Those who had the fortune of watching the late Jackie Walker play linebacker for the Tennessee Volunteers in the Southeastern Conference from 1969-1971 will not forget how he played.
Walker had a higher gear that gave him the acceleration to always be around the football.
Coaches today talk about squeezing the green by waiting until the last second to strike on a tackle. Nobody did that any better than Walker.
He struck opposing runners with the quickness of a snake and the impact of a stampeding bull.
There’s some things about Walker I did know from being around the Knoxville scene in the early 1970’s while participating as an athlete at nearby Carson-Newman College.
However, when I read the story printed in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/sports/ncaafootball/18tennessee.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=ncaafootball&pagewanted=all Friday I learned more about him.
Walker had a higher gear that gave him the acceleration to always be around the football.
Coaches today talk about squeezing the green by waiting until the last second to strike on a tackle. Nobody did that any better than Walker.
He struck opposing runners with the quickness of a snake and the impact of a stampeding bull.
There’s some things about Walker I did know from being around the Knoxville scene in the early 1970’s while participating as an athlete at nearby Carson-Newman College.
However, when I read the story printed in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/sports/ncaafootball/18tennessee.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=ncaafootball&pagewanted=all Friday I learned more about him.
I didn’t know that he was the the first African-American football player in the Southeastern Conference to be named an all-American and the first of his race to captain an SEC team.
I learned in the story that he averaged more than 23 tackles a game as a senior at Knoxville Fulton.
However, I did know he was a two-time All-America linebacker for the Vols, and to this day he was one of the most fun-to-watch defensive players I’ve ever seen.
I said recently on my Chattanooga ESPN Radio 1370 show, “The Drive,” that Walker was Leonard Little years before there was a Leonard Little.
And yes, by hanging out with some of the Tennessee football players in some of the Knoxville hot spots of the early 1970s many of us heard that Walker was gay.
Although in that era, the word most used wasn’t gay.
I’m not sure how many of us understood homosexuality at that time.
I was happy to read that Walker would likely be one of the names on the induction list for the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame when it is released tomorrow.
On the gridiron the word great defined his play very well.
Jackie Walker photo courtesy of Tennessee Sports Information
However, I did know he was a two-time All-America linebacker for the Vols, and to this day he was one of the most fun-to-watch defensive players I’ve ever seen.
I said recently on my Chattanooga ESPN Radio 1370 show, “The Drive,” that Walker was Leonard Little years before there was a Leonard Little.
And yes, by hanging out with some of the Tennessee football players in some of the Knoxville hot spots of the early 1970s many of us heard that Walker was gay.
Although in that era, the word most used wasn’t gay.
I’m not sure how many of us understood homosexuality at that time.
I was happy to read that Walker would likely be one of the names on the induction list for the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame when it is released tomorrow.
On the gridiron the word great defined his play very well.
Jackie Walker photo courtesy of Tennessee Sports Information
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