Doak Walker

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Doak Walker
Date of birth	January 1, 1927
Place of birth	Dallas, Texas
Date of death	September 27, 1998 (age 71)
Place of death	Steamboat Springs, CO
Position(s)	Half back Kicker, Punter
College	SMU
NFL Draft	1949 / Round 1/ Pick 3
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	5
Awards	1950 NFL Rookie of the Year 1949 Cotton Bowl MVP 1948 Cotton Bowl MVP 1948 Heisman Trophy 1947 Maxwell Award
Honors	Doak Walker Award
Retired #s	Detroit Lions #37
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1950-1955	Detroit Lions
College Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1986

Ewell Doak Walker, Jr. (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He was born in Dallas, Texas and attended Highland Park High School in Dallas where he was a multi-sport athlete. Both he and future college and National Football League star Bobby Layne were on the Highland Park football team.

1 College career
2 NFL career
3 Post NFL
4 Legacy
5 External links

[edit] College career

In college, Walker attended Southern Methodist University where he played running back, defensive back and place kicker. He also threw and caught passes, punted, and returned kicks. He was an All-American football player and won the Heisman Trophy in 1948 as a junior as the best college football player in the nation. Walker's impact on SMU and football in the Dallas area led to Cotton Bowl being referred to as "The House That Doak Built." Walker also lettered on the SMU basketball and baseball teams.

[edit] NFL career

He went on to play professional football for the Detroit Lions, where he was re-united with quarterback Bobby Layne, who had attended the University of Texas at Austin. Although Walker was only 5'11" and 175 pounds, he was voted All-Pro four times, and he helped lead the Lions to two National Football League championships. He also led the NFL in scoring twice (1950 and 1955) and tallied 534 points in his career (330 on field goals and extra points). In honor of his achievements, the Lions have retired his #37 from use by players. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

[edit] Post NFL

He married his high school sweetheart, and they had four children. He later married Olympic skier Skeeter Werner. Doak Walker died September 27, 1998 as a result of injuries suffered previously in a skiing accident. He is immortalized by the annual Doak Walker Award, given to the best running back in college football, and by a statue placed between Gerald Ford Stadium and Southern Methodist University's state-of-the-art Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports.

[edit] Legacy

Sports Illustrated and award winning writer Rick Reilly had this to say at the time of Doak Walker's death:

Doak Walker (Jan. 1, 1927-Sept. 27, 1998) Three-time All-America and Heisman Trophy winning running back, SMU "He's Doak Walker, and he was as golden as golden gets. He had perfectly even, white teeth and a jaw as square as a deck of cards and a mop of brown hair that made girls bite their necklaces. He was so shifty you couldn't have tackled him in a phone booth, yet so humble that he wrote the Associated Press a thank-you note for naming him an All-America. Come to think of it, he was a three-time All-America, twice one of the Outstanding Players in the Cotton Bowl, a four-time All-Pro. He appeared on 47 covers, including Life, Look and Collier's. One time, Kyle Rote, another gridiron golden boy, saw a guy buying a football magazine at a newsstand. 'Don't buy that one,' Rote said. 'It's not official. It doesn't have a picture of Doak Walker on the cover.' "

[edit] External links

Pro Football Hall of Fame: member biography

Preceded by Charley Trippi	Maxwell Award Winner 1947	Succeeded by Chuck Bednarik
Preceded by Johnny Lujack	Heisman Trophy Winner 1948	Succeeded by Leon Hart