Jackson Burke, son of former Major League Baseball player Chris Burke, is having one of the most impressive seasons of any high school quarterback in the country.
The 17-year-old junior at Christian Academy of Louisville has thrown 60 touchdowns and no interceptions this season, according to The Athletic. He’s also completing an obscene 88.4 percent of his passes, and the team is undefeated this year.
So naturally, he’s already committed to play college baseball.
Burke, an obvious star on the football field, said in October that he plans to attend the University of Louisville and play baseball for the Cardinals.
Jackson Burke Has Been Almost Unstoppable At Quarterback
According to On3, Burke threw eight touchdown passes in a 70-21 win over Bowling Green on September 25. The eight touchdowns was a Christian Academy of Louisville single-game record.
He also helped lead the Centurions to their fourth consecutive Class 3A state championship last season. During that championship run, Burke, then a sophomore, completed 214 of 257 passes for 3,526 yards, 53 touchdowns and just one interception. His 83.3 percent completion rate set a national high school record (that’s about to be broken by himself).
So, between the two seasons, he is averaging over five touchdown passes per game! He has also had almost twice as many TD passes (113) as incompletions (64), and hasn’t lost a game as Christian Academy of Louisville’s starting quarterback.
“People assume that we are just throwing a bunch of bubble screens and that’s just inflating his completions,” Jackson Burke’s coach, Hunter Cantwell, said. “But when people actually turn on the tape or play against him and they see how much we’re throwing the ball downfield, it’s just baffling. It’s baffling people. It’s like watching somebody play a video game on easy mode.”
Former MLB Player Chris Burke’s Son Chooses Baseball Over Football
Despite those absurd football numbers, Jackson Burke announced on October 20 that he had committed to play baseball at Louisville.
The 6-foot, 165-pound shortstop batted .277 as a sophomore with six doubles, three triples, 11 RBI, 32 runs and 14 stolen bases, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.
“I’ve always loved football just as much as baseball,” Jackson Burke said. “I’ve taken a couple visits. I’ve gone to some camps football-wise, but it just didn’t really show as much as it did in baseball, so I decided to commit. I’m open to whatever football has to offer right now, but obviously I’m committed to play baseball at Louisville.”
His father, Chris Burke, was a first-round pick in the 2001 MLB Draft out of the University of Tennessee and played six seasons in the majors with the Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres. He now works as a baseball analyst for ESPN and the SEC Network.
Jackson Burke isn’t the only son with a pedigree making headlines in high school sports. Johnny Knoxville’s son, Rocko Clapp, has been dominating as a high school baseball pitcher. Meanwhile, country music star Luke Bryan’s son, Bo, recently committed to play quarterback at Georgia after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.