At his Under Armour All America jersey presentation, offensive lineman Keenan Walker posed for a picture in front of a backdrop with the words "Long Live Dreams" perfectly placed above his head.
His long arms stretched out, holding two helmets, his bright Under Armour jersey on his chest and a huge smile on his face. Walker, a University of Arizona commit, was living his dream.
It wasn't easy, though, as he took a path that most of his classmates in Scottsdale, Arizona, only read about in the news.
Growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Walker and his parents lived in a rough neighborhood. His mother and father argued regularly about whether Walker should even be allowed to play basketball in their local park because of the danger in their area.
Walker wasn’t involved yet in sports, wasn’t doing well in school and didn’t have a lot of positivity surrounding him. As a child, his cousin, Stanford Walker, was killed, which prompted the family to make the move to Arizona when Walker was in seventh grade.
“We ripped him out of one environment and put him in another. You couldn’t think of anything more black and white opposite than Fort Wayne, Indiana. and Scottsdale, Arizona,” Jim said. “There were times when he felt out of place because he’s surrounded by a lot of kids that have been hand-fed their entire life, and he’s a guy who didn’t really have much growing up. It’s been an amazing transition for him.”
Walker was behind in English and math when they moved him to Arizona. Once he got acclimated and settled in, his grades and test scores began to rise. He was even awarded with a Presidential honor for having one of the biggest jumps in standard test scores for the year.
As his grades began to rise so to did his interest in sports. Walker and his dad checked out basketball and football practice to see which sport he would like to try. They chose basketball because he had a higher comfort level with the hardwood.
His basketball career was shortl-ived, though, as he and his dad laugh recalling the fact Walker would regularly foul out from being so aggressive.
“That was after his eighth grade year and we decided that he would play basketball,” Jim said. “Keenan here tends to foul out easily because he has that personality where you start bodying up on him and he will give it right back. He was a bruiser.”
After the basketball season Walker got a call from the club football coach, Matt Frazier, asking if he would like to try playing football as well. He and his father discussed it and decided it was worth trying.
“I remember we were in the parking lot, 20 minutes before his first game and I told the coach he hasn’t played football in four years, he has no idea what’s going on,” Jim said. “I asked if he could show him how to block and tackle before the game. He was trying to block kids and I just thought to myself, I hope this goes well because he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
To say it went well is an understatement. Walker stuck with football and is now the No. 45 ranked prospect in the country.
At 6-foot-6, 282 pounds, Waker is one of the premier offensive tackles in the country and is a long ways away from the unmotivated kid in Fort Wayne.
At Walker’s jersey presentation, Jim stood up to say how proud he was of his son and who he has become. Emotions and the thoughts of how their lives could be so different flooded his eyes with tears. As he walked back to his seat, Jim put his hand on his son’s shoulder and thanked him.
Long Live Dreams was emblazoned above the family as they had all just experienced a dream of their own.
Under Armour All American Keenan Walker has a message for USC https://t.co/xp41cxVA5h
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) October 10, 2014What one player are you looking forward to competing against?: Josh Sweat. They had us matched up at a few camps and I wasn’t able to do any one-on-ones with him. I haven’t gone against him at all. We want to go against each other, but they just haven’t matched us up yet. Hopefully when we get down there I can win the starting spot and we can go against each other.
If you could start a team with any other player in your class who would it be?: My boy Josh Sweat.
What was your earliest football memory?: When we were doing a hitting drill. I delivered a pretty powerful hit on a kid and I almost got in trouble by his parents. That was sixth grade. In Indiana we have a drill called hamburger drill. Two kids lay on their backs with their head together and the football by their heads. One kid has the football in their hands and then you get up and have to go after the kid with the football. He got it so I turned over and scooped him and kind of bodyslammed him. The next day I got pulled into my coaches office and they said that kid felt threatened by me. But I said it was just football.
Which football player did you idolize or want to be like when you were a kid?: I idolize right now, Richie Incognito because of how nasty he is. I got to watch Hard Knocks with him and ever since I saw him in practice and how he was beating everyone I just thought I want to do that.
If you could take on any pro player in their sport who would it be?: I never really played baseball that much, so I would like to get in there and swing the bat against someone. I just don’t know a lot of pitchers’ names, but I would like to do that.
Why do you wear your number?: I did wear No. 75 because that was cousin’s number and he passed away. I was just given my number, 63, my sophomore year and I told my coach that I’ll represent it no matter what the number is. It’s 66 right now, because one of my good friends moved here to play at Chaparral and he said how about you be No. 66 and I’ll be 6 and we’ll bring them hell. So when we run out of the tunnel together it says ‘666.’
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?: I’m a pretty good artist. I like to draw in my spare time. I’ve been drawing since I was little and have always had the art itch. Every time I get a little upset I like to draw. Last year I got put into a drafting class, advanced art. I love drawing, just scratching stuff together and whatever I see with my eyes. When I was in Indiana I did graffiti in my garage. I designed my tattoo on my arm for my cousin, it’s a W for Walker and the year he was born.
