Mired in another season of double-digit losses, Burns hasn’t become numb to the pain of defeat. If anything, the mounting frustration only drives him more. That’s why he’s managed to have his most successful individual year despite another lost season.
“The individual success is cool,” Burns said. “But at the end of the day, you still want to win. I’ll never get used to losing, so that’s just the most aggravating part about my career so far….It takes a toll on you because it’s like, ‘I’ve been putting in all this work; I’m having success at my job, but at the end of the day, I still can’t get the end result, which is what I want. The toughest part is keeping that edge. Once you get to a point where it feels like you’re not playing for nothing, it’s easy for it to slip away.”