Darrin Walls, Jr. (born June 20, 1988) is an

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

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

in 2011. He played college football at Notre Dame.

Early years

Walls spent his childhood and adolescence years playing Pop Warner football for the Garfield Gators Youth Football Organization, which has establish a winning tradition throughout the City of Pittsburgh. He attended and graduated from

Woodland Hills High School Woodland Hills Junior / Senior High School is a large, suburban public high school providing grades 9-12 for the Woodland Hills School District located in Churchill, Pennsylvania, USA. It serves the communities of Braddock, Braddock Hills, Chalfa ...

, the same school that produced Jason Taylor. He was a three-sport athlete in football, baseball and track. In football, he played on both sides of the ball. He helped Woodland Hills to WPIAL title as freshman in 2002. He had 53 tackles and six interceptions and also broke up 30 passes, while also rushing for 550 yards and 11

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

, and catching six passes for 230 yards and three scores as a junior. In his final year, he made 22 tackles, had one interception and rushed 29 times for 235 yards and four touchdowns. In

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

, Walls competed as a sprinter. He qualified for the 2006 PIAA T&F State Championships in the 100-meter dash (10.94 s) and the

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

(22.51 s), where he took 11th and 7th, respectively. He also coaches sprinting at Baldwin High School.

Professional career

Atlanta Falcons

In 2011, he was signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent. He played 5 games with the team and had 2 tackles, an interception and defended 2 passes for the 2011 season.

New York Jets

After an injury to

Darrelle Revis Darrelle Shavar Revis (born July 14, 1985) is an American former football cornerback who played in National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college football at Pittsburgh and was selected in th ...

the New York Jets signed Walls to their practice squad on September 29, 2012. He was promoted to the active roster on November 22, 2012. In 2013, Walls split his time as a starter and reliever with

Dee Milliner DeMarcus Armon "Dee" Milliner (born September 14, 1991) is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Alabama Crimson Tide football, Alabama, ...

. During the 2015 season, Walls played in 13 games and collected three tackles, three pass defenses and seven special teams tackles.

Detroit Lions

On March 29, 2016, Walls signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Lions. On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Lions.

Coaching

In 2017, Walls served as the defensive coordinator at Baldwin High School in his hometown of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Personal life

He is the son of Former NBA and CBA player Darrin Walls Sr. His father spent time with the Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets in the 1980s before heading to Sacramento to play in the CBA.

References

External links

*
Atlanta Falcons bio

Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walls, Darrin 1988 births Living people Players of American football from Pittsburgh American football cornerbacks Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Atlanta Falcons players New York Jets players Detroit Lions players