[6] He also incited controversy throughout his career for frequently violating player safety rules, which caused him to be suspended for 22 games due to 14 separate incidents and accumulate over $5.3 million in fines and forfeited salary.

[7][8][9][10][11] Burfict missed most of his Raiders tenure due to being suspended 12 games for a personal foul, the longest on-field suspension in NFL history.

[22] By July 2009, he struggled to meet admission standards based on the NCAA eligibility sliding scale and still had one summer school class to complete.

[23] Sun Devils coach Dennis Erickson, who compared Burfict to Ray Lewis,[24] expected him to be academically eligible for enrollment.

In October 2011, Sports Illustrated's Tony Pauline ranked him as the 20th-best prospect on his midseason draft board, but he noted that he has been "a loose cannon on and off the field, which has raised red flags".

[44][47] On March 16, 2012, Burfict attended Arizona State's pro day and performed the bench press (16 reps), vertical jump (30"), short shuttle (4.56s), and three-cone drill (7.51s).

Head coach Marvin Lewis named Burfict the backup middle linebacker, behind Rey Maualuga, to begin the regular season.

On September 23, 2012, Burfict earned his first career start at weakside linebacker after Thomas Howard was placed on injured reserve after tearing his ACL during practice.

[63] Burfict entered training camp slated as the team's starting weakside linebacker under defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.

[64] He started in the Cincinnati Bengals' season-opener at the Chicago Bears and recorded eight combined tackles, deflected a pass, and made his first career interception during a 21–24 loss.

Burfict intercepted a pass by Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, that was originally intended for running back Michael Bush, and returned it for a 12-yard gain during the fourth quarter.

[67] On November 17, 2013, Burfict collected a season-high 15 combined tackles (ten solo), broke up a pass, and returned a fumble recovery for his first career touchdown during a 41–20 win against the Cleveland Browns in Week 11.

During the AFC Wild Card round, Burfict made seven combined tackles and was credited with half a sack as the Bengals lost 10–27 against the San Diego Chargers.

[56][73] Head coach Marvin Lewis retained Burfict as the starting linebacker in 2014 alongside Rey Maualuga and Emmanuel Lamur.

On October 14, 2014, Panthers tight end Greg Olsen accused Burfict of intentionally trying to injure him and quarterback Cam Newton by twisting their ankles after touchdowns by both.

[61] On January 26, 2015, it was revealed that Burfict had undergone microfracture surgery after issues in his knee that was surgically repaired the previous October continued to persist.

On January 1, 2016, Burfict recorded a season-high 12 combined tackles (eight solo), deflected two passes, and made an interception as the Bengals defeated the Baltimore Ravens 24–16.

During the AFC Wild Card round against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Cincinnati, Burfict recorded six combined tackles, one deflected pass, one interception, and one sack.

However, Burfict also committed a critical penalty for unnecessary roughness with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter when the Bengals were leading Pittsburgh 16–15.

Brown was considered a defenseless receiver as he was attempting to make a reception and was subsequently knocked unconscious and exited the game with a concussion.

Bengals' cornerback Adam Jones subsequently received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which advanced the line of scrimmage 30 yards and allowed the Steelers to kick a go-ahead 35-yard field goal to win the game 18–16.

[91] On January 11, 2016, the NFL announced their decision to suspend Burfict for the first three games of the 2016 season for repeated violations of player safety rules.

Upon his return, head coach Marvin Lewis named Burfict the starting linebacker along with Karlos Dansby and Rey Maualuga.

[95] In Week 15, Burfict recorded nine combined tackles and broke up a pass before exiting in the second quarter of the Bengals' 20–24 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers due to a concussion.

[100] In Week 5, he collected a season-high 13 combined tackles (ten solo), deflected a pass, and made a sack during a 20–16 win against the Buffalo Bills.

[104][105] On December 4, 2017, Burfict made six combined tackles during the Bengals' 20–23 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13 before being carted off the field during the fourth quarter.

Burfict left the game with a concussion following a blindside block by rookie receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on Monday Night Football.

[106] In Week 6, Burfict delivered a hit to wide receiver Antonio Brown that unintentionally injured Bengals teammate Jessie Bates and sidelined him for the remainder of their 28–21 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

NFL vice president of football operations and chief disciplinarian officer Jon Runyan sent Burfict a letter of reprimand, citing the latter's long-term history of personal fouls and illicit hits against opponents.

[121] Since then, Burfict has indicated his intent to continue playing in the NFL; he became a free agent in 2020 at the conclusion of his one-year contract with the Raiders and has not declared that he is retired.