This story will be updated.
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Notre Dame football has found another intriguing son of a former NFL great in freshman wide receiver Elijah Burress. His redshirting this year, but Burress showed flashes of his vast potential with a pair of third-quarter receptions for 16 yards in Saturday’s regular-season finale at Stanford.
Those were his first career receptions for the Irish.
Here are three things to know about Burress.
Is Elijah Burress related to Plaxico Burress?
Yes, indeed. The former Super Bowl hero for the New York Giants, who starred at Michigan State for then coach Nick Saban in the 1990s, is the father of the freshman wideout for the Irish.
The younger Burress starred at DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, N.J., where he played alongside fellow 2025 Notre Dame signee Nolan James Jr.
Younger sister Giovanna Burress is a highly rated women’s basketball recruit in the Class of 2028. Notre Dame has reportedly offered her a scholarship.
Elijah Burress making connections with CJ Carr
Carr, Notre Dame’s new starting quarterback, was raised in a Michigan household. Burress’ father starred for the rival Spartans.
Somehow that hasn’t stopped the two young Irish standouts from bonding on and off the field. Carr found Burress for touchdowns on the final two Saturdays of spring practice: a 25-yard strike to end the jersey scrimmage on April 5 and then a 2-yard toss for a score in the Blue-Gold Game on April 12.
“One guy who has really impressed me — and the coaches as well — is Elijah Burress,” Carr said ahead of the season opener at Miami. “I remember a story: Day one, we go in and I’m trying to install just the formations with some of the younger wide receivers and he wasn’t great at it. It was his first time being installed, obviously,
“I’m like, all right, we’ll come back next week and do whatever. I go in the locker room, and then like an hour and a half later, I walk back into the receiver room and he’s fricking still in there just studying and grinding. I’m, like, ‘OK, I’ve never seen you run a route. I’ve never seen you play, but you’ve got the want to be great.’ And so that just excites me in a young kid like that.”
Multisport background for Elijah Burress
Listed at 6-foot and 186 pounds, Burress also starred in basketball and track during his high school career.
Tiffany Burress, his mother, was a track standout at Penn State.
Elijah Burress was a midyear enrollee at Notre Dame, but as a junior he won 2024 New Jersey state titles in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100 relay.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Three things to know about Notre Dame football freshman Elijah Burress
