It didn't take long for wide receiver Luther Burden III to thrust himself into the Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers rivalry as a rookie, and it sure didn't take him long to move past the team's Week 4 win over the New York Jets and onto Green Bay in Week 5.
Last year, Burden and the Bears went to Green Bay and lost in Week 14, and one of the season's most viral moments was born. We all remember him briefly putting Keisean Nixon in a full-on Darth Vader chokehold, but more on that later.
Shortly after the Bears beat the Jets in Week 4, the attention was quickly turned to the upcoming road matchup with the Packers in Week 5. As young as some of these Bears players may be, they've come to understand the rivalry already, and Burden is at the epicenter of that group.
Just how much is Burden already looking forward to the game in Green Bay?
"What's done in the past doesn't matter. We're ready to get down there Sunday and come back home with a dub," he said per Chris Emma of The Score.
"We just want to beat them really bad and make them quit."
Well, then.
That's quite a statement to make.
But why would we have it any other way? This is what makes the Bears-Packers rivalry so great. These two teams so very clearly hate one another, as they should, and as they have for decades upon decades.
Luther Burden and Keisean Nixon will be at the forefront of Bears' and Packers' fans minds on Sunday
Going back to last year's first matchup between these two teams, Burden was infamously caught engaging in what could only be described as a chokehold on the Packers' cornerback.
Nixon had come over to have Carrington Valentine's back after he and Burden had been going at it on one particular rep. While Burden was busy with Valentine, he also reached one arm out towards Nixon and ended up grabbing his throat.
Now, that instance will go down in Bears-Packers history as just another one of those memorable moments.
But, as the two teams get set to face off against one another for the first time this year, Burden seems like he's got an even bigger edge to him.
We want to beat them really bad and make them quit.
Whew, boy.
Burden is channeling his inner Ben Johnson, there, with showing no mercy and keeping his foot on the gas, I suppose.
But, he'll have his hands full as Nixon is off to a strong start this year. He's been one of the only bright spots for a Green Bay team that looks like one of the weakest teams in all of football.
In four starts, Nixon has yet to allow a touchdown in coverage and is currently pacing to allow the lowest opposing quarterback rating of his career at 65.5.
Nixon also has three pass breakups and an interception.
Burden, meanwhile, has taken a little bit to get going, as the rest of the Bears' pass catchers, not named Kalif Raymond, have done so over the first few weeks. Of course, the quarterback situation hasn't helped, but the Bears have also kept it balanced and run the ball early and often.
This season, Burden has caught 19 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown. The Bears are also the number-one rushing team in the league through four weeks, having totaled 785 yards altogether.
Last season, Burden had four receptions for 67 yards in that first matchup, missed the second one due to injury, and totaled three catches for 42 yards in the playoff win over Green Bay.
Needless to say, he'll be itching to get in the end zone on Sunday.
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But above all else, he and every other Bears teammate of his will be looking for a knockout.
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