FEATURE: Even while he’s out of football action … Walker is still into it

By Sandy Gholston

Big Rapids - - Mostly watching from the sidelines is a tough pill to swallow; and that is especially true if you’re a fierce competitor like Ferris State’s Kyle Walker, who yearns to steer the Bulldogs to a strong fall 2008 campaign.

Ferris State's Kyle Walker shows his agility during a drill in practice at the Top Taggart Field. (Photo/Sandy Gholston)

Walker, a native of Grand Haven recovering this spring from wrist surgery to repair an injury that bothered him through much of last season, has found it difficult to stand by idly as mostly a spectator. Even though the wrist of the 6-foot-1 and 250-pound defensive end, who will be a senior this fall, is not yet 100 percent healed, it has not done much to keep Walker from going through some of the stretching, running and agility work to stay involved.

“All of our guys have been working really hard and it’s nice for us to have some competition for spots and competition for playing time to get ready for the fall,” Walker said. “We have some veterans who have played a lot, like me and Jake (Visser, an All-American defensive tackle for the Bulldogs), we have some younger guys who’ve gotten experience and we have some guys coming in who should be able to help us in the fall.”

On the defensive line unit alone, the Bulldogs had two key losses in 6-foot-2 and 276-pound Kurt Hout, who starred as a defensive tackle and now has the attention of some National Football League scouts, as well as 6-foot-4 and 248-pound defensive end Erik Schumacher, who also is a major loss for that group with his skill and experience on the edge of that line. Hout and Schumacher used up their eligibility last fall. Walker, like the coaches, is keeping his eyes open to see who among the young players, including promising guys like Grand Rapids native Kory Deering who competed in nine games during the fall of 2007, emerge as spring continues.

“The spring season is really important because it gives a lot of the younger guys, who didn’t get to play as much during the season, a chance to show the coaches what they can do. It also gives some of the older guys a chance to work on some things to continue to get better,” Walker said. “There’s a lot of competition for spots and even though there are some guys who maybe have an advantage, for some spots, we know spring is important but that nothing is finalized until the fall.”

These days, it’s difficult to take football out of Walker – even if he is trying to let his injury heal.

“Yeah, I’ve been doing a little coaching,” Walker smiled when asked about some of the time he has spent working with the unit when defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich has been otherwise occupied during practice. “It has been fun to continue to work with the guys and stay involved even though I am not out there going through the drills the way I would if I didn’t have the injury.”

As for the team as a whole, so far this spring, Walker likes what he has seen.

“I think our spring is off to a good start and we’ve had pretty good tempo in our practices and the guys are excited to be back out here,” said Walker, who played in and started all 11 of the team’s games and finished with 18 solo tackles and a total of 35 to go along with seven tackles for loss and four sacks. “There’s a lot to feel encouraged about and the biggest thing for all of our guys is to keep working hard and to keep improving … that is what spring is for.”