Wayne Walker obit

Former Detroit Lions great LB/K Wayne Walker dies at 80 years old

 

He was not on the list. 

Former Detroit Lions linebacker Wayne Walker, who once held the franchise record for games played (200) and seasons (15), died Friday in Idaho. He was 80 years old.

In 2007, Walker was diagnosed with throat cancer and in 2015 he announced he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Selected as a member of the Lions’ 75th anniversary all-time team, the outside linebacker and kicker was a standout iron man in the Detroit, where he started for all of his 15 seasons (1958-72). His team records for games and seasons were broken in 2004 by Jason Hanson.

“On behalf of my family and the Detroit Lions, I would like to extend our sincere condolences to Wayne’s wife, Sylvia, and to his children, Steve, Doug and Kathy," Lions owner Martha Ford said in a released statement.

Wayne was one of our finest players from the decade of the '60s and will not only be remembered for his career accomplishments as a Lion, but also for his great success as a broadcaster after his playing days were over.”

Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, Walker passed on an offer to play professional baseball in order to play football at the University of Idaho.

In his senior year season in 1957, Walker served as team captain, was voted the outstanding defensive player of the East-West Shrine game and played on the college all-star team that defeated the defending world champion Lions, 35-19. Both Walker and his college teammate and roommate, Green Bay great Jerry Kramer, have had their numbers retired by their alma mater.

Walker was drafted by the Lions in the fourth round (45th overall) of the 1958 NFL draft. Nicknamed “The King,” Walker played alongside fellow linebacker and Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt, who in the early 1960s led one of the NFL’s most devastating defenses that included the “Fearsome Foursome” of Alex Karras, Roger Brown, Darris McCord and Sam Williams, along with the “4 Ls” defensive backfield consisting of Yale Lary, Night Train Lane, Dick LeBeau and Gary Lowe.

“It was a real shock to hear that Wayne passed away because I just spoke with him on the phone two days ago,” Schmidt said. "We had a great time reminiscing about our playing days stories, and stories from the old Lindell AC bar downtown. We had some good laughs. Wayne was a good football player, intelligent, well read, and he had a great sense of humor. It really grabs you when you lose your teammate and friend. Just like it did when we lost Yale Lary.”

Lary, a Hall of Fame safety for the Lions, died last Friday at 86. 

LeBeau told the Free Press in 2010 that Walker should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“I think Wayne Walker was a great, great player," LeBeau said.

A three-time Pro Bowl selection (1964-66), Walker also took on duties as a kicker before placekickers became specialists. Walker ranks ninth on the Lions’ list for career points scored (345). His scoring totals include two return touchdowns, 53 field goals and 172 extra points. He led Detroit in scoring in 1962, 1964 and 1965.

"Basically, I grew up in Detroit, just loved this area," Walker, a longtime Livonia resident, told the Free Press in 1993. "I was only 21 when I got drafted here. I mean, what does anybody know when you're 21, when you look back? And the '60s were a sensational, exciting time to be here. Those are all clear, fond memories you don't leave behind."

As part of the Lions' 75th anniversary team in 2008, Walker said it was a "thrill" to be part of the festivities and to have his "picture taken with these guys."

"There's no phoniness," Walker said. "There's no edge to anybody. Everybody's loose and relaxed. It's wonderful to be together again. It's like a fraternity. You don't pull that jersey over your head as much as we did and not have a special feeling for the Lions. These guys are the Lions."

Walker worked for several years as a sports anchor on WJBK-TV 2 in Detroit during the Lions’ off-season.

“Wayne was a tyrant on the football field, but he was one of the friendliest persons you could ever meet, and was always nice with the public,” said former Detroit sports broadcaster Ray Lane, who was responsible for launching Walker’s sports broadcasting career. Lanewas the sports director and lead sports anchor at WJBK in the 1960s.

“I remember interviewing Wayne at training camp and he was so good and great at ad libbing. I thought this guy could get into broadcasting.

“When our station general manager Bob McBride asked me if I could find an athlete who could fill in on the air I suggested Wayne and he hired him.”

In the football off-season, Walker hosted the “Baseball Scoreboard Show“ after Saturday Tigers games before eventually filling in as a weekend sports anchor.

“Wayne worked hard on it and, as we know after he retired from the game, he parlayed it into becoming a very successful sports anchor in San Francisco and as a color analyst on NFL games.” 

When Walker announced his retirement from the Lions following the 1972 season, he held the news conference at the famous Lindell AC bar in downtown Detroit, where he donated his jock strap for the bar’s memorabilia collection. The unique, bronzed item hung prominently in the bar until it closed in 2002. Walker had been extremely close to the owners Jimmy and Johnny Butsicaris who had befriended him when he first arrived in Detroit in 1958.

After his retirement, Walker went on to spend 20 years (1974-94) as the sports director for KPIX-TV, the CBS affiliate in San Francisco. He also was a commentator for San Francisco 49ers’ broadcasts and Oakland A’s games. For 11 seasons, Walker served as a color commentator  on regional NFL games for  CBS.

Walker was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.

Funeral arrangements are pending.