Eleven days after being drafted, Burlsworth was killed in a car accident near Alpena, Arkansas, on April 28, 1999, on his way back to his hometown of Harrison after a workout in Fayetteville.
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Brandon passed away on April 28, 1999, at age 22.
Burlsworth’s vehicle clipped an oncoming 18-wheeler, swerved back into his lane, and then hit another tractor-trailer head-on. The stretch around Carrollton in which the crash occurred was not particularly rugged.
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A state police report said that “for unknown reasons,” Burlsworth’s car drove left of the center line and hit the left front fender of a tractor-trailer.
After returning to its lane briefly, the car crossed the center line again and hit a second tractor-trailer. Burlsworth was declared dead at the scene. He was buried on May 2, 1999, in Gass Cemetery in Omaha, Arkansas.
Brandon was an offensive lineman for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team from 1995 to 1998. He joined the team as a walk-on and eventually became an All-American.


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