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Broncos Walker knows the heat is on

Walker determined to excel in new start with Broncos

Clay Latimer, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 19, 2006 at midnight

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ENGLEWOOD - It was pushing 90 degrees in upstate New York. Baseball practice was dragging on into late afternoon. There wasn't really time for dinner, and he had another game in a few hours.

Yeah, it was a typical day for Javon Walker, which is why he was feeling as empty as the stands in that small-town ballpark a thousand miles from his home.

Trapped?

A couple of days later, you could almost hear the sounds of tires screeching on pavement as Walker swerved into a career U-turn, leaving the Class A Utica Blue Sox for a new life at Florida State.

"Football was calling," said Orrin Freeman, special assistant to the general manager of the Florida Marlins, who picked Walker in the 12th round of the 1997 draft.

Walker was more than ready for a fresh start; in fact, starting over is second nature to the 27-year-old wide receiver, a classic late bloomer who makes his debut in a Denver Broncos uniform tonight in an NFL preseason game against Tennessee.

When grades and SAT scores prevented Walker from playing football at a four-year college, for example, he turned to professional baseball, even though he had only one year of high school ball under his belt.

As his baseball career fizzled, he hired a personal coach and transformed himself from a running back into a wide receiver at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Miss. After struggling in his rookie season in Green Bay, Walker underwent Lasik eye surgery, gradually reshaped his body in a Phoenix gym, refined his game and earned a Pro Bowl trip in his third season.

When a contract dispute with the Packers made him Public Enemy No. 1, and an anterior cruciate ligament injury sidelined him in 2005, Walker engineered a trade to Denver, where he hopes to finally find his pot of gold: a Super Bowl championship, renewed recognition as an elite receiver and more money than he ever imagined as a boy in Lafayette, La., where his unwillingness to fade into the pack surfaced early.

"I've never been a person who is happy just to be around," he said. "I always wanted to be a person you knew about. "So I have to get back to where I once was, to show the fans of Denver what I can do for them and to let Green Bay fans know what they're missing out on. That's what drives me. I can't wait for the season to start, I can't wait till the season starts and I can perform and just take it out on other teams."

Even in fifth grade, Walker knew how to play the game. When a sixth-grade football coach told him he was too young, Walker said, "Could I do something?" - then became team manager.

Talent isn't flaunted

Although Walker's father abandoned the family - "I don't know where he is," he said - he stayed out of trouble in his lower-middle-class neighborhood. In ninth-grade he received a scholarship to St. Thomas More Catholic High School, an academic and athletic powerhouse in Louisiana.

"In exchange, he cleaned lockers, chopped weeds," said Ken Roebuck, Walker's high school baseball coach. "He jumped into the work, even as talented as he was. He wasn't saying, 'I'm a superstar, I'm standing over here.'

"He was getting his hands dirty, even on the hottest days of summer, when it's 100 degrees, there's 100 percent humidity and you move your hand through the air and literally feel water.

"You didn't have to push him. He was so diligent, so self-motivated. I think his No. 1 attribute is perseverance."

Despite limited experience in the triple jump, Walker finished second in the event at a national track and field meet. Although a newcomer to high school baseball, Walker made jaw-dropping plays as a senior outfielder.

"He threw five guys out at home that year, in 30 games," Roebuck said. "The ball never hit the ground. It wasn't even close; the catcher was eating doughnuts, waiting for the runner.

"In the (outfield), if there was any arc on the ball, he caught it. One day in St. Charles, he hit a ball 507 feet - no exaggeration."

Football, though, was Walker's passion. Named the Class 5A Louisiana Player of the Year as a senior running back, his statistics read like a misprint.

"He could run around you, or through you," Roebuck said. "I've seen him drag guys into the end zone with just sheer determination. Any other guy would've been stopped at the 10. Javon might be pretty, but he's tough, too."

Taking a stab at baseball

With his hopes of playing major college football fading because of low test scores, Walker concentrated on impressing Marlins scouting director Gary Hughes, who signed eventual pro football players John Elway, John Lynch, Patrick Pass and Kelley Washington during his tenure with the New York Yankees, Montreal Expos and Florida. In 1997, he added Walker to the list.

"No doubt in my mind he would have been a great professional baseball player," Freeman said.

Walker, though, couldn't figure out the breaking ball, hitting only .106 in his first Gulf Coast League season, .222 in his second and .000 in eight games in the Class A New York-Penn League.

At least he could commiserate with Washington, his roommate in the Gulf Coast League and now a Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver

"Even when we were playing baseball, we were watching college football, not sure if we were going to go back and play," Walker said. "But football has a spirit that's so different from baseball. Seeing that adrenaline, seeing the crowd go crazy . . .

"One day I just said, 'Hey, I'm doing it.' He decided to do the same thing. And here we are today, both in the NFL, living out our dreams with no regrets.

"We grew up pretty fast in baseball."

Walker's decision didn't surprise Freeman.

"For someone who is such a great athlete, it's hard to go home and say, 'I hit .180,' " Freeman said. "You're playing in the minors, there are about 20 people in the stands, and you could be playing in front of 100,000 at Florida State . . .

"Javon was a good kid, a really respectful kid. He gave it his best shot, but ultimately, he made a great decision."

The Gulf Coast is a summer league, so Walker resumed his football career in fall '98 at Jones County Junior College.

Hands down, a success

In two seasons, he caught 96 passes for 1,556 yards, earning All-America honors as a sophomore despite missing two games because of a broken collarbone. And he placed third in the triple jump at the national junior college meet.

