David Walker (quarterback)

David Walker was a left-handed American football quarterback for Texas A&M University in the mid-70's. He was also Louisiana's 1972 All-State Quarterback and the state's Outstanding Offensive Player while playing for Sulphur High School, where he was tagged with his nickname, "Moon." Walker led Texas A&M to a 37-14 Sun Bowl victory over Florida to cap off the 1976 season and had the Aggies ranked #5 in the country after an impressive 33-17 win over #7 Texas Tech in 1977.

Making the transition from drop-back passer to the Wishbone, Walker in 1973 was a 17 year-old freshman phenom who became the youngest college quarterback ever. Walker's first start his freshman season was a 35-16 win against TCU. The victory broke a four game losing streak against the Frogs and was the first of 24 straight the Aggies have won in the series. The Aggies finished the season as the 3rd highest scoring team in A&M history and Walker was named the U.P.I. Southwest Conference Freshman of the Year.

Walker was the quarterback his sophomore season in 1974 and led A&M through an 8-3 campaign, A&M's first winning season since the victorious Cotton Bowl team of 1967. Their 21-14 win against the 5th ranked LSU Tigers, the Aggies' second in 15 tries at LSU's deafening Tiger Stadium, catapulted the previously unranked squad to #9 in the country. In the game the Aggies had three ball carriers break the century mark in rushing; Skip Walker with 130, Bubba Bean with 127, and fullback Bucky Sams who finished with 107 yards and scored the winning touchdown late in the 4th quarter. Only a final game loss at Texas kept them from the Cotton Bowl and the SWC championship, thus allowing Grant Teaff's Baylor team, a 20-0 victim of the Aggies earlier in the season, to claim the crown. The Aggies' Top 15 ranking marked the first time since 1957 the Aggies had been ranked at season's end and only the sixth since their 1939 National Championship.

Walker was replaced by Texas All-Stater David Shipman during the 1975 season and did not play. The Aggies rose to #2 and the country's top-ranked defense before ending the season with one-sided losses to Arkansas and Liberty Bowl opponent Southern California.

In 1976 he regained the starting QB job for the final six games, all lop-sided victories, including the first win in 20 years on the University of Texas campus in a decisive 27-3 victory in Darryl Royal's final A&M game as UT's head coach. Walker capped off the season by leading the Aggies to a 37-14 victory over Florida in the Sun Bowl, applying the finishing touches to A&M's second consecutive 10 win season, a first in A&M history and a feat accomplished only 3 times since. In the game Walker was 11 of 18 for 122 yards, including a touchdown pass to fullback George Woodard. Walker also scored in the 2nd quarter on a 9-yard keeper. The Sporting News ranked Texas A&M #3 and the A.P. had them 7th in the country following the season. It would be 1985 before the Aggies would be ranked again in a final poll.

Texas Football Magazine named Walker the Southwest Conference's top passer prior to the 1977 season, yet he set Aggie records for single-game carries and yards by an A&M quarterback when he rushed 27 times for 182 yards in a come-from-behind 38-21 win against SMU. The record for carries stood for 30 years until it was broken by Stephen McGee in a 2007 game against Nebraska. Walker's yardage record stood until Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel ran for 229 yards on only 17 carries against Oklahoma in a 41-13 victory in the 2013 Cotton Bowl.

When Walker was injured for a game against TCU in the '77 season he was replaced by another freshman quarterback sensation Mike Mosley who had a spectacular game in a 52-23 thrashing of the Horned Frogs. Walker returned for the final regular season games against top-ranked Texas and the University of Houston to complete the 8-3 season. He then sat out the 47-28 1977 Bluebonnet Bowl loss to USC until the final minutes, a game in which Mosely rushed for 180 yards.

Although Walker did not accumulate gaudy statistics in Emory Bellard's wishbone offense, once he mastered its nuances he operated the Aggies' triple option attack with precision. He quarterbacked the Aggies to a 25-9 record as a starter, making him the winningest quarterback in A&M history. To this day he ranks second only to Corey Pullig for Aggie career wins. Walker completed his career as the #2 all-time Total Offense leader at A&M behind Edd Hargett and ranked 5th in the Southwest Conference for career wins. He was twice voted Aggie Team Captain (1976 & 1977) and was head football coach for three Texas high schools; Union Grove, Marble Falls and Houston Memorial.

David "Moon" Walker was one of thirteen graduates to be inducted into the Inaugural Sulphur High School Centennial Hall of Fame on April 20, 2013. Graduating from Sulphur in 1973, Walker was the lone selection made from the school's previous 50 years of existence. He recently released a book titled, "I'll Tell You When You're Good ~ The Memoirs of America's Youngest College Quarterback" available at his website and other online distributors, detailing his life while growing up in Sulphur and his football career at A&M.

• I'll Tell You When You're Good
• 12th Man Quarterback Website
• David Walker on Aggie Football (2012) - Gamedayr
• Texas A&M Top Ten Quarterbacks - Bleacher Report