Darnell Walker

Defensive Back (1989)

In 1988, Darnell Walker was class 4A Missouri State 800-meter champion for Sumner High School.  He was also a National AAU Junior Olympic 800-meter champion.

Darnell was a collegiate athlete at CCC and the University of Oklahoma.  During his second year at Coffeyville Community College he received All-Conference Honors in the Jayhawk Juco Conference.  Walker was UPI 1990 Defensive Newcomer of the Year in the Big Eight Conference, and he later earned All-Big Eight honors as a defensive back with honorable mention All-American.

Walker played eight years in the National Football League.  He was drafted in 1993 by the Atlanta Falcons, where he played for four years.  In 1997, Walker was picked up by the San Francisco 49ers, where he played for three years.  In 1998, Darnell was selected to be ESPN "Player of the Game" (Dallas vs. San Francisco).  Walker concluded his career in 2000 with the Detroit Lions.  He was selected many times to the Special Teams Player of the Game and Defensive Player of the Game while playing for the Falcons, the 49ers and the Lions.

Walker received his Bachelor of Arts in General Studies from Northeastern State University.  He is in his first season as a College Defensive Secondary Coach at Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  Walker has been married for ten years to D'Elbie.  They have two children, Darnell Jr. and Derra.