Ramon D. Walker (born November 8, 1979) 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 back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who played for the

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 ...

of 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 was selected by the Texans in the fifth round of the

2002 NFL draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ...

. 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 ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Early life

Walker was born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

at John R. Buchtel High School in Akron. He recorded 29 tackles, 17 sacks and three blocked punts while also rushing 126 times for 1,203 yards his senior year, earning all-state and Ohio Defensive Player of the Year honors.

College career

Walker played

for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

from 1998 to 2001. He was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 1998. He started all 11 games at free safety as a freshman in 1999, totaling 131 tackles, one sack, one interception, seven pass breakups, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery, garnering ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' and ''Football News'' first-team Freshman All-American and first-team All-

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

recognition. Walker was the first freshman defensive back to be named first-team All-Big East. He played in seven games, starting six, in 2000, accumulating 56 tackles, two pass breakups and two forced fumbles, earning second-team All-Big East honors. He started all 11 games his junior year in 2001, totaling 120 tackles and garnering first-team All-Big East accolades. Walker opted to forgo his senior season and enter the

. He finished his college career with totals of 307 career tackles, two interceptions and 14 pass breakups.

Professional career

Walker was selected by the

in the fifth round, with the 153rd overall pick, of the

. He officially signed with the team on July 18, 2002. He played in nine games, starting one, for the Texans in 2002, recording 11 solo tackles. Walker was placed on injured reserve on December 24, 2002. He appeared in 11 games (no starts) during the 2003 season, totaling 13 solo tackles and one assisted tackle. He was placed on injured reserve for the second straight year on December 1, 2003. The next year, Walker was placed on the

physically unable to perform Physically unable to perform (PUP) is a roster designation used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who suffered injuries during football-related activities prior to the start of training camp. Players on the PUP list may participate ...

list on September 5, 2004 and did not appear in any games during the 2004 season. He played in all 16 games (no starts) for the Texans in 2005, recording 13 solo tackles, three assisted tackles and one fumble recovery. He became a free agent after the 2005 season and re-signed with the Texans on March 22, 2006. Walker was released on August 28, 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Ramon 1979 births Living people American football safeties Houston Texans players Pittsburgh Panthers football players Players of American football from Akron, Ohio