Eighteen years ago – long before he morphed into one of the top defensive backs in the Pac-12 Conference – Lorenzo Burns used to grab his little brother, Simeon, flip his dad's old football highlight tapes on and reenact the plays on the film in the basement with toy helmets securely strapped on.
 
The setting was just outside of Washington D.C., where his dad, DeChon, a former defensive back at USC, was coaching on Steve Spurrier's staff with the Washington Redskins.
 
So when you ask Lorenzo the very fair question, "when did football become important to you?" forgive him if his response begins with "always."
 
"It was always serious," Burns said of his love of football and desire to play the game at a high level. "It was always a dream of mine my whole life. I moved all around the country—Florida, Virginia, Texas, California – wherever I was, I was always surrounded by football."
 
And it wasn't a forced love.
 
Despite DeChon's love of the game and the success he experienced, he wanted his kids to do what made them happiest.
 
"We were always involved in all sports," Lorenzo said. "it was never, 'you have to play football.' It was never like that. He wanted us to do what we wanted to do and we wanted to play football. So he'd watch us in the backyard and take us to the field where he was coaching and we'd run around and just play."
 
DeChon's coaching stints took Lorenzo and the family to Gainesville, Florida, suburban Virginia, Houston, El Paso and eventually Southern California. In 2013, DeChon became the head coach at Linfield Christian School in Temecula, California.
 
Lorenzo eventually played for his dad at Linfield, where, despite the small enrollment of the school, he still managed to draw the eye of several college programs.

"The idea of playing Division 1 really didn't start hitting me until spring of my junior year, when I started getting offers," Burns said. "Our school was very small. We didn't play top notch teams. A lot of people questioned if I had the talent. It was always in the back of my mind if people thought I could play."
 
Of course, one person that always knew Lorenzo could play was his dad. DeChon helped instill confidence in Lorenzo that he could in fact play at the top level. So following his senior year, days before National Signing Day, Lorenzo committed to Arizona as one of the final pieces of the Wildcats' signing class.
 
In signing with Arizona, Burns was going to get the chance to play with one of his best friends – JJ Taylor, who he met in the seventh grade – and several other players he crossed paths with in Southern California. He earned the chance to play as a true freshman in 2016, but suffered a season-ending injury in the second game of the season.
 
In 2017, he thrived as a redshirt freshman. He started all 13 games and led all Pac-12 freshmen with five interceptions. He finished with 81 tackles and established himself as a force in Arizona's secondary. In 2018, he started all 10 games he played in and saw teams stay away from him in the passing game. Last year, Burns was named Arizona's Defensive MVP, starting all 12 games and leading the team with four picks.
 
As a redshirt senior in 2020, Burns will now take over the role occupied by past recent seniors such as Jace Whittaker, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and Dane Cruikshank and be the leader of the defensive backfield – something he's very excited about.
 
"It's eye-opening and a great feeling that I'm one of the seniors," Burns said. "I have the knowledge to help my team out. Not just from my personal experiences on the field, but with school, with being around teammates, with managing time. I feel like I know the best paths for success throughout college and playing football. Now that I'm in that senior role, I want to help everyone take that next step and set up whatever goals they want to achieve."