Kevin Patrick Walter (born August 4, 1981) is a former

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 with ...

wide receiver. He was drafted by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in the seventh round of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Eastern Michigan. Walter also played for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

and

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

Early years

Walter grew up in

Vernon Hills, Illinois Vernon Hills is a suburb north of Chicago, Illinois in Lake County, Illinois, Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 26,850 at the 2020 census. Vernon Hills serves as a retail hub for its surrounding area (Libertyville, Illinois, ...

where he attended Hawthorn Middle School South, and played wide receiver for

Libertyville High School Libertyville High School, or LHS, is a public four-year high school located in Libertyville, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Located at the intersection of Park Avenue (IL Rte 176) and Dawes Street, on the ...

in neighboring

Libertyville, Illinois Libertyville is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and a northern suburb of Chicago. It is located west of Lake Michigan on the Des Plaines River. The 2020 census population was 20,579. It is part of Libertyville Township, Lake ...

, a suburb 30 minutes north of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

three times in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, earning first-team all-state honors as a wide receiver after catching 48 passes for 801 yards and 6 touchdowns. He helped the team to a 10-1 record and a berth in the second round of the state tournament. Walter also was selected first-team all-area, all-conference and All- Lake County. He caught 17 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns as a junior.

College career

Walter attended Eastern Michigan University, where he set school records for receptions (211), receiving yards (2,838), and touchdown catches (20). He also earned first-team All- MAC honors as a senior with 93 receptions for 1,368 receiving yards, which were both school single-season records.

Professional career

New York Giants

Walter was a late seventh-round pick (255 overall) in the

by the

out of Eastern Michigan, but was released during training camp.

Cincinnati Bengals

After his release from the Giants, Walter signed with the

. Walter spent three years mainly as a backup and

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 ...

player, although he did see action in almost every game of his Bengals career and was actually a starter for a couple of games in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Houston Texans

The

signed Walter to a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

tender in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, which the Bengals did not match. In return, the Texans gave up a seventh-round pick to the Bengals. After an injury to Pro-bowler Andre Johnson, Walter became the Texans number one receiver and after 8 games in 2007, Walter had 40 catches for 512 yards while also posting a career-high game at Jacksonville in week 6 with 12 catches for 160 yards. Walter's best season came in 2008, he had 60 receptions for 899 yards and 8 touchdowns. He was released by the Texans on March 12, 2013.

Tennessee Titans

On April 1, 2013 Walter signed with the Tennessee Titans. On August 27, 2013, the Titans placed Walter on the reserve/physically unable to perform list.

Personal life

He is married to college girlfriend Caroline, with whom he has one daughter and two sons.

References

External links

Houston Texans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Kevin 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Lake Forest, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois American football wide receivers Eastern Michigan Eagles football players New York Giants players Cincinnati Bengals players Houston Texans players Tennessee Titans players People from Vernon Hills, Illinois