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From Thomaston to being the top pick, Travon Walker keeps on giving back to communities, kids

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By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

 

          The No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft a year before Travon Walker was the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft had a good week.

          Maybe a year from now, Walker will have a similar one.

          Jacksonville quarterback and Walker teammate Trevor Lawrence agreed a few days ago to a five-year $275-million contract with the Jags, tying him with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow as holders of the highest per-year salary in NFL history. 

          No, Walker’s new contract won’t quite approach that level. After all, Lawrence is a quarterback. But Walker has clearly progressed in his first two years, and is playing not far from a good example.

          Josh Allen and Jacksonville came to terms this spring on a five-year, $150 million contract. Allen played at Kentucky, and was picked by the Jaguars seventh overall in the 2019 draft.

          Walker was a freshman at Georgia in 2019. But who was one of the first people to get ahold of Walker in 2022 when he was the top pick?

          “He was one of the first (direct messages) I (saw) from the Jaguars,” said Walker, in Macon at the Town Place Suites on Mercer University Blvd. Friday evening for an autograph session with several current Georgia Bulldogs, including Lamar County’s C.J. Allen. “He’s just been an incredible role model on the field and off the field.

          “If he’s out doing extra work, he wants me right there beside him, so he’s always pulling me along to be great.”

          Allen had 57 tackles, 13 for loss, and 13 sacks in his first two seasons, his second year cut short that November by a knee injury.

          His third year was big: 71 stops, 12 TFLs, and 7.5 sacks.

          Walker through two seasons has started in 31 of 32 games, has 101 tackles, 15 TFLs, and 13.5 sacks.

          The Jags weren’t very good in Allen’s early years, from management issues to the Urban Meyer Experiment that imploded. Jacksonville is 18-16 in Walker’s two seasons.

          He’s ready for the next step.

          “I definitely feel that,” he said. “Everyone’s seen what I could do from first snap of my NFL career. I'm going into year three.

          “Last year, I felt a lot more comfortable in the defensive scheme, and now that I just grow as a professional athlete, I feel like the game is just slowing down tremendously for me.”

          And the Jaguars are moving forward under head coach Doug Pederson.

          “I have a lot of great pieces around me to help, obviously with coaches, players, and all,” Walker said. “So I just feel like it's just time for me personally to take it to the next level, because I want to get one percent better every day.

          “That's what I live by.”

          What Walker lives by is partially why he was in Macon on Friday, with plenty of family and friends and others associated with the Travon Walker Foundation.

          He started it not long after signing with the Jaguars, and began immediately diving in to the “giving back” mantra. In May of 2023, Walker turned over more than $175,000 to Upson-Lee athletics as part of his “BlessUp44” campaign.

          Working off of his jersey number 44, he gave $44,000 checks to the Knights’ football program, basketball program, track and field, and overall athletics program.

          He did it as part of a jersey retirement ceremony.

          Walker smiled Friday when the topic turned to his old basketball playing days at The Castle in Thomaston. He was part of consecutive undefeated and state championship teams, the Knights of Walker and Tye Fagan – who signed to play at Georgia out of high school before transferring to Mississippi – among others winning an epic 75 games in a row.

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          He hosted a basketball tournament this year, and played in an alumni game sponsored by Fagan.

          So the game he loves remains part of what he does thanks to the game that allows him to do many things.

          Some of the Georgia Bulldogs with him Friday – proceeds from the session, in conjunction with the UGA Bookstore - will be in Thomaston on Saturday for Walker’s second annual camp. Upwards of 400 youngsters are expected at Upson-Lee Middle School across the street from Mathews Field, where Walker roamed as a three-year starter.

          There is instruction, of course, but nobody’s coming out of the camp looking for offers or rankings. After all, it wasn’t all that long ago that future No. 1 picks were scampering around fields at similar gatherings.

          “When I was younger, I was just that kid running around, having fun, really maybe not listening to the instructors. “They’re just out there having fun, and that's what it's all about at the end of the day, everyone is coming together to have fun.”