Kenny Walker Season 1987

Honors & Awards

• Drafted in 8th Round by Denver Broncos 
• 1990 All-American (AP, Football Writers, Sporting News, Football News)
• 1990 Big 8 Defensive Player-of-the-Year (UPI)
• 1990 Outland Trohpy Semifinalist
• 1990 Second-Team All-American (UPI)
• 1990 All-Big 8 (AP, UPI, Big Eight Coaches)
• 1990 Phillips 66 Academic All-Big Eight
• 1990 National Defensive Player-of-the-Week (Baylor/Athlon)
• 1990 Big 8 Defensive Player-of-the-Week (Oklahoma State)

1990 (Senior)
One of the biggest stories in college football this year has been Walker’s emergence as one of the best defensive linemen in the nation. He has overcome his deafness (acquired at the age of 2 from a high fever) and his relative small size to become an All-American and the defensive player-of-the year in the Big 8 Conference. An unanimous all-conference pick, he also posted a 3.10 grade-point average in are last year to win academic all-league laurels, too. Referred to by Husker Coach Tom Osborne as “the greatest pass rusher in college football today,” Walker is listed as the 11th best pro prospect by NFL Draft Report. He started every game for the Huskers at defensive right tackle this fall, and finished with 73 total tackles, second on the squad to linebacker Pay Tyrance’s 98, and led the team by wide margins in tackles for loss (21 for 105 yards), sacks (11 for 69 yards) and quarterback hurries (21). The 21 tackles for loss and 11 sacks, each equaled the second-best single-season totals ever for a Husker. His top career tackle game came against OklahomaState, as he earned Big 8 defensive player-of-the-week honors. Kenny’s best game, though, may have came against Oregon State, when he had seven tackles, five behind the line for 22 yards lost, four sacks for 29 yards, two pass breakups and four hurries. Said Beaver quarterback Matt Booher, “He can just go ahead and play that Big Eight schedule, and I’ll just go back to the West Coast.” Walk’s other top tackle games were nine against both Kansas and Kansas State.

1989 (Junior)
Walker played in all 11 regular-season games, technically as a reserve, but as a ”starter” in the dime defense. He recorded 21 total tackles, including seven tackles for losses of 27 yards (the most for any non-starter) and five quarterback sacks for 24 yards lost (second-high on the team behind All-Big 8 DT Ken Wells). He led the Huskers in hurries with 12, one of which caused and interception at Minnesota. His top tackle game was five vs. Iowa State, the first of four-straight games in which he had at least one sack.

1988 (Sophomore)
Walker started the season as a reserve weak-side linebacker after switching from outside linebacker in the spring, and played in each of the first three games. He recorded three tackles and a quarterback hurry, but was moved to the line after the UCLA game, and didn’t play again in the regular season while he made the adjustment, but then played several downs vs. Miami in the Orange Bowl.

1987 (Redshirt Freshman)

1986 (Freshman)
Walker became the first deaf football player to sign a national letter-of-intent with Nebraska, then started at right outside linebacker for Coach Scott Downing’s 4-1-0 freshman team. He finished fifth on the team in total tackles with 26, led it in sacks with three for 21 yards, and shared the team lead in tackles for loss with five for 29 yards.

Before Nebraska (Crane High School)
An all-state defensive end as a senior for Coach Rickey White, Walker average 12 tackles per game on defense, and caught eight passes for 130 yards and four touchdowns as a split end on offense. He was ranked by the Dallas Morning News as one of the top 20 players in Texas in 1985. An all-state center in basketball, he also long jumped 23-0 and ran the 200-meter dash in 22.1 seconds.

Personal
Art major. The son of Julia Walker, Kenny was born April 6, 1967, in Crane.

Year	G	UT	AT	TT	TFL	Sacks	C-R	BK	PBU	PI	Hry.	Csd.
1988	3	2	1	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	0
1989	11	15	6	21	7-27	5-24	1-1	0	3	0	10	1
1990	11	33	40	73	21-105	11-69	1-1	0	3	0	21	1
Totals	25	50	47	97	28-132	16-94	2-2	0	6	0	32	2

Bowl Game Statistics

1991 - Florida Citrus Bowl vs. Georgia Tech: Tackles, 5 UT, 1 AT, 6 TT, TFL - 2 for 6 yards, Sacks - 1 for 4 yards; Fumbles, 1 FR; Quarterback Hurries - 1; Int. Csd. - 1