Mark Hartley Walen (born March 10, 1963) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

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 ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. 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 ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Early years

Walen attended Burlingame High School, where he began playing football until his junior year. As a senior, he received All-county honors. He also

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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. In 2005, he was inducted into the San Mateo County Sports Hall of Fame.

College career

Walen accepted a football scholarship from

. As a freshman, he started 2 games against the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

and

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. He also contributed to the 24-14 victory against the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in the

1983 Rose Bowl The 1983 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game, played on January 1, 1983. It was the 69th Rose Bowl Game. The UCLA Bruins defeated the Michigan Wolverines by a score of 24–14, in a bowl rematch of a regular season game, also won by UCLA. ...

. As a sophomore, he was lost for the season, after tearing ligaments in his left knee during the third game against the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. He was able to recover in time to play in the

1984 Rose Bowl The 1984 Rose Bowl game, played on Monday, January 2, was the 70th edition. The unranked UCLA Bruins upset the #4 Illinois Fighting Illini by a score of 45–9. Rick Neuheisel, UCLA quarterback, was named the Player of the Game.Ken Norton Jr. Kenneth Howard Norton Jr. (born September 29, 1966) is an American football coach and former linebacker who most recently served as the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL) from 2018 to 2021. He ...

Carnell Lake Carnell Augustino Lake (born July 15, 1967) is an American former professional football player and coach who is the defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League (USFL). He was a safety and cornerback in the ...

, James Washington,

Jim Wahler James Joseph Wahler (born July 29, 1966) is a former American football defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Phoenix Cardinals and the Washington Redskins. He played college football for UCLA and was drafted in the f ...

and

Darryl Henley Darryl Keith Henley (born October 30, 1966) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1989 NFL draft out of UCLA. In his career, he played in 76 games and amassed 12 in ...

. After finishing the season with 74 tackles (third on the team) and 9 sacks (tied school record), he received

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Defensive Player of the Year, second-team All-American and All-Pac-10 honors. He finished his college career with 185 tackles, 20 sacks (set school record) and 31 tackles for loss (tied for fifth in school history).

Professional career

Walen was selected by the

in the third round of the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

. As a rookie, he was lost for the year after fracturing a bone in his right ankle, while completing a 1 1/2-mile run on the last day of the Cowboys' rookie orientation in May. The next year he had some few snaps on passing situations. In

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, he had his best season when in a reserve role (started only 2 games) he registered 4 sacks (fifth on the team). On September 25, he replaced and ineffective Kevin Brooks against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

, making 4 tackles and one sack. On October 30, he started in place of Brooks against the

Phoenix Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play th ...

, registering 9 tackles, 2 sacks and blocked an extra point. The next season, he emerged as one of the full-time starters on the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

at left tackle, but was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

after suffering a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

in his left knee during the second pre-season game against the

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 ...

. On August 22,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, he was waived after leaving the team in

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

, in reaction to being moved to the

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

and then back again to the

in the span of a week.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walen, Mark 1963 births Living people American football defensive tackles Dallas Cowboys players People from Burlingame, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area UCLA Bruins football players