Walter Kevin Dean (born June 1, 1968) is an American former

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 ...

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. 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 ...

for the at

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

. In his senior year, he led the nation in rushing and won the 1990

Walter Payton Award The Walter Payton Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football as chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports ...

as the most outstanding player in

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

football. He played professional football for one season 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 ...

(NFL) after he was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in the sixth round of the

1991 NFL Draft The 1991 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 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Mar ...

Early life

Dean was born on June 1, 1968, in

Ruston, Louisiana Ruston is a small city and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the largest city in the Eastern Ark-La-Tex region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 21,859, reflecting an increase of 6.4 percent ...

, to Walter, a concrete company dispatcher, and Betty Dean, an administrative secretary at

.Walter Dean Statistics
, Pro Football Reference, retrieved July 3, 2009. He also has a younger brother who played soccer, Keith, who was one of Louisiana's leading

interscholastic Francis Michael Durango Magalona (October 4, 1964 – March 6, 2009), also known by the moniker Francis M, was a Filipino rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, actor, and television personality. Born in Manila, He became a significant influ ...

players, and with whom he shared a bunk-bed according to their mother. Walter Dean attended Grambling State University Laboratory High School in

Grambling, Louisiana Grambling is a city in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,949 at the 2010 census. The city is home to Grambling State University and is part of the Ruston Micropolitan Statistical Area. Grambling was designated a " ...

Walter Dean Past Stats
, Database Football, retrieved July 3, 2009. and turned down

offers ''Offers'' is a 2005 Dutch television film directed by Dana Nechushtan and starring Maryam Hassouni and Jacob Derwig. The thriller film is a personal drama about suicide bombers and counter-terrorism in Western Europe. In 2006 Maryam Hassouni ...

from major college football programs such as

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

and

Louisiana State Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisian ...

in order to attend Grambling State. Dean said, "I wanted to go to a college where everybody I knew wouldn't have to sign up for a

frequent-flyer program A frequent-flyer program (American English) or frequent-flyer programme (British English) is a loyalty program offered by an airline. Many airlines have frequent-flyer programs designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the program ...

in order to see me play."

College career

At Grambling, Dean studied

business management Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

and played football for the

Grambling State Tigers The Grambling State Tigers and Lady Tigers represent Grambling State University in NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Grambling's sports teams participate in Division I (I-FCS for football) as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). ...

as a

. He earned the nickname "

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

" due to the belief of his coach, Eddie Robinson, that the team should 'never leave home without him', a saying similar to the slogan of the eponymous credit card company. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' called Dean possibly the "best runner produced by a predominantly black college since

Walter Payton Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1953Although most sources at the time of his death gave Payton's birth year as 1954, reliable sources subsequently state he was born in 1953. – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played ...

came out of

Jackson State Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

in 1975." Former Grambling and

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

Paul "Tank" Younger Paul Lawrence "Tank" Younger (June 25, 1928 – September 15, 2001) was an American professional football player who was a fullback, halfback, and linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) from 1949 through 1958. He played college footba ...

said about Dean, "You take one look at him and you think, hey, he doesn't look that tough. He isn't the huge, muscle-flexing type of back, but once you see him run the ball, you want to check out his scrapbook." At Grambling, Dean recorded a career total of 3,328 yards and 41 touchdowns. As a junior in 1989, Dean scored 18

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 ...

s and set a school rushing record when he compiled 1,269 yards. In 1990, Dean recorded 17 touchdowns and the Division I-AA season-best 1,401 rushing yards. Against , he recorded 137 yards on just 15 carries (9.13 average). Against

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

, he compiled a career-high 232 yards and helped lead the Tigers to a 22-3 victory. Grambling finished the season with an 8–3 record, including a win against their arch-rival, , in the

Bayou Classic The Bayou Classic is an annual college football classic rivalry game between the Grambling State University Tigers and the Southern University Jaguars, first held under that name in 1974 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, although the series it ...

. Eddie Robinson believed that Dean was deserving of the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

, awarded annually to the best college football player, but acknowledged that voters would not seriously consider a Division I-AA player for the honor.The Deans Of Grambling
, ''

'', October 8, 1990. Dean did, however, win the

, which is the award bestowed annually upon Division I-AA football's most outstanding player.Walter Payton Award – History
,

The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. Since 2001, it has been majority-owned by comm ...

, retrieved July 3, 2009.

Professional football

Dean was selected in the sixth round of the

by the

(149th pick overall). He played one season for Green Bay. In 1991, he saw action in nine games and recorded one

kick return A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

and one

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Walter 1968 births Living people Players of American football from Ruston, Louisiana American football running backs Green Bay Packers players Grambling State Tigers football players Shreveport Pirates players Walter Payton Award winners