Vontaze DeLeon Burfict Jr. ( VON-tez BUR-fikt; born September 24, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils, earning first-team All-American honors in 2010. Burfict was a projected top pick in the 2012 NFL draft until an unimpressive NFL Combine performance and character concerns led to him not being selected. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Bengals, where he spent his first seven seasons. In his final season, he was a member of the Oakland Raiders.
Burfict led the Bengals in tackles during his rookie season and earned Pro Bowl honors in 2013. He also incited controversy throughout his career for frequently violating player safety rules, which caused him to be suspended for 22 games due to 15 separate incidents and accumulate more than $5.36 million in fines and forfeited salary, approximately 15.28% of his $35.14 million in career earnings. Burfict's final season with the Raiders was cut short when he was suspended 12 games for an illegal hit, the longest on-field suspension in NFL history. In 2025, Burfict joined the UNLV Rebels as a defensive analyst.
Burfict attended Centennial High School in Corona, California, where he was part of an undefeated Huskies team that won a California Interscholastic Federation state championship with the help of quarterback Taylor Martinez; the team was ranked second in the nation by USA Today in 2008. That year, Burfict led the Huskies with 159 tackles, two quarterback sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Burfict participated in the US Army All-American Bowl and was the third-leading tackler for the West team. He also earned numerous All-American honors, including Parade.
Burfict missed almost all of his sophomore season due to academic problems. As a junior, Burfict collected a team-high 130 tackles and added four sacks, two interceptions, and one fumble recovery. He helped anchor a linebacker unit that included fellow Sun Devils Shelly Lyons and Brandon Magee. Corona Centennial finished the 2007 season as No. 24 on USA Today's Top 25.
He played in the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com, Burfict was listed as the No. 1 inside linebacker prospect in the nation.
Burfict's reputation for hard and often illegal hits dated back to his high school days. In 2019, Burfict's mother told USA Today that a number of parents frequently came up to her and asked her to tell her son not to hit their sons so hard. Burfict's uncle recalled that, at the time, helmet-to-helmet hits were not frowned on as much as they were by the time Burfict made it to the NFL. Burfict's rivalry with quarterback Matt Barkley, which would continue into their college days, began in high school. In a game against Barkley's Mater Dei High School, Burfict made hits aimed at Barkley's knees that Barkley would later describe as dirty. Both Burfict and Barkley were committed to USC when the incident occurred.
Burfict originally committed to USC but eventually switched to Arizona State on National Signing Day. He joined Arizona State's 2009 recruiting class that included three of his high school teammates. By July 2009, he struggled to meet admission standards based on the NCAA eligibility sliding scale and still had one summer school class to complete. Sun Devils coach Dennis Erickson, who compared Burfict to Ray Lewis, expected him to be academically eligible for enrollment. Burfict did qualify on time for the 2009 football season.
By midseason, Burfict ranked second on the team with 30 tackles despite starting only three of six games and had five tackles for a loss, two sacks, and three pass break-ups. ESPN named him Arizona State's midseason defensive MVP. In a road game against Georgia on September 26, Burfict collected a season-high 11 tackles (three solo) and one and a half tackles for loss. He led the Sun Devils in tackles in five games over the course of the season. By the end of the year, he had collected 69 tackles, seven tackles for loss, and a pair of sacks, and was named a Freshman All-American by College Football News, and the Football Writers Association of America. He was also honored as the Pacific-10 Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year.
At the start of his sophomore season, Burfict was named First-Team Preseason All-American by The Sporting News. He was also named to the watchlists of the 2010 Lombardi Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.
On October 6, 2010, Burfict was benched by Arizona State head coach Dennis Erickson. The reason given was Burfict's unusually high number of personal foul penalties. In a game against Stanford, Burfict was called for grabbing the facemask of Doug Baldwin and—after complaining to the referee—charged with a personal foul for unsportsmanlike conduct that gave Stanford a first down at the ASU 7. Two plays later, Stanford scored what turned out to be the winning touchdown.
Burfict finished the 2010 season with a team-leading 90 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, and two forced fumbles. The Sporting News selected him to their All-American team, as well as Pacific-10 Defensive MVP. Burfict was ASU's first first-team All-American since Terrell Suggs.
With senior cornerback Omar Bolden out for the season with a knee injury, Burfict was expected to take over as the leader of the Sun Devils defense in 2011 but eventually had a rather inconsistent junior season. He would finish the season with 69 total tackles, 7 tackles for a loss and 5 sacks. In his Arizona State career, Burfict recorded 22 personal fouls in 37 games. Burfict decided to forgo his senior year at Arizona State to pursue a career in the NFL.
Prior to his junior season, Burfict was regarded as one of the best linebackers available in the 2012 NFL draft and was projected to be a first-round pick by most NFL draft experts. His inconsistent play as a junior at Arizona State as well as off-the-field concerns, however, caused his draft stock to plummet. In October 2011, Sports Illustrated's Tony Pauline ranked him as the 20th-best prospect on his midseason draft board, but he noted that he has been "a loose cannon on and off the field, which has raised red flags". Burfict's draft stock would continue to slide with a poor showing at the NFL Scouting Combine, where he performed the majority of drills but skipped the short shuttle and three-cone drills.
His overall performance at the combine was described as "disappointing" and a "debacle" due to a 5.09-second run of the 40-yard dash, which was the slowest among all linebackers. Burfict also finished last among linebackers in the broad jump and finished second to last among linebackers in the vertical jump. On March 16, 2012, Burfict attended Arizona State's pro day and performed the bench press (16 reps), vertical jump (30"), short shuttle (4.56s), and three-cone drill (7.51s). Burfict described his overall pro day performance as "average". On April 25, 2012, it was reported by Fox Sports insider Jay Glazer that multiple NFL teams had been informed that Burfict had failed his drug test at the NFL Combine. Burfict later stated during an interview with Scout.com that he admitted using marijuana to NFL general managers. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Burfict was projected to be a seventh round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. Burfict was ranked as the ninth-best inside linebacker in the draft by Scouts Inc. and was ranked the tenth-best inside linebacker by DraftScout.com.
Burfict went undrafted in the 2012 NFL draft. On April 29, 2012, the Cincinnati Bengals signed Burfict to a three-year, $1.44 million contract that featured a signing bonus of $1,000.
Throughout training camp, Burfict competed for a roster spot as a backup middle linebacker against veteran Roddrick Muckelroy. Head coach Marvin Lewis named Burfict the backup middle linebacker, behind Rey Maualuga, to begin the regular season.