BURGMEIER, Ted

BURGMEIER, Ted. (Dubuque, IA--Dubuque, IA, July 7, 2013). An all-state athlete in football, basketball and track (pole vaulting, which he also excelled at while at Notre Dame) at WAHLERT HIGH SCHOOL, Burgmeier was recruited mainly by the in-state schools, until he signed by Notre Dame.

Notre Dame’s formerly used “birddog” recruiting method seems archaic today. The Burgmeier family was friends with a local attorney in Dubuque who was a classmate of Notre Dame athletics director Ed “Moose” Krause. He would keep Krause informed about Burgmeier, and finally the information trickled down to the Notre Dame coaching staff. A scout watched him play basketball and then watched Burgmeier's football films with his coaches. The scout visited with him and invited Burgmeier for a visit. Coach Ara Parseghian then offered him a scholarship.

Burgmeier played quarterback at Notre Dame for about two weeks in his freshman year before he became the No. 2 free safety.

After leading the Irish to their eighth top-5 finish in eleven years, Parseghian stepped down and was replaced by Devine who had more of a dropback, pro-style offense, while Burgmeier was a running quarterback. Burgmeier capped the spring with a 33-yard touchdown reception from Joe Montana in the Blue-Gold Game.

http://youtube/Y7aOEDBcMt8In the fifth game of 1975, the sophomore duo began the “Comeback Kid” legend when the Irish rallied from a 14-0 fourth-quarter deficit at North Carolina and escaped with a 21-14 victory. The winning score came on a short eight-yard out pattern from Montana to Burgmeier that the latter turned into an 80-yard touchdown with just 1:03 remaining.

Entering Burgmeier’s junior year in 1976, the Irish had a veteran split end in senior Dan Kelleher and an emerging future star in sophomore speedster Kris Haines, but were short at corner. Thus, to get the best athletes on the field, Burgmeier aligned at his third different position in three years.

Drafted in the fifth round by the Miami Dolphins, Burgmeier made it to the last cut and then was picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs halfway through the season to play safety and special teams. That rookie season would be his last in football. He tried out with a number of different teams, and went to Canada to try out.

After the short career in the National Football League, Burgmeier, his wife and son returned to their roots in East Dubuque. He used his degree in business administration to become a national sales manager for A.Y.MCDONALD MANUFACTURING COMPANY where he worked for past twenty-two years.