Joey Walters (born October 29, 1954 in

Florence, South Carolina Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropolit ...

) is a former slotback and wide receiver who played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

, mainly for the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

. He later played for the

Washington Federals Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

and the

Orlando Renegades The Orlando Renegades were a professional American football team that played in Orlando, Florida, Orlando, Florida, in the United States Football League (USFL) for a single season in 1985. Before its season in Orlando, the franchise played in Wash ...

of the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

. Walters played college football at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

Early career

Walters played football at West Florence High School. In 2006, he was inducted into the Florence Area Hall of Fame.

Clemson

Walters played for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

from 1973–1976 under head coach

Red Parker Jimmy Dale "Red" Parker (October 26, 1931 – January 4, 2016) was an American football coach. From 1961 to 1965, he served as the head football coach at Arkansas A&M, where he compiled a 29–19–2 record. From 1966 to 1972, he coached at The ...

. He served as co-captain in the 1976 season and caught 26 passes (6th overall in the

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

) for 392 yards and two touchdowns.

Canadian Football League

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Walters started his professional career in 1977 with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

. He played in four games, catching six passes for 59 yards, before being traded to the

Saskatchewan Roughriders

He finished the remaining 10 games of the 1977 season with the Roughriders, catching 23 more balls for 404 yards and four touchdowns. Walters would go on to play five more seasons in Saskatchewan, culminating in back-to-back West and CFL All-Star honors from 1981–1982. Walters left the Roughriders and the CFL in 1982, but he is still widely regarded as one of the greatest players in team history. In 1990, he was inducted into the team's Plaza of Honor.

United States Football League

In 1983, Walters signed with the

of the USFL. He spent three years with the team, including the 1985 season when they moved to Florida and became the

. Walters' best season was in 1984, when he caught 98 passes for 1410 yards and 13 touchdowns. Although the Federals had a 12-42 record over the USFL's three seasons, Walters' performance was enough to merit him Honorable Mention honors on the USFL All-Time Team.

National Football League

Two years after the USFL folded, Walters signed with the Houston Oilers as a replacement player during the

1987 NFL strike The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director DeM ...

. In just five games, he caught five passes for 99 yards while also helping out in the return game.

Post-football career

After he was done playing football, Walters was employed by Davgar Restaurants, serving as the company's Marketing Manager before being promoted to Director of Marketing. He also worked with Burger King Corporation as a marketing representative for the Southeast Region. Since 2000, he has worked with

Florida Citrus Sports Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

, a not-for-profit organization in Orlando, Florida, that produces sports events such as the

Capital One Bowl The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Cheez-It Bowl and Florida Classic. The gam ...

and

Champs Sports Bowl The Pop-Tarts Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida, at Camping World Stadium. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group which also organizes the Citrus Bowl and the Florida Classi ...

. Walters handles operations and team support, coordinating with football operations officials from the participating bowl schools on practices and game day needs. In addition, he is the director of the

Florida Classic The Florida Classic is the annual college football rivalry game between Bethune–Cookman University and Florida A&M University. The game has been televised nationally by ESPN Classic as a part of a multi-year contract with the Mid-Eastern ...

, the annual showdown between the

Bethune–Cookman Wildcats The Bethune–Cookman Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Bethune–Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Bethune-Cookman is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and participates in NCAA Division I Football Champions ...

and the

Florida A&M Rattlers The Florida A&M Rattlers represent Florida A&M University (FAMU) in college athletics. Florida A&M is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and participates in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). FAMU offers men's ...

that is currently the nation's largest

HBCU Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

football game.

manages the Florida Classic on behalf of the two schools. Walters is also the director of FCSports' summer camp program, a cornerstone of the company's Foundation. The Summer Camp is a free camp for low-income families in Central Florida and focuses on promoting the "Four A's" – Athletics, Academics, Attitude and Achievement.

Personal life

Walters resides in Winter Springs, Florida, with his wife, Patricia, and their son, Leo.

External links

* https://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/cfl_historical/Walters.Joey.htm&date=2009-10-26+22:20:32 * https://web.archive.org/web/20120404184341/http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/021006aab.html * http://www.fcsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11300&ATCLID=848660 * https://archive.today/20130118184225/http://communities.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/blogs/roughriders/archive/2009/02/23/catching-up-with-joey-walters.aspx * https://web.archive.org/web/20110807001928/http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=WALTEJOE01 * https://web.archive.org/web/20120523200305/http://www2.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/columnists/story.html?id=59af035e-0acc-4810-ae84-6239445458f0 * http://www.cflapedia.com/Players/w/walters_joey.htm * http://www.oursportscentral.com/usfl/stat84was.php {{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Joey 1954 births Clemson Tigers football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Canadian football slotbacks Canadian football wide receivers American players of Canadian football Living people Washington Federals/Orlando Renegades players Houston Oilers players National Football League replacement players