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Remembering Jackie Burkett, 'the epitome of an Auburn man'

AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn’s march to the 1957 national championship ended in Birmingham the same way it began in Knoxville: with Jackie Burkett and the Tigers’ defense holding their opponent scoreless.

Burkett, an All-SEC sophomore linebacker and center that season, passed away of leukemia Sept. 1 at age 80. A familiar, friendly face at reunions of the ’57 team, Burkett vividly remembered Auburn’s first championship season.

“One of the things I remember very well,” Burkett recalled during a reunion in 2015. “We go up to Tennessee. Tennessee had come down and beaten Auburn the year before.