Baltimore Ravens rookie Devontez Walker will be donning No. 81 when he plays for the team this fall.
Walker has high standards and hopes for himself, and he explained that there’s a little more than meets the eye to the meaning behind wearing the number.
“I wore that number at Kent [State], so I wore [No.] 9 my whole life growing up,” Walker said. “Then, when I got it at Kent, eight plus one is nine, so I went back to that [No.] 9. Then, a lot of greats wore that number – [like] Randy Moss [and] Calvin Johnson – so when I get to that point, hopefully, I can go down in the books with that number as well.”
Walker’s new jersey is a nod to his past and a hope for the future, and that’s the kind of confidence that’s welcoming for a first-year receiver. Wideouts in the NFL — at least the good ones — have to play with a certain type of swagger, and it’s clear through just minicamp that Walker has shades of it.
But on top of that, Walker has a desire to learn from anyone and everyone, and that’s necessary to back up all of the confidence. It’s part of the recipe of a top receiver in the NFL, and Walker is certainly off to a great start when it comes to that.
