He played college football for the Stanford Indians, serving as their team captain and leading the NCAA in receptions with 61 in 1959.

In the 1962 season, he played in just 11 games and missed out on the AFL title run when he suffered a severe knee injury, but he caught 45 passes for 645 yards for a league-high 12 touchdowns to garner All-AFL honors.

In his penultimate year, Burford played every game and caught 58 passes for 758 yards for eight touchdowns as the Chiefs broke through for the postseason run.

[3] By the end of his career, he was the Chiefs all-time reception leader (391) with 5,505 yards and 55 touchdowns.

For most of his AFL career, Burford was in the top ten in receiving catches, yards, and touchdowns.