Luther Burden III’s journey — from the Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club to Cardinal Ritter to East St. Louis High; from five-star Oklahoma commit to Mizzou Tiger; from I-70 billboards to Luther Burden Honey BBQ Red Hot Riplets; from a roller-coaster freshman year to a steamroller sophomore year — has taken us here, to 2024, to the moment in the making.
Named to the SEC’s preseason first team, Burden is primed for one of the best years a Mizzou receiver has ever had.
OK, but will it be better than Danario Alexander’s 2009?
It was Alexander — and not Jeremy Maclin or Justin Gage or Chase Coffman — who compiled the benchmark for ball-catchers in black-and-gold.