{"id":101548,"date":"2022-10-19T09:07:02","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T09:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/walker-retires-after-14-nfl-seasons-with-niners-titans\/"},"modified":"2022-10-19T09:07:02","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T09:07:02","slug":"walker-retires-after-14-nfl-seasons-with-niners-titans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/walker-retires-after-14-nfl-seasons-with-niners-titans\/","title":{"rendered":"Walker retires after 14 NFL seasons with Niners, Titans"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NASHville, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 Delanie Walker knew his broken ankle was bad when he did n’t feel any pain while on the field in Miami.<\/p>\n

Not because of shock. The nerve-endings had been severe.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point, I kind of felt like this is going to be a tough one to come back from,\u201d Walker said Tuesday. “But knowing me, I was that guy, knowing that I wanted to come back early. I wanted to show the team that I worked my butt off to get back on this field. And, you know, it just didn’t happen the way I wanted it to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walker broke his ankle in the 2018 season opener, the first game under his new head coach Mike Vrabel in what wound up as the NFL’s longest game. Walker played seven more games in 2019, and the three-time Pro Bowl tight end finally retired Tuesday from the NFL after 14 seasons \u2014 nearly three years after his final game.<\/p>\n

A new job with the NFL’s Legends Community helped Walker realize that the time to transition had arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s no other job in the world like the NFL,\u201d Walker said. “So it took me a while to realize that I probably wasn’t going to be able to play again. And that moment hit once I got my new job, I just realized that it was time to hang it up and I wanted to do it with the Tennessee Titans.\u201d<\/p>\n

A sixth-round pick out of Central Missouri in 2006 at No. 175 overall, Walker wound up playing 14 years in the NFL with 504 catches for 5,888 yards and 36 touchdowns in 183 games. He spent his first seven seasons with the San Francisco 49ers where he had just eight touchdowns playing behind Vernon Davis.<\/p>\n

When Tennessee called offering the California native an opportunity to be the Titans’ No. 1 tight end, Walker jumped at the opportunity in 2013. Starting that year, he led all NFL tight ends with 356 catches through 2017.<\/p>\n

Walker was a four-time team captain and a Pro Bowl pick in 2015, 2016 and 2017. He was the team’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominee in 2013 and 2015 for his work including with Mothers Against Drunk Driving.<\/p>\n