Tyrunn Walker (born March 18, 1990) 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 ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

. 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 ...

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

and signed with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2012. He has also played for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

, and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

College career

Walker played

Jones County Junior College Jones College is a public community college in Ellisville, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and serves its eight-county district consisting of Clarke, Covington, G ...

before transferring to the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

for his junior season. In his two seasons at Tulsa, he finished with 84 tackles, 13.5 sacks, 11 pass deflections, and 4 forced fumbles.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

On April 30, 2012, he signed with the

as an

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. Against the odds, Walker made the final 53-man roster. However, he was a healthy inactive or did not play in all 16 of the team's regular season games. The next year, Walker played in seven games and recorded nine tackles, one sack, and one pass defensed. In the 2014 season, Walker played all 16 games, starting one, and tallied 19 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and one forced fumble.

Detroit Lions

On March 12, 2015, Walker signed a one-year contract with the

. During the 2015 season, he played in four games for Detroit and posted nine tackles before he suffered a broken

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

in a game on October 5 of that year and was placed on the

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 ...

for the remainder of the season. On March 4, 2016, the Lions re-signed Walker to a one-year contract. During the 2016 regular season, Walker played in 15 games, starting eight. He was involved in an unusual play during a Week 9 game against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

when he batted a

Sam Bradford Samuel Jacob Bradford (born November 8, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Bradford attended Putnam City North High School, where he starred ...

pass back to the

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Bradford, who caught the ball and ran for a five-yard gain. Walker finished the season with 26 tackles and one fumble recovered as the Lions made the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. Walker recorded one tackle in the Lions' wild-card round game as they lost to the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

by a score of 26–6.

Los Angeles Rams

On March 23, 2017, Walker signed with the

. He was released on June 22, 2017, but re-signed with the Rams on August 23, 2017. During the 2017 season, Walker played in 16 games, starting four, and recorded 22 tackles, four passes defensed, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one sack as the Rams made the

. Walker recorded three tackles in the Rams' wild-card round game as they lost to the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

by a score of 26-13.

Buffalo Bills

On August 12, 2018, Walker was signed by the

. He was released on September 1, 2018.

New Orleans Saints (second stint)

On January 15, 2019, Walker was signed by the New Orleans Saints after defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins was injured during a playoff game against 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 listed as inactive for their next game, a loss to the Rams in the

NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semifinal National Football League playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional Ame ...

References

External links

Tulsa Hurricane bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Tyrunn 1990 births Living people Players of American football from New Iberia, Louisiana American football defensive tackles Jones County Bobcats football players American football defensive ends Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players Detroit Lions players Los Angeles Rams players New Orleans Saints players Buffalo Bills players