Fulton Luther Walker Jr. (April 30, 1958 – October 12, 2016) was a professional

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 played for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

(1981-1985) and

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

(1985-1986) in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played college football at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

. He graduated from Martinsburg High School and West Virginia University.

College Career

Walker played for West Virginia from 1977-1980, mostly as a defensive back, though he played running back in his sophomore season. Walker recorded 194 tackles and 5 interceptions on defense, while also rushing for 392 yards and two touchdowns. His primary role on the team was as a kick returner, returning 58 punts for 675 yards and three touchdowns, along with 51 kickoff returns for 1,066 yards.

Professional career

On defense, Walker recorded five

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s during his career, which he returned for 62 yards. His main contributions came as a punt and kickoff returner on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

, recording a total of 145 punt returns for 1,437 yards and 167

kickoff return A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in gridiron football. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team". The receiving team is then entitled to ''return' ...

s for 3,779 yards and a

touchdown 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 ...

. Walker's best season was in the strike shortened nine-game season of 1982, when he recorded three interceptions on defense and 433 kickoff return yards, assisting his team to a championship appearance in Super Bowl XVII. In 1985, he recorded an NFL record 692 punt return yards. This would stand as a record until 1996 when it was surpassed by

Desmond Howard Desmond Kevin Howard (born May 15, 1970) is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football at Michigan, where he won the Heisman Trophy as a senior. Howard w ...

's 870 yards. Walker is best remembered for his performance on special teams in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX. In Super Bowl XVII, Walker recorded four kickoff returns for 190 yards and a touchdown, setting Super Bowl records for most kick return yards and highest single game yards-per-return average (47.5). This included a record 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter, the first kickoff ever to be returned for a touchdown in Super Bowl history. He also had a 42-yard return that set up a Dolphins field goal. His contributions helped the Dolphins maintain a lead in the game until late in the fourth quarter, despite Miami quarterback

David Woodley David Eugene Woodley (October 25, 1958 – May 4, 2003) was an American football player, a quarterback in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphins (1980–1983), and the Pittsburgh Steelers (1984–1985). He played college football ...

being limited to just four completions in the entire game. In Super Bowl XIX, Walker contributed 93 kickoff return yards and 15 yards returning punts.

Life after football

In honor of his special teams highlights, the West Virginia Sports Writers Association gives out the Fulton Walker Award each year to the state's top

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

special teams player. Walker was born and lived in

Martinsburg, West Virginia Martinsburg is a city in and the seat of Berkeley County, West Virginia, in the tip of the state's Eastern Panhandle region in the lower Shenandoah Valley. Its population was 18,835 in the 2021 census estimate, making it the largest city in the E ...

, where he was the victim of a violent break-in at his home in August 2013. One of the men involved in the crime, during which Walker was beaten and assaulted, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Walker died in Martinsburg on October 12, 2016.

References

External links

Career statistics
at Database Football.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Fulton 1958 births 2016 deaths American football cornerbacks American football safeties American football return specialists West Virginia Mountaineers football players Miami Dolphins players Los Angeles Raiders players Sportspeople from Martinsburg, West Virginia Martinsburg High School alumni Players of American football from West Virginia