Burris went undrafted in the
1997 NFL draft.
Calgary Stampeders (first stint) 1997 Burris signed a contract with the
CFL's
Calgary Stampeders in May
1997. He dressed for one regular season game, and spent the remainder of season on the practice roster.
1998 In
1998, Burris dressed for all 18 regular season games as the Stampeders' third-string quarterback. He gained his first, limited playing time in relief of
Jeff Garcia and
Dave Dickenson. Burris was also dressed for Calgary's West Final win against Edmonton, as well as the team's
Grey Cup win against Hamilton.
1999 In
1999, Garcia joined the
San Francisco 49ers. Dickenson became Calgary's starting quarterback, and Burris received more playing time as Dickenson's backup. He replaced Dickenson in the third week game against the
Edmonton Eskimos, leading the Stampeders to a come-from-behind victory. Burris started the following two games against the
Montreal Alouettes and
BC Lions, leading the Stampeders to another victory in the former. He was injured in the third quarter of the latter, and spent the rest of the season on the injured reserve with a torn
anterior cruciate ligament.
Saskatchewan Roughriders (first stint) 2000 On March 9,
2000, Burris signed with the
Saskatchewan Roughriders for his first opportunity to be a full-time starting quarterback. He was reunited with
Roy Shivers, the team's new general manager, who had been Calgary's Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel in the late 1990s, and
Danny Barrett, the team's new head coach, who had been Calgary's Quarterbacks Coach when Burris joined the Stampeders in 1997. Burris had worn number 16 in Calgary. Before the 2000 season, a poll was held for fans to determine Burris' number in Saskatchewan. The fans chose number 1. Burris started the first 16 games of the Roughriders season, throwing for 4,647 yards (second in the CFL) and 30 touchdowns (third in the CFL). In game 16, he injured his shoulder, and was replaced by
Marvin Graves for the final two regular season games. Despite Saskatchewan finishing the season with a league-worst 5-12-1 record, Burris threw 3 touchdown passes in 3 different games, and for 300 yards 7 times, 2 of which were over 400 yards.
Green Bay Packers The
Green Bay Packers took interest in him after the CFL season ended, and signed him to a contract. Burris began playing in the
NFL in 2001, when he spent several weeks as the Packers'
third-string quarterback, without playing in a game, before he was released, and then he spent the rest of the season on their
practice squad.
Chicago Bears He was signed by the
Chicago Bears in the off-season. In six games for the Bears he completed 18 of 51 passes for 207 yards, with three touchdowns and five interceptions. He received significant playing time only in the last two games of the regular season. He was 8 of 22 for 50 yards and a touchdown against
Carolina,
fumbling twice, and 7 of 19 for 78 yards and four
interceptions against
Tampa Bay, for a 10.3 quarterback rating. While his passing was quite poor he showed better than average running ability for a quarterback, finishing the 2002 season with 15 rushes for 104 yards.
Berlin Thunder The Bears assigned him to
NFL Europe's
Berlin Thunder in 2003 where he performed respectably. Unhappy with being relegated to Berlin by the Bears, he returned to the CFL and the Roughriders, his former club. He immediately became
Nealon Greene's back-up. A knee injury forced him to miss the better part of the season.
Saskatchewan Roughriders (second stint) 2003 On July 28,
2003, Burris signed with the Roughriders for his second stint with the team. That year, he wore number 10 instead of the number 1 he had worn with the Roughriders in 2000. Defensive back
LaDouphyous McCalla had been wearing number 1 since 2001. Burris dressed for 10 regular season and 2 playoff games that season. He saw action in 2 regular season games, with his most significant game action coming in the
Labour Day Classic; Burris replaced starting quarterback
Nealon Greene for the second half. Saskatchewan lost 36-18 against Winnipeg, with Burris' passing statistics being 11 of 22 for 130 yards, and a late touchdown pass to
Chris Szarka.
2004 In
2004, Burris returned to wearing number 1, and McCalla changed his number to 22. Saskatchewan traded quarterback
Kevin Glenn, who had been with the Roughriders since 2001. Going into game 1 against the Toronto Argonauts, Greene was slated to be the number 1 quarterback. Although Burris was listed as the back up, a high left ankle sprain was keeping him out of full workouts, and Tate got his first CFL start. Tate started the last three regular season games and the West Semi-Final with Burris performing short-yardage duties as the back-up quarterback. This was the first time since 2003 that Burris did not pass for 4000 yards in a CFL season. Burris returned to quarterbacking the
Calgary Stampeders in the second half of the Western Conference Semi Finals against the
Edmonton Eskimos. He was unable to lead a second half comeback throwing only 7 completions in 15 attempts with 0 touchdowns, having to settle for multiple field goals. Entering the off-season, there had been much speculation regarding the future of Burris with the
Calgary Stampeders. The Stampeders seemed ready to move on and hand the starting job to
Drew Tate while Burris had stated that he did not want to be a backup quarterback. The Calgary Stampeders confirmed on January 3, 2012, that they had traded Burris to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for quarterback
Kevin Glenn and offensive lineman
Mark Dewit.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2013
2012 In his first season with the Tiger-Cats, Burris had a career year. He threw for 5,367 yards and 43 touchdowns, with a passer rating of 104.4, all career highs. Unfortunately, the Tiger-Cats defense struggled, giving up an average of 32 points per game, which resulted in the team falling to 6–12 and missing the playoffs.
