It’s 6:30 a.m. and most high schoolers are still asleep—but for Lukas Burd and the Weatherford football team, the grind is already in full motion. “Coach [Taylor] Sossamon has separated our morning workouts to where it is only the football guys out there at 6:30 working hard and getting close to each other,” Burd said. “We also went to a team spring game against Duncan, Chickasha, and Altus.” For Burd, a senior leader and multi-sport athlete, this offseason has been about building chemistry and pushing boundaries.
A vocal presence on both sides of the ball, Burd suits up at middle linebacker and left guard, anchoring the Eagles with strength and grit. But his goals extend beyond the stat sheet. “I want to be a better teammate and player than last year—someone that people can rely on,” he said. “One of our main goals is to win as many games as we can, and with the amount of work everyone has been putting in and taking time away from their stuff they could be doing—it’s going to pay off.”
That work has already translated into progress on the field. “From our first spring practice to our last 7-on-7, the improvement all around on our offense and defense has been crazy,” Burd said. “All the guys have been pulling us in the right direction, and I don’t doubt that’ll continue throughout our season.”
He credits much of that growth to the coaching staff. “Our biggest strengths are our coaches. They know the people we’ve got, and they can change the offense and defense to best fit the guys we have,” he said.
Preparation is everything, and Burd is thankful for the tools around him. “Our school’s athletic trainer, Grant Schamburg, is great at helping us recover starting Sunday the week before, so everyone can be as close to 100% as possible,” he said. “I would say following whatever he says.”
With pride, Lukas also helps lead the team’s character development. “We have a leadership council with our individual teams that gets points for doing extra workouts and helping around the community—but you can also lose character points for doing the opposite,” he explained.
Whether it’s blasting ‘Rooster’ by Alice in Chains in the locker room, winning a wrestling medal, or helping take down Clinton, Burd leads with passion and heart. “I want to be remembered as the hardest worker anyone has been around.”
