Robert Walker (born June 26, 1972) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The Mountaineers have been a membe ...

. Walker is most remembered for his game-winning run against

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

in 1993.

Collegiate career

Walker came to

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

in 1992 as a freshman. Walker sat as third-string running back most of that season, behind star

Adrian Murrell Adrian Byran Murrell (born October 16, 1970) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the New York Jets in the fifth round of the 19 ...

and backup Jon Jones. His best season came in 1993, his sophomore year. With Murrell graduated and moved on to the pros, Walker assumed the starting role. Walker assumed the role better than anyone expected, as the Mountaineers went undefeated for the second time in school history. Their streak was almost broken on the second to last game of the season, against #4

. The Hurricanes had the lead, 14-10, late in the fourth quarter. In front of a school-record 70,222 fans at home, Robert Walker scored on a run to the sideline to win the game for the Mountaineers and preserve the undefeated season. West Virginia did not make it to the national championship, instead the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

against

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. The Mountaineers lost to the Gators, 41-7. Walker rushed for 1,250 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season, with a 5.8 average yardage per carry total. The Mountaineers went 7-6 in Walker's junior season of 1994, with Walker's statistics slowly declining. He rushed for 749 yards, but only one touchdown on the season. In Walker's final season as a Mountaineer, 1995, his totals began to decrease even more. He did have four touchdowns on the season, but only 508 yards on the year. He was on the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

practise squad in 1996 and was signed as an emergency free agent late in the season to cover injuries to the first string running backs. He played in one NFL game, but had no carries.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Robert 1972 births West Virginia Mountaineers football players New York Giants players American football running backs Living people Players of American football from Huntington, West Virginia