Michael Walker (born October 29, 1996) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

Early life

Walker grew up in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

and attended

Naples High School Naples High School is a secondary education school located in Naples, Florida, United States, and is one of ten public high schools located in Collier County. Naples High School is part of the District School Board of Collier County. Academi ...

, where he was a member of the baseball, football, and track teams. 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 The ''Naples Daily News'' is the main daily newspaper of Naples, Florida, Naples, Florida, and Collier County, Florida, Collier County. It is owned by Gannett. It was previously owned by Milwaukee-based Journal Media Group, which was formed by a ...

'' and the Southwest Florida Male Athlete of the Year by ''

The News-Press ''The News-Press'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper located in Fort Myers, Florida, serving primarily Lee County, as well as parts of Hendry, Collier, and Charlotte Counties. The paper publishes several editions of its "Local & State" (metr ...

''. Walker committed to play college football at

over offers from Arizona, Arkansas State, Florida International, and UCF.

College career

Walker played four seasons for the

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

. 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 The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

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 ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

''. 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. 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. Walker was named second-team All-ACC and a consensus second-team All-American after being named by the ''

'', the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

and the

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit ...

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. 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.

Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

Walker signed with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

as an undrafted free agent on April 28, 2019. 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. The Jaguars promoted Walker to the team's active roster on November 2, 2019. Walker made his NFL debut the following day against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

, returning two kicks and two punts. He was placed on injured reserve on December 28, 2019. 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. Walker was placed on the reserve/

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list by the Jaguars on August 2, 2020, and was activated five days later. He was waived/injured on September 5, 2020, and subsequently reverted to the team's

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

the next day. He was waived with an injury settlement on September 9.

Philadelphia Eagles

On June 11, 2021, Walker signed with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He was waived/injured on August 10, 2021 and placed on injured reserve. He was released on October 5.

Edmonton Elks

Walker signed with the

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division (CFL), West Division and plays their home games at Commonw ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

on February 9, 2022. He was placed on the suspended list on May 20, 2022. He was released on February 14, 2023.

References

External links

Boston College Eagles bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Michael 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Naples, Florida American football wide receivers American football return specialists Boston College Eagles football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Naples High School alumni Philadelphia Eagles players Players of Canadian football from Florida Edmonton Elks players Canadian football wide receivers