1993 Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame Inductee
Category: MULTIPLE SPORTS
Tony Burton was born in Flint and attended Flint schools. His athletic career began at an early age at Berston Field House on the sandlot little league teams. He displayed a strong determination to be the best at whatever he attempted to do. His sports career included, football, baseball and boxing.
At Northern he played halfback. In 1954 he scored 13 touchdowns and led his team in scoring. Many of the scoring runs were of 50 yards or more. He gained 820 yards rushing that year and one of his runs was for 95 yards.
In 1954 he was selected to the first teams of the All City and All Valley teams as a halfback. He was also chosen as an All State honorable mention. He was the teams co-captain and Most Valuable Player. Tony lead his team in yards gained and receiving yards. In one game against Grand Rapids Catholic, he gained 213 total yards.
At Northern, Tony was the leading baseball pitcher, pitching the team to the city championship title.
His boxing career included the Flint Golden Gloves light heavy weight championship in 1955 and 1957. Tony won the State Golden Gloves Light heavy Weight Championship in 1957 and lost in the Chicago Tournament of Champions semi-finals.
Tony now lives in California with his family, where he is a movie actor and television personality.