"When he came to me, he was really ready to play football," said former Jones football coach Parker Dykes, whose other starting wide receiver was Deion Branch, now with the New England Patriots.

"He had a goal in life: to go to Florida State and then play pro football. He did everything he possibly could to fulfill that goal by getting to know both his coaches and teachers, letting them know what a nice guy he was underneath the typical football facade. He came by the office every day to speak to me and the other coaches. He wanted to please the coaches."

After enrolling at Florida State, Walker spent the summer watching film and working out with former Seminoles receivers who regularly returned to FSU to prepare for the NFL season.

"I think he's going to be really special when he learns it all," FSU receivers coach Jeff Bowden told reporters that spring.

But the transition hardly was a breeze for Walker, even though he caught three touchdown passes in the first three games, inviting comparisons with Seminoles great Peter Warrick.

After suffering a high-ankle sprain in the third week, he missed several games and then dropped several passes once he returned. Replacing suspended receiver Marvin Minnis in the 2001 national championship game, Walker caught one pass for 25 yards and dropped two others during a loss to Oklahoma.

In the Gator Bowl the subsequent year, Walker caught four passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns and was named the game's MVP. "He finally showed how good he can be," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said.

Impressing scouts

In the lead-up to the NFL draft, Walker, now 6-foot-3, 209 pounds, blew away scouts with his 40-yard speed (4.35 seconds) vertical leap (39 1/2 inches) and hand size. A poor Wonderlic score (9) worried the Packers, but after running Walker through a tough interview and chalkboard session, they made him the 20th overall pick.

On the first day of training camp, though, Walker dropped two passes, a preview of things to come, when he dropped nine passes during a season in which he had 23 receptions, according to Stats Inc. At times, the rookie couldn't see the ball until it was right on him, a problem he rectified with two Lasik surgeries - one on each eye for nearsightedness.

"It did wonders," Walker said.

But he didn't stop there.

"Some of these big schools like Florida State have great athletes; they beat teams with their athleticism," said athletic trainer Brett Fischer, founder of Fischer Sports in Phoenix. "But you look at players in terms of fundamentals, and from a biomechanical standpoint, and you say, 'Wow, this guy needs a lot of work on technique and route-running.' Maybe they're being taught it, and they just didn't take it in. Then they get in the NFL and they say, 'I've got to wake up.' "

The alarm went off at 7 a.m. for Walker in Phoenix, where he trained for five hours each weekday morning at Fischer Sports, working on everything from abdominal muscles to route-running to reflexes.

In 2004, Walker, stronger and more savvy, ranked third in the NFL in receiving yards, with 1,382, while setting personal bests in receptions (89), touchdown catches (12) and blossoming into one of the league's top downfield threats.

"He was as good as there was in the NFL that season," said Broncos wide receivers coach Steve Watson. "I have cut-ups from that season, and to watch him - well, it's spectacular. His ability to compete for the football is second to none."

From bad to worse

Walker was scheduled to earn a base salary of $650,000 the subsequent year. After the Packers declined to renegotiate his contract, he threatened to hold out before the 2005 season, provoking harsh rebukes from legendary quarterback Brett Favre and die-hard fans.

Things went from bad to worse in August 2005, when Walker's grandparents and two uncles were missing during Hurricane Katrina. Walker's mother, Bernita, and his stepfather, Charles Goldsmith, drove from their home in Texas to Moss Point, Miss., just outside Biloxi, where they eventually found them.

"They looked for 'em for a couple days," Walker said. "Football is a game; family is there forever, through good and bad times. It's a feeling I'm sure not too many people want to go through."

Then, in the 2005 regular-season opener against Detroit, Walker injured his ACL after hauling in a 55-yard bomb from Favre, perhaps the most devastating blow of all.

"If I had to go back there, I'd rather retire. . . . They want players to come up there and play hard and work hard, but when it comes time to be compensated, it's like, 'We forgot what you've done,' " he told ESPN.

Lafayette, Brevard City, Utica, Ellisville, Tallahassee, Green Bay, Denver - it's been a long colorful ride, an odyssey that Walker says is far from over, as he hopes to demonstrate tonight against the Titans.

"He's done very well - coming off an ACL, practicing one time a day and not having many setbacks. I feel pretty good where he's at," Denver coach Mike Shanahan said.

Added Walker: "I know that nothing is every going to come easy; I'm always going to find a way to get better. That's just the way I am. I never limit myself."

New starts in the passing lanes

The Broncos' Javon Walker isn't the only prominent wide receiver with a new team in 2006:

• Terrell Owens, Dallas Cowboys - Super Bowl? Or bust? No one's ever certain with T.O., who moves from the Philadelphia Eagles to America's Team with a reputation as the most brilliant, and destructive, wideout in the game.

• Keyshawn Johnson, Carolina Panthers - Leaves the Cowboys to lessen the pressure on wideout Steve Smith. But how long before Keyshawn turns into Me-Shawn?

• Eric Moulds, Houston Texans - Joins Andre Johnson to give first-year coach Gary Kubiak one of the most explosive downfield combos in the game. Unhappy in Buffalo, Moulds, 33, could jump-start his career and quarterback David Carr's.

• Antonio Bryant, San Francisco 49ers - Once tossed a jersey back at Dallas coach Bill Parcells, but has emerged as Alex Smith's go-to guy. After his dust-up with Parcells, he was sent to anger-management counseling and eventually traded to the Cleveland Browns, who shipped him to San Francisco.

• Brandon Lloyd, Washington Redskins - The 49ers' top playmaker the past three seasons could become better-known in D.C. for circus catches.