SANTA CLARA – Steve Burton’s day job is sportscasting.
You might know that his off-the-clock commitment is serving as a father of four standout athletes, including Valkyries star guard Veronica Burton.
What you probably do not know about the Burton family is that Steve’s father, Ron, was the then-Boston Patriots’ first-ever draft pick in 1960.
Sixty-six years later, Steve, a longtime sports director in the Boston area for local CBS station WBZ, is covering the now-New England Patriots at Super Bowl 60 in the same region where Veronica led the expansion Valkyries to a surprising playoff run.
For Steve, a positive person by nature, that serendipity is more than enough to make him crack his signature smile.
“It’s a blast to be out here again,” Steve said. “My first day here, I was walking to go pick up my media credential, and one of my crew members said, ‘Hey, look, that’s Veronica.’ I said, ‘Veronica’s in Miami, playing right now for Unrivaled.’ She goes, ‘No, up on the billboard.’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, that is Veronica.’”
Even some of the players he covers spotted her when they were out and about.
“It’s fun to see how the whole nation has come together to support the Valkyries down here,” Steve said. “Patriots players coming up to me, ‘Hey, I saw your daughter up on the billboard,’ which is pretty neat. Because it’s really about them. And for them to come up, and Brenden Schooler was one of them that just came up and said, ‘Hey, man, seeing this is pretty cool.’”
Veronica thinks it’s pretty cool, too. But not just because she’s up on a billboard.
Three generations of family history have converged in this moment, and all the Burtons are grateful. They’re paying attention, too.
When Steve was approached in San Jose by a Valkyries fan asking if he was Veronica’s dad, he smiled and responded in the affirmative. This got back to Veronica, who grew up being asked if she was Steve’s daughter.
Steve Burton is an institution in Boston. So are the Patriots.
Veronica Burton is possibly on a path to becoming one in the Bay Area, and she’s building her legend on the strength of the New England family members who came before her.
“It was always really cool,” Veronica said. “I didn’t even fully understand the magnitude of it growing up. I always had a lot of people saying they watched my dad or would see my dad on TV. So it became normal for me, especially in the Boston area. People love him out there, so it was really cool to see.
“My grandfather passed when I was three, so I didn’t really know or hear too much from him personally. But even hearing stories and everything, experiences that my grandfather had and being a professional football player, he paved the way.”
Ron Burton starred as a football player at Northwestern, then was drafted ninth overall by the Patriots. He kicked off a legendary run of athletic Burtons who attended the school in suburban Chicago.
Steve came along in the 1980s and played quarterback for the Wildcats. His wife Ginni swam for NU, where she was an NCAA Division I All-American and competed at the 1984 United States Olympic trials.
Then came Veronica, who joined the Wildcats’ basketball team in 2018 and concluded her career with an All-American nod in 2022. She was selected with the No. 7 overall pick by the Dallas Wings that spring.
Veronica jokes that she is the “favorite” child because she followed in her family’s footsteps. Her sisters Kendall (Villanova) and Kayla (Lehigh) also played basketball in college, and her brother Austin played football at Purdue and UCLA.
Even during his busy reporting schedule, Steve found time to come see Veronica play multiple games as she won the WNBA’s Most Improved Player award in 2025.
“He and my mom both are honestly really good about always watching my games if they can’t make it in person,” Veronica said. “But they’ve made it a point to come and see me. Them being able to come out to the Bay and come to even our first playoff game for the Valkyries in the Bay, it was really special. They spent so much time with us growing up playing basketball, and now for me to be in the WNBA and them still being able to share those moments with me is really special.”
Sports have bonded the Burton family for decades. As Steve has stepped into the Super Bowl spotlight this week, they’re doing it all over again.
“I’ll tell you what else is neat: to walk around this city and see people wear my daughter’s jersey,” Steve said. “And it means even more to me because her number is 22, and that was my dad’s number when he played for the Patriots. So for that to come around full circle, to see that, it’s pretty awesome.”
Christian Babcock
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