It’s that time of year again.
For the next six months, the men of the National Lacrosse League will be on the road playing the game they love, all in the pursuit of fulfilling the lifelong dream of winning an NLL championship. Many will do so at a price. For the next six months, many of the family men of the NLL will be away from their wives, children, and loved ones.
In the case of Tyler Burton, a 13-year NLL veteran, one of the newest members of the Philadelphia Wings, and, most importantly, a husband and a father of a three year old (with a second child on the way), navigating the challenges of playing so many roles on and off the floor requires sacrifice.
Burton has the unwavering support of his wife, Erika, who holds down the fort when he’s battling on NLL floors, and his firstborn, Brixton, is at an age where he is starting to understand that his dad is out of town for important business. While it is reassuring to know that things will be taken care of at home, it doesn’t mean there are not certain setbacks when being a professional athlete.
“I can’t say enough about her [Erika] – she is an absolute rock and she makes it possible every season for me,” Burton said. “It’s not easy being home with a three-year-old and then one on the way. I know it’s asking a lot of her, and she’s been an absolute warrior. She’s been my rock every season. It helps to know that you’ve got someone strong at home taking care of the family and being there when you’re not there. “
“You miss certain things, and it sucks. But, again, you’ve only got an allotted amount of time to play this game, and you’ve got to do it while you can.”
Only a few months ago, that allotted time was on the brink of running out. Prior to joining the Wings, Burton was a member of the now-defunct Panther City Lacrosse Club. When the team folded, a dispersal draft was held, but he was not picked up by a team. The dispersal draft was on September 2nd.
It would be nearly three weeks before Burton was picked up by the Wings on a one-year deal. Geographically, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a bit further away from Burton’s home in Lethbridge, Alberta, than Fort Worth, Texas (where PCLC played their home games), but the commute isn’t too different.
Regardless of the commute, Burton has long loved playing in Philadelphia in front of the passionate fans (even if they’ve rooted against him for more than a decade). Burton is now eagerly waiting for the moment Wings’ fans cheer his presence at the team’s first home game on December 14th.
The cheers will be loud, but will they be as loud as the ones Burton receives when he returns from a weekend of work? That’ll be tough. Every week that Burton is home with his family, he’ll likely still be playing lacrosse. Brixton loves lacrosse.
“He just loves having the stick in his hands all the time,” Burton said. “So, for me, it was just about showing him what the game is like. I know he’s still pretty young (he’s only three and a half), but I’m hoping to continue to keep playing so that he can understand it a little bit more for the love for the game and just that team camaraderie. It means everything to have him around, to be able to attend games, and just see that. I’m not going to force anything on him, but I would love to see him play the game.”
Brixton has been around the game all of his life and has gravitated towards the game. He’s been to NLL games, goes to open floors on Sundays in Lethbridge to throw the ball around, and loves watching games – you can bet Brixton will be a Wings fan this season.
“Even before he could walk, we had a lacrosse stick for him,” Burton said. “When he started walking, he started picking that up – he kind of used it as like a little cane here and there, but once he started throwing the ball around and throwing the ball with me, it just became like a fun thing we did after daycare every day. Right now, he just wants to watch lacrosse. We’ll put hockey on TV, and he’s just like, ‘Where’s lacrosse? I want to watch lacrosse.’”
Whether Brixton becomes a lacrosse player like his dad will be up to him. Lethbridge is more of a hockey town than a lacrosse town, but that might change with the Burtons living there – they’ve only been there for two years.
Tyler can teach Brixton many lacrosse lessons. He thinks that learning about teamwork and building camaraderie with teammates (who often become friends off the floor) are two of the most valuable lessons you can learn from lacrosse. Lacrosse is a tough and taxing sport. You need to rely on the guys battling with you. But they need you just as much as you need them. Becoming a player and person you want to become on and off the floor will take hard work, but it will pay off.”
“I think it’s just reality that you can go as far as you want to go,” Burton said. “It just takes hard work. It takes countless hours to do it when nobody’s watching. I think that’s the biggest thing that I can say [to kids] is to work hard. That’s what makes everything possible. The amount of work you put in is the result you’re going to get out of it. That’s a strong message that I try whenever I’m coaching.”
Becoming a father has changed the way Burton approaches lacrosse. Ever since Brixton came into the world, his dad has been playing for more than himself. Every time he represents his family on NLL floors, he’s showing Brixton how to be a good teammate and a good player. In the coming months, when Brixton becomes an older brother, Tyler will be showing two kids what it means to be a leading example on and off the floor.
“I love the game,” Burton said. “I love playing the game. The game has done so much for me that it’s hard to walk away from it because I just love it so much. Now, it’s also become playing for those other reasons: family and handing down that kind of thing to my son. If he makes it that far to feel that, that would be pretty incredible.”
Thankfully, Burton will be able to be a supportive father when Erika needs him the most. He can thank the schedule-makers for giving the Wings a week off at the most important time.
“Lucky enough, the first couple games of the season are out West here, so it’s not like I’m too, too far. I have a Bye Week the weekend during the due date, so that kind of helps out a bit.”
It can be hard to balance life and lacrosse, but everything is falling into place this season for Tyler Burton and his family.
By Adam Levi
