Aledo High School senior Blake Burdine is too young to have seen it, of course, but in the mid-1990s there was a Pizza Hut commercial featuring Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Deion Sanders. It was about not having to make a choice when ordering a pizza.
Jerry then asks Deion, “What’ll it be? $15 million, $20 million?” to which Deion smiles and replies, “Both.” Sanders had just signed a $35 million contract with the Cowboys.
Burdine, were he to Google it, would likely chuckle. While not a monetary decision, he was also faced with a choice as he entered high school and he, likewise, did not single out one.
Burdine said he has played baseball “ever since I could walk.” He started playing football in seventh grade.
While his twin brother Brooks chose to focus solely on baseball in high school — a decision that led to him being offered a scholarship to play for Air Force — Blake opted to continue playing football and baseball.
And why not, he’s good in each sport and he loves each one.
“I just never saw a reason to stop playing either one,” Blake said. “My dad said, ‘If you love both, play as long as you can.’”
His dad, Landry Burdine, knows a thing or two about sports success. A standout in both baseball and football in high school — just like Blake — Landry settled on football and played for TCU from 1996-99 and was part of the Horned Frogs’ turnaround at the turn of the century.
In fact, Landry is still friends with the catalyst of that turnaround, NFL Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson.
“They’re actually really close. I’ve met him a few times,” Blake said. “I went to his Hall of Fame induction and met a lot of his teammates and cool people.”
Blake, who is a utility player seeing mostly action in the outfield for the Bearcats baseball team, is also one of the football team’s top receivers. He was first-team all-district in baseball this past spring and second-team all-district in football in 2023.
This football season he has risen to another level. He burst through for four catches for 118 yards and two TD in a 64-0 win over Brewer, along with returning a kickoff for 40 yards. Last week he hauled in a 53-yard TD pass.
“It’s what we expect out of Blake. He’s a senior, he’s got really good speed, he’s able to stretch the field,” Aledo Football Head Coach Robby Jones said. “If he gets the ball, he can make a lot happen.”
“It was super cool. I never thought I would have made it. I was with some super fast teammates,” he said.
Blake’s high school football career could have come to an end even before it began. He broke his collarbone on the opening kickoff of his first freshman game.
However, he fought back after surgery and as a sophomore was called up for the football playoffs. The Bearcats won their 11th state championship that season and, of course, followed up with a perfect 16-0 season and their 12th title last season.
In fact, it wasn’t until the opening game of this season, a 35-30 loss at Denton Guyer, that Blake knew what it was like to lose a varsity football game.
“I didn’t like it,” he said with a grin.
In his recovery, he recalled some advice from his dad.
“He told me not to take a backseat to anybody. He got hurt and couldn’t play baseball,” Blake said. “He got a football scholarship his sophomore year (at TCU) and was captain his senior year.”
Simply put, Blake stays busy. In addition to all he does athletically, he’s a solid student.
And, remember, he has spent his time going back and forth between track and baseball. For example, he would find himself finishing a baseball game, then scurrying to a track meet in time to compete in the 4x400 relay, which is often the final event.
“It was hard. I had to miss some baseball games and showed up late for some baseball practices,” Blake said. “It tells you that (baseball) coach (Chad) Barry is a big multi-sport guy.”
Blake said he’s uncertain if he’ll run track again in 2024.
Jones praised him for also being able to balance offseason football workouts and a summer baseball schedule that took Blake and Brooks to camps in places such as Arizona, Florida, and California.
“Blake would come to summer workouts Monday through Thursday, then travel all over,” Jones said. “You’ve got to be willing to put in the work. It takes a lot of self-motivation and determination.
“You’ve got to put in a lot of work to do it all.”
Blake is a rarity in that he plays both football and baseball in Aledo, but he’s hoping to be an inspiration for others to do the same. Jones noted that in 2014, when the Bearcats won a state baseball championship, seven of their nine regular starters were also on the football team.
“A lot of my buddies did play both my freshman year, but a lot of them said they had a fear of injury. You can’t play football with a fear of injury,” Blake said. “I want to be an inspiration because both sports are so much fun and both sports are great at winning here.”
Jones recalled his own son playing both sports and how much fun they had.
“I was taking him to those games. It was a special time for us,” he said.
He added that the devotion it takes to be good at multiple sports is something that impresses him greatly. That determination to succeed is going to cross over, he said.
“You can see the competitive nature and you know it’s going to carry over,” Jones said. “I like being able to go to a baseball game or a track meet and seeing kids I have a relationship with succeed in those sports.”
As for others considering branching out into other sports, Blake has a simple message.
“Play them all. Work hard in every one,” he said.
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