[1] Burns is the nephew of former footballers Tony and Benny Vigona.
[3] He was educated at St John's College, Darwin.
After a period of poor play, the Cats traded Burns to the Adelaide Crows for Ben Finnin,[1] who ultimately did not play a game for the Cats.
Burns played out the rest of his career with the Crows but failed to make the same impact as he had made for the Cats.
Burns played 154 games and kicked 262 goals from 1995 to 2004.