Wayne Walker

For Auckland politician, see Wayne Walker (politician).

Wayne Walker

No. 55
LB, PK
Personal information
Date of birth: September 30, 1936 (1936-09-30)
Place of birth: Boise, Idaho, U.S.
Career information
College: Idaho
NFL Draft: 1958 / Round: 4 / Pick: 45
Debuted in 1958
Last played in 1972
Career history
Detroit Lions - (1958-72)
Career highlights and awards
3x Pro Bowl selection (1963, 1964, 1965) 1x All-Pro selection (1965)
Interceptions	14
FGs att-made	131-53 - (.405)
PATs att-made	175-172 - (0.983)
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Wayne Harrison Walker (born September 30, 1936 in Boise, Idaho) is a former professional football player and sports broadcaster. He played in the NFL for fifteen seasons, from 1958-72 for the Detroit Lions. A starter throughout his career, #55 played in 200 regular season games as a 6'2", 225 lb. outside linebacker, the most ever at that position.

Early years

Walker was raised in Boise and graduated from Boise High School in 1954. He passed on an offer to play professional baseball in order to play college football at the University of Idaho, as a center and middle linebacker for new head coach Skip Stahley. In his senior season in 1957, he served as a team captain. In that era, Idaho was a member of the Pacific Coast Conference, the forerunner of the Pac-10. Walker's teammate (and roommate) at Idaho was Jerry Kramer, a future All-Pro offensive lineman (right guard) with the Green Bay Packers. Both players were selected for the East-West Shrine Game, the College All-Star Game (vs. the 1957 NFL champs (Detroit Lions) at Soldier Field in summer 1958; defeating the Lions 35-19), and in the fourth round of the 1958 NFL Draft. They were the first players from Idaho to be drafted by the pros, both picked in the top 50. In the East-West Shrine Game at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, Walker had fifteen tackles, two interceptions, and blocked a kick. He was voted the outstanding defensive player of the game.

NFL career

Walker was the 45th overall pick of the 1958 NFL Draft (Kramer was the 39th), held on December 2, 1957 (first four rounds). Both Walker (#53) and Kramer (#64) had their numbers retired at Idaho, and both would serve, in mid-career, as placekickers for their respective NFL teams. In college, Walker was the long snapper on the kicks, with Kramer handling the placekicking for the Vandals.

Broadcasting career

After his retirement from the NFL, Walker was the sports director for KPIX-TV, the CBS affiliate in San Francisco for twenty years (1974–94), where he succeeded Barry Tompkins. He was also a commentator for the San Francisco 49ers' radio broadcasts for over twenty years and a commentator on Oakland Athletics baseball broadcasts from 1976–80 and in 1985. He also broadcast regional NFL games for several years on CBS. Walker retired from broadcasting in 1999 and he and his wife Sylvia have resided in the Boise area since 1994.

As a teenage outfielder in the early 1950s, Walker often played baseball against Harmon Killebrew, the future hall of famer who grew up in Payette, about 50 miles (80 km) west of Boise. The two were the same age (Killebrew was three months older) and were friends for over half a century. They worked together on baseball broadcasts of the Oakland A's in 1979.

Throat cancer

Diagnosed with throat cancer in June 2007, Walker lost 60 lb. (27 kg) after chemotherapy and radiation treatment. As of 2009 he was healthy again and had regained most of the weight loss.

See also

• List of NFL on CBS commentator pairings

Sources

• Great Linebackers of the NFL, 1970, Richard Kaplan, ISBN 0-394-80152-0

External links

• Detroit Lions.com - Wayne Walker
• Wayne Walker's NFL statistics
• Local Emmy award - S.F. Bay area
• University of Idaho - Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame - Wayne Walker
• Boise High School - Hall of Fame - Wayne Walker
• You Tube.com – video – Wayne Walker as KPIX sports anchor – “The Play” (Cal-Stanford) in slow-motion – November 1982