2013 On September 13, 2013, midway through the
2013 CFL season, Burris became the 5th CFL quarterback to throw for 50,000 career passing yards. Burris' 4,925 passing yards was enough to lead the league in passing for the second consecutive year. Burris led the Tiger-Cats into the post-season with a record of 10–8, they defeated the Montreal Alouettes and then the Toronto Argonauts, but ultimately lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the
101st Grey Cup game. Entering the off-season, Burris was set to become a free-agent in February 2014 unless he re-signed with the Tiger-Cats. He expressed his desire to stay with the Ti-Cats, saying, "I want to be back here, we've had a great run. I still feel like I can get it done." However, Burris was released by Hamilton on January 30, 2014, following the signing of
Zach Collaros.
Ottawa Redblacks 2014 On February 4, 2014, Burris signed a three-year contract with the
Ottawa Redblacks. The
2014 CFL season was Burris' worst season statistically since his 2003 year with the Roughriders. Burris led the inaugural season of the RedBlacks to a 2–16 record. His completion percentage was his lowest since 2009, and only managed to score 11 touchdowns in 18 games, while throwing 14 interceptions. He threw the first passing touchdown in Redblacks history in their first game on July 3, 2014, against the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He also led the team to their first victory during their first home game of the season on July 18, 2014, against the
Toronto Argonauts.
2015 Burris returned as the starter for the
2015 season and was the only quarterback in the league to start all 18 games that year. With the addition of
offensive coordinator,
Jason Maas, and several key free agent signings, Burris experienced a renaissance season. On October 1, 2015, Burris set a CFL record for completions in a game connecting on 45 passes for a career-high 504 passing yards. On November 7, 2015, Burris became the CFL's record holder for most completions in a season with 481 completions. Additionally, Burris finished the 2015 season as the league leader in passing yards and completion percentage. He led the RedBlacks to a record of 12–6, earning a first round
bye in the process. In the Eastern Final, Burris lead the Redblacks over his old team, the Tiger-Cats, personally advancing to the Grey Cup for the second time in three seasons. Prior to the Grey Cup, he was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Player for 2015.
2016 Burris left the
2016 season opening game in the third quarter after injuring the pinky finger on his throwing hand. He was replaced by backup quarterback
Trevor Harris who was brought in as a free-agent during the offseason to replace the 41-year old Burris in the event of an injury or diminished performance. Initially it was reported that Burris would miss only one game, however he was quickly transferred to the six-game injured list. After an injury to backup quarterback Harris, Burris returned early from his hand injury to play in Weeks 6 and 7. In a halftime interview during their Week 7 match against the Eskimos Henry Burris sounded off in response to criticism from some of the TSN staff regarding his poor performance in Week 6 and the impressive play by Harris before his injury. He was quoted as saying, "So all the people talking junk out there, you can take that and shove it. All right? That's all I have to say". Following a bye in Week 8 Burris started in Week 9 but was once again unable to lead the Redblacks to victory. Harris returned to the starting lineup from Week 10 through 15 with mixed results. Burris returned to the starting role in Week 17 (the fourth last week of the regular season). Ottawa split their remaining 4 games, winning 2 and losing 2 to finish below .500 with a record of 8–9–1. This was the first time in CFL history that a team with a losing record finished first in their division. Following their first round bye Burris led the Redblacks to an East Division Final victory over the Edmonton Eskimos in a snowstorm, advancing the team to its
second consecutive Grey Cup game. In the 104th Grey Cup, Despite suffering a slight knee injury during warmups, Burris passed for 461 yards and 3 touchdowns leading the Redblacks to a 39–33 over time win over the Calgary Stampeders to win the Grey Cup for Ottawa for the first time in 40 years. At the Grey Cup parade two days following the victory Burris was in crutches stating he would likely need surgery to repair his knee which he injured in warm-ups before the Grey Cup game. He also told the 40,000 fans in attendance that he would delay his decision regarding the future of his playing career until January 2017. On January 19, 2017, it was reported that Burris was leaning towards retirement, citing the desire to spend more time with his wife and help raise their children; while at the same time wanting to play in
2017 to help Ottawa win back-to-back championships at the
105th Grey Cup in Ottawa. On January 24, 2017, he officially announced his retirement at a press conference. He was inducted into the
Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2020. ==Career statistics==