UCM Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2015: Delanie Walker - Football

In 2004, then UCM head football coach Willie Fritz decided he needed to bolster his receiving corps, and he found exactly the player he needed in a young man from Mt. San Antonio Community College in California. In two seasons with the Mules, Delanie Walker led the team in receiving both years. He caught at least two passes in every game those two seasons. He also had three kickoff returns for touchdowns. Walker’s UCM performance was good enough for the San Francisco 49ers to take him in the sixth round of the NFL draft. Nine years later, Delanie, now with the Tennessee Titans, owns the longest NFL career of any former Mules player. With the Titans, this year, Walker had the best season of his professional career, leading the team with 63 receptions and 890 yards. Those 890 receiving yards set a Titans season record and were the fourth-best total in the NFL among tight ends. However, there is a lot more to Delanie than playing football on Sundays. Just hours after playing in the 2013 Super Bowl with the 49ers, Walker had to deal with the tragic news that his beloved aunt and uncle, who had come to the game, were killed by a drunk driver. Turning a tragedy into something positive, Delanie is now an active supporter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and participates in numerous functions that the organization sponsors. MADD is one of many charitable groups that Walker supports. At Thanksgiving, he was named a Community MVP by the NFL Players Association for his work in the Nashville community. He has his own foundation, entitled Delanie Walker Gives Back, which supports a variety of groups that help people in need. "I want to try to help organizations that might not always be getting the most attention or funding, but are doing very important work," Walker said.