Trying Time: Burchette Balances Grief, NFL

Defensive end Noland Burchette took a class with professor Nikki Giovanni at Virginia Tech; among the students in the class was the gunman who killed 32 people on Monday. (By Gerry Broome -- Associated Press)

Noland Burchette planned on spending Monday morning behind the wheel of his Monte Carlo, making the three-hour-plus trip from his home town of Richmond down to Blacksburg, Va. The Virginia Tech defensive end is in the midst of his preparations for the NFL draft, and he was scheduled to work out with a scout from the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday.

Instead, Burchette spent the day at home in front of the television, watching the horror unfold at his school, and on the phone, trying to make sure that his former teammates were okay.

Burchette, a fifth-year senior, never took a class in Norris Hall, and he didn't personally know any of the 27 students or five faculty members who died on Monday. But when a picture of the gunman flashed across his television screen, Burchette said he immediately recognized him from a creative writing class he took with Nikki Giovanni, Burchette's favorite professor.

"It made it more scary for me," Burchette said. "He could've done it earlier; it could've been my class."

Burchette continues to think about what happened, but like many of his fellow Hokies, he is trying to carry on with his life as normally as possible. The baseball team lost, 11-9, to Miami last night -- the first sporting event since the tragedy -- and classes are set to resume Monday.

This is an important time for Burchette, who at 6 feet 2 and 260 pounds is a bit undersized for a defensive end and is projected to be a late-round pick. Tuesday's workout was the last one on his schedule before next weekend's draft; he had already worked out for the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs.

"When I talked to the [Indianapolis] scout, he said it was up to me," Burchette said. "He told me, 'I just want you to know that the head coach really wanted me to come down here and do a workout for you, but I understand if you don't want to go through with it.' I was in between both, trying to decide."

He drove down Tuesday, and his workout with the Colts was held Thursday inside Rector Field House. As difficult as it was to go to Blacksburg, it was also cathartic, he said. Burchette was glad to see his teammates and the rest of the Virginia Tech community.

"It means a lot; I went there to play football and I made a lot of tight friends who will be with me for a long time," Burchette said. "I know the football team; we try to keep people together, but it's the people at the school that keep us together."

Burchette has been working to get ready for the draft since the Hokies' season ended with a loss to Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. He broke a bone in his left forearm -- the same bone he broke during spring practice in 2006 -- while rushing the Bulldogs' quarterback, and he underwent surgery to insert a plate in early January.

He spent a month in Orlando, working with trainer Tom Shaw to prepare for the combine in late February. Shaw had to find ways to help Burchette maintain his strength while his arm was in a soft cast; instead of weights, they used ropes and broomsticks to create resistance and simulate a bench press.

At the combine, Burchette planned on just doing the running drills, and no lifting. But he wound up doing the opposite; a leg injury kept him from running, and his pride pushed him to do the 225-pound bench press.

When his group of defensive linemen got to the bench press station, the coach in charge asked if anyone was going to sit out. Burchette was surprised to see four or five players back out with excuses.

"They didn't have real reasons. I saw how the guy was looking at those people, and I was like: 'Forget it. I'm going to do everything I can,' " said Burchette, who started all 13 games last season, recording 44 tackles (24 solo) with 3 1/2 sacks. "After I did it, people said, 'Are you crazy?' "

He wound up doing 15 repetitions -- nine fewer than what he can normally do when healthy, but pretty good for someone who was just eight weeks removed from surgery and hadn't bench pressed at all since December. Burchette's total was the lowest in his group of defensive linemen -- five players did more than 30 -- but his willingness to even attempt to do them made an impression.

"He's a workout warrior and a pretty confident kid, and when he wants to do something, he does it," said Jason Bernstein, one of his agents. "He was feeling confident so he didn't back down. Teams were impressed."

Burchette hopes someone was impressed enough to select him Sunday. He is one of five Hokies who are likely to be drafted, and though he doesn't plan on watching the draft, he will keep track of where the others -- wide receiver David Clowney, safety Aaron Rouse, tackle Brandon Frye and long snapper Nick Leeson -- end up. He would like to give Virginia Tech fans something to be happy about.

"I know what I have to do, and I know I have to keep focused on what I have ahead," Burchette said. "I still think about what happened, and I feel sorrowful for the people who lost their lives or who lost loved ones. Hopefully I can do something to help."