Robert Walker (born June 26, 1972) 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 wi ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

for the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Mou ...

. Walker is most remembered for his game-winning run against

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

in 1993.

Collegiate career

Walker came to

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

in 1992 as a freshman. Walker sat as third-string running back most of that season, behind star

Adrian Murrell Adrian Byran Murrell (born October 16, 1970) is a former professional American football running back. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the fifth round of the 1993 NFL Draft after playing collegiately for the West Virginia Mountaineers. ...

and backup Jon Jones. His best season came in 1993, his sophomore year. With Murrell graduated and moved on to the pros, Walker assumed the starting role. Walker assumed the role better than anyone expected, as the Mountaineers went undefeated for the second time in school history. Their streak was almost broken on the second to last game of the season, against #4

. The Hurricanes had the lead, 14-10, late in the fourth quarter. In front of a school-record 70,222 fans at home, Robert Walker scored on a run to the sideline to win the game for the Mountaineers and preserve the undefeated season. West Virginia did not make it to the national championship, instead the Sugar Bowl against

Florida 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 ...

. The Mountaineers lost to the Gators, 41-7. Walker rushed for 1,250 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season, with a 5.8 average yardage per carry total. The Mountaineers went 7-6 in Walker's junior season of 1994, with Walker's statistics slowly declining. He rushed for 749 yards, but only one touchdown on the season. In Walker's final season as a Mountaineer, 1995, his totals began to decrease even more. He did have four touchdowns on the season, but only 508 yards on the year. He was on the New York Giants practise squad in 1996 and was signed as an emergency free agent late in the season to cover injuries to the first string running backs. He played in one NFL game, but had no carries.Giants Notes & Numbers
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References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Robert 1972 births West Virginia Mountaineers football players New York Giants players Players of American football from West Virginia American football running backs Living people Sportspeople from Huntington, West Virginia