Ricky Walker (born April 18, 1996) is a

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

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 ...

for 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 ...

of 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 ...

(CFL). 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 ...

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

Early years

Walker attended Bethel High School. As a junior, he was a two-way player, making 70 tackles and 11 sacks, while receiving first-team All-district and All-region honors. As a senior, he missed 2 games with an injury, finishing with 73 tackles (15 for loss) and 11 sacks, while receiving second-team All-state honors.

College career

Walker accepted a football scholarship from

. As a true freshman, he played in 11 games as a backup

and tallied 9 tackles (one for loss). 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 2015. As a sophomore, he appeared in all 14 games (4 starts). He registered 28 tackles (6.5 for loss), 1.5 sacks, 4 quarterback hurries, 4 pass breakups and 2 kickoff returns for 19 yards 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 ...

. As a junior, he was named the starter at the 3-technique tackle spot. He collected 41 tackles (12.5 for loss), 4.5 sacks, 6 quarterback hurries, one pass break up and one fumble recovery for 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 Ameri ...

. As a senior, he was limited with a foot injury during the first half of the season. He recorded 49 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss (led the team), 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. He also was a finalist for the

Dudley Award The Dudley Award, named after former Virginia running back Bill Dudley, is presented annually by the ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' to honor the top NCAA football player in the Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of ...

, given to the top collegiate player in the state of Virginia.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Walker was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by 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 ...

, after being passed on the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

because of a lack of height. He had 3 tackles (one for loss) and one quarterback hit in the preseason game against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. He was waived on August 31.

Tampa Bay Vipers

In October 2019, he was selected by the

Tampa Bay Vipers The Vegas Vipers are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. The team began operation ...

during phase 3 of the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social m ...

. In March, amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the league announced that it would be cancelling the rest of the season. He finished the XFL's debut season with 8 tackles and one quarterback hit in 5 games. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Cleveland Browns

On August 22, 2020, Walker signed with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. The Browns waived Walker on September 3, 2020.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Walker signed with the

of the CFL on February 19, 2021. He played in his first career regular season game on August 13, 2021.

References

External links

Winnipeg Blue Bombers bioVirginia Tech bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Ricky 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Newport News, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia American football defensive tackles Virginia Tech Hokies football players Dallas Cowboys players Tampa Bay Vipers players Cleveland Browns players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players