Michael Walker (American football)

Michael Walker (born October 29, 1996) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a member of the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Boston College.

Michael Walker
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Walker with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019
Personal information
Born: (1996-10-29) October 29, 1996
Naples, Florida
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school:Naples
(Naples, Florida)
College:Boston College
Position:Wide receiver
Undrafted:2019
Career history
Roster status:Suspended List
CFL status:American
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2021
Receptions:2
Receiving yards:15
Receiving touchdowns:0
Return yards:424
Player stats at NFL.com

Early life and high school

Walker grew up in Naples, Florida and attended Naples High School, where he was a member of the baseball, football, and track teams.[1] Walker passed for 613 yards and seven touchdowns and rushed for 907 yards and 21 touchdowns as the starting quarterback for the Golden Eagles during his senior year while also catching four passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns and returning two kicks for touchdowns and was named the Offensive Player of the Year by the Naples Daily News and the Southwest Florida Male Athlete of the Year by The News-Press.[2] Walker committed to play college football at Boston College over offers from Arizona, Arkansas State, Florida International, and UCF.[3]

College career

Walker played four seasons for the Boston College Eagles. He was listed as a defensive back as a freshman, but primarily served as a kick returner while occasionally lining up as a receiver and finished third in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 686 kickoff return yards and set the school record with 28.8 yards per return while catching two passes for 41 yards and rushing once for 14 yards and was named a Freshman All-American by Sporting News.[4] Walker became the Eagles slot receiver going into his sophomore year and posted career highs with 33 receptions, 420 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns while returning six kicks for 101 yards and one punt for eight yards.[3]

As a junior, Walker returned 36 kicks for 849 yards (23.6 average) and 27 punts for 354 yards (13.1 average, best in the ACC) while catching 19 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown and was named third-team All-ACC as a return specialist.[5] Walker was named second-team All-ACC and a consensus second-team All-American after being named by the Sporting News, the Football Writers Association of America and the Walter Camp Football Foundation as a senior after returning 40 kicks for 1,020 yards and 20 punts for 274 and a touchdown, while also catching 17 passes for 218 yards.[6] Walker finished his collegiate career with 71 receptions for 847 yards and five touchdowns with 2,656 kick return yards and 636 punt return yards with one touchdown.[7]

Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

Walker signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent on April 28, 2019.[8] He was waived at the end of training camp as part of final roster cuts, but was signed to the team's practice squad on September 1, 2019.[9][10] The Jaguars promoted Walker to the team's active roster on November 2, 2019.[11] Walker made his NFL debut the following day against the Houston Texans, returning two kicks and two punts.[12] He was placed on injured reserve on December 28, 2019.[13] Walker finished his rookie season with two receptions for 15 yards, 18 kicks returned for 411 yards and three punts for returned 13 yards, and two fumbles lost in seven games played.[14]

Walker was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the Jaguars on August 2, 2020,[15] and was activated five days later.[16] He was waived/injured on September 5, 2020,[17] and subsequently reverted to the team's injured reserve list the next day.[18] He was waived with an injury settlement on September 9.[19]

Philadelphia Eagles

On June 11, 2021, Walker signed with the Philadelphia Eagles.[20] He was waived/injured on August 10, 2021 and placed on injured reserve.[21] He was released on October 5.

Edmonton Elks

Walker signed with the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football Leagueon February 9, 2022.[22]

References
  1. "Michael Walker of Naples High School wins Winged Foot Scholar-Athlete award". Naples Daily News. May 22, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  2. "All-Area Football Offense". USATodayHSS.com. January 3, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  3. Leddy, Colin (May 30, 2017). "Better Know an Eagle 2017: #3 Wide Receiver Michael Walker". BCInterruption.com. SB Nation. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  4. Mull, Cory (October 31, 2016). "Naples grad Michael Walker making plays with Boston College". The News-Press. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  5. Goggin, Cody (July 25, 2018). "Student Union CFB Preview: Boston College". StudentUnionSports.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  6. Miller, Kerry (December 6, 2018). "Bleacher Report's 2018 College Football All-America Team". Bleacher Report. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  7. DiCecco, Andrew (January 30, 2019). "Prospect Interview: Q&A with Boston College WR/Returner Michael Walker". Eagles Wire. USA Today. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  8. Sodergren, Aaron (April 28, 2019). "Michael Walker signs with Jags hours after brother's wedding to Naples coach Bill Kramer's daughter". Naples Daily News. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  9. Johnson, James (August 31, 2019). "Jaguars final roster cuts 2019: Here's who has been released". Jaguars Wire. USA Today. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  10. Day, Ryan (September 2, 2019). "2019 NFL practice squad: Jaguars officially sign 10 players". BigCatCountry.com. SB Nation. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  11. Shipley, John (November 2, 2019). "Jaguars Promote WR Michael Walker to Active Roster Before Texans Game". SI.com. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  12. Frenette, Gene (November 3, 2019). "Jaguars vs. Texans: The best and worst moments from Sunday's 26-3 loss to the Houston Texans". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  13. "Jaguars' Michael Walker: Placed on IR". CBSSports.com. RotoWire. December 28, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  14. DiCecco, Andrew (January 1, 2020). "Jaguars Week 17 Rookie Report: 2019 Class Ends Season on a High Note". SI.com. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  15. Oehser, John (August 2, 2020). "Transactions: Minshew, four others added to reserve/COVID-19 list". Jaguars.com. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  16. Oehser, John (August 7, 2020). "Transactions: Jones, Walker moved to active roster". Jaguars.com. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  17. Oehser, John (September 5, 2020). "Roster Reduction: Jaguars move to 53 players". Jaguars.com.
  18. "Jaguars' Michael Walker: Back to IR". CBSSports.com. September 6, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  19. "Michael Walker: Heads back to waivers". CBSSports.com. September 9, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  20. McPherson, Chris (June 11, 2021). "Eagles add TE Richard Rodgers, WR Michael Walker". PhiladelphiaEagles.com.
  21. McPherson, Chris (August 10, 2021). "Eagles claim WR Marken Michel off waivers". PhiladelphiaEagles.com.
  22. "Elks add pair of NFL products". Edmonton Elks. February 9, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
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