Burleson is keynote speaker at Governor's Dinner

Nate Burleson, a Nevada Hall of Famer who went on to an 11-year NFL playing career, will be the keynote speaker at the 49th annual Governor’s Dinner, which will be held Friday, July 7th at the Governor’s Mansion in Carson City.

Tickets are on sale now online or by calling (775) 682-6901. Tickets are $350 per person with tables of ten available at $3,500. A limited number of VIP tickets are available and are $500 and $5,000 per table, which includes access to the pre-dinner VIP reception with Burleson.

Burleson played at Nevada from 1999-2002 and earned All-America honors at wide receiver in 2002 from the American Football Coaches Association, Associated Press, Sporting News and CNN/SI. He also earned first-team All-WAC honors and won Nevada's Golden Helmet Award as team MVP in 2002 after hauling in 138 receptions – a mark that was the third-most in college football history at the time and still ranks fifth in the NCAA record books.

He holds the school’s single-game records for catches (19) and yards (326). Burleson ranks third in career receptions with 248 and fourth in career receiving yards with 3,287 and also checks in at third in single-season receiving yards with 1,629 in 2002 and sixth in career receiving touchdowns with 22.

Burleson went on to a standout 11-year career in the NFL with Minnesota, Seattle and Detroit. He retired prior to the 2014 season and moved into the broadcast booth with the Lions and the NFL Network. Earlier this year, Burleson was added to the NFL Today show on CBS.

He was inducted into the Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. Burleson and his wife, Atoya (who ran track at Nevada), have three children.

All proceeds from the Governor's Dinner benefit student-athlete scholarships at the University of Nevada. This year’s dinner will be emceed by Wolf Pack swimming alum and former local television anchor Wendy Damonte.

The VIP reception is at 4:30 p.m. and event will start with hosted cocktails at 5:30 p.m. The family-style, sit-down dinner provided by the Eldorado Hotel Casino begins at 6:30 p.m. followed by the program.