Wayne Walker

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Wayne Harrison Walker (b. September 30, 1936) is a former professional football player and sports broadcaster. He played outside linebacker for the Detroit Lions for fifteen seasons from 1958-1972. Wearing #55, he played in 200 regular season games as a 6'2", 225 lb. linebacker, the most ever at that position.

Walker was raised in Boise, and passed on an offer to play professional baseball in order to play college football at the University of Idaho, as a center and middle linebacker. In his senior season in 1957, he served as a team captain. In that era, Idaho was a member of the Pacific Coast Conference, the forerunner of the Pac-10. Walker's teammate (and roommate) at Idaho was Jerry Kramer, a future All-Pro offensive lineman (right guard) with the Green Bay Packers. Both players were selected for the East-West Shrine Game, the College All-Star Game (vs. the 1957 NFL champs (Detroit Lions) at Soldier Field in summer 1958; defeating the Lions 35-19), and in the fourth round of the 1958 NFL Draft. They were the first players from Idaho to be drafted by the pros, both picked in the top 50. In the Shrine Game at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, Walker had fifteen tackles, two interceptions, and blocked a kick. He was voted the outstanding defensive player of the game.

Walker was the 45th overall pick of the 1958 draft (Kramer was the 39th), held on December 2, 1957 (first four rounds). Both Walker and Kramer had their numbers retired at Idaho, and both would serve, in mid-career, as placekickers for their respective NFL teams. In college, Walker was the long snapper on the kicks, with Kramer handling the placekicking for the Vandals.

After his retirement from the NFL, Walker was the longtime sports director for KPIX, the CBS-TV affiliate in San Francisco, and was a commentator for the San Francisco 49ers' radio broadcasts for over twenty years. He also was a broadcaster for the NFL on CBS-TV.