The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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30 ■ THE WOLFPACKER WHEREARETHEYNOW? Following his groundbreaking career with the Wolfpack, Burden headed north to Can- ada and quickly became a superstar with the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stam- peders. He was the league's Player of the Year in 1975 and produced credentials over his career that earned him a spot in the CFL Hall of Fame. In his second season with the Stamped- ers, he set a single-season rushing record with 1,896 yards on 332 carries and led the league with 2,387 all-purpose yards and 15 touchdowns. While playing professionally, Burden con- tinued to study for his NC State economics degree, spending summers working for the athletics department and Wolfpack Club and learning the business of college athletics. He did some coaching, fundraising and market- ing, skills that helped him after his playing career. He earned a master's degree in sports ad- ministration from Ohio University in 1984 and a doctorate in education from Tennessee State in 1990. He was the athletics direc- tor at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro from 1990-99 and then entered academia as a professor in sports management at Georgia Southern. In 2009, Burden was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and served as NC State's Legend at the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte. Not long after that, congestive heart failure began to limit his mobility and severely affect his health. On Feb. 16, 2015, he entered At- lanta's Piedmont Hospital to await a match- ing donor for a heart transplant. He never left the hospital, spending more than 10 months in his room and missing all of his son Freddie's senior football season at Georgia Tech, where he was the starting center. Finding a transplant that matched his blood type and size proved impossible. On Dec. 4, 2015, Burden died from the effects of heart disease. He was 64. "He was such a nice guy, in all situa- tions," said former Wolfpack quarterback Dave Buckey. "He always had a smile on his face. In the midst of challenging situations, at times pressure-packed, I never saw him upset. "He was a real gentleman as well as a tre- mendous competitor." Stan Fritts Career stats: 534 carries, 2,542 rushing yards, 41 TDs, 25 receptions, 367 receiv- ing yards, 1 TD Honors: Two-time first-team All-ACC, 1974 second-team Associated Press All- American Where might you find the hard-charging bull of a fullback who spent more time in the end zone during his Wolfpack career than just about any player in program history? Chances are, he's at the Alexander Fam- ily YMCA on Hillsborough Street in a yoga class, an activity he took up in recent years to maintain fitness and remain active. The native of Oak Ridge, Tenn., spent two years in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals following his Wolfpack career and then entered the high-pressure field of sales in Atlanta. Diagnosed in 1989 with adult-onset diabe- tes, Fritts has spent much of the last 30 years managing his disease with insulin, diet and exercise. He retired in 2000 after 25 years in a traveling sales position and moved back to the Triangle to get away from life on the road. "I needed to take some time off and figure out what I wanted to do once I got back to Raleigh," Fritts said. So he took a part-time job at UPS to have some additional income and to remain ac- tive, something that ramps up to a frenetic pace during the holidays. He never really found anything he en- joyed more, so for the last 11 years, Fritts has been working part-time hours except for November and December. "Nobody works part-time during Christ- mas," Fritts noted. Now 65 and living in Garner, Fritts is making plans to fully retire next fall to get away from the physical labor that sometimes messes with his health and is more suited to his younger co-workers, most of whom are under 30. He's looking forward to volunteering more with his church in Cary, to maybe helping with coaching and to continuing his daily workouts at the YMCA. He's also worked with former Wolfpack quarterback Johnny Evans, who is the East- ern North Carolina director for the Fellow- ship of Christian Athletes, and joined Evans' expansive Monday night Bible study. "There are a lot of things I want to do to stay active," Fritts added. Charley Young Career stats: 317 carries, 1,657 rushing yards, 16 TDs, 10 receptions, 150 receiv- ing yards, 1 TD Honors: 1974 first-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys Young had no stated intentions or aspira- tions of being a racial pioneer at NC State. He just liked the way he was treated when he was an injured high school star that needed some treatment from the local athletics train- ing staff. During his time at Raleigh's Enloe High, Young had several injuries to his Achilles tendon and groin that needed the attention of a professional staff. He spent a lot of time at NC State and became comfortable and fa- miliar with the people on campus, from head coach Earle Edwards to the training staff. When it came time to choose a school, Young thought NC State seemed like the perfect place. As an added bonus, Burden, his high school teammate, decided to follow along. "It's not something we talked about doing together," Young recalled. "We made inde- pendent decisions." But what a ground-breaking tandem they made, with Young at fullback and Burden at halfback. They started with the freshman team in Edwards' final season, played one Young was a first-round draft choice of the Dallas Cowboys in 1974 and started at full- back his rookie season. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS Fritts led the ACC with 1,169 rushing yards in 1974, a total that still ranks fifth best in school history. He is second all time at NCSU in rush- ing touchdowns with 41. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS