship. Under NCAA rules, he had to complete 18 hours during the spring semester and six hours in the summer to be eligible for this season.

He passed the 18 hours in the spring with a 2.3 grade-point average and had similar success with his summer classes. But one of his professors left for a vacation on an isolated Canadian island without posting his grade.

Burnim retook the exam and was not declared eligible until the day before the season-opening game against Auburn.

Anthony Poindexter, who assisted Burnim on the goal-line stop in the Florida State game two years ago, is not surprised that Burnim is back and playing well.

``Adrian has played football all his life, so one year of being out didn't hurt him that much,'' Poindexter said. ``He bounced back from what he went through and came back back to contribute to the team. We're getting our old chemistry back.''

With Florida State back in Charlottesville on Saturday for the first time since the '95 game, Burnim has had numerous requests to share his memories. It is something he never grows tired of talking about, and he's watched videotape of the final minutes of the game hundreds of times.

``I've got a copy of it, and everyone in my family as a copy of it,'' he said.

Burnim remembers jubilant fans rushing onto the field even before the last play was run.

``I was just thinking to myself, `No touchdown,' '' he said. ``I was expecting a pass, everyone was. But the ball was snapped directly to Dunn, and from there my instincts took over.''

He recalls bumping into his own teammates as he hurried to close a hole Dunn was running toward. He remembers seeing Dunn hold out the ball, trying to thrust it across the goal. He reached and slapped the ball at the moment Poindexter hit Dunn.

``At first I didn't think it was a big play,'' Burnim said. ``It didn't hit me until later on.''

Some things just take time to hit home. ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Adrian Burnim, right, celebrates with Byron Thweatt. Burnim is a

Cavalier again after a year he'd rather forget. KEYWORDS: PROFILE

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