“If you want to be great, you have to be the whole, total package. I just try to work hard and it’s translating now. And I don’t see it stopping.”
– Javon Walker in the Wisconsin State Journal on Oct. 30, 2004
Oh, it stopped all right.
It got personal and it got messy for Javon Walker in Green Bay with his team and with Packers fans.
When he said the above, Walker was in the midst of a Pro Bowl, 89-catch, 12-receiving touchdown season. Once it was over, he told the Packers he wanted to redo his 2002, five-
year, $7.485 million rookie deal. The Packers said no. Quarterback Brett Favre said Walker should come to camp in 2005, realize he had one good year, do it again and honor his contract.
Walker was hot. But he returned.
And cracked his right knee in Green Bay’s season-opening game at Detroit.
Out the remaining 15 games, Walker had time to stew. And this year, this time around, he made it clear: He never wanted to wear the Packers uniform again. He demanded a trade.
On draft day, he was accommodated. Off to the Broncos for a second-round pick.
So, what do we have in Javon Walker?
A malcontent? A one-year wonder? A player who may never be the same after his ACL surgery on Oct. 7? A diva?
Or, a wide receiver simply divine?
First things first.
I have always appreciated the verve of Favre. I met him when he was a rookie in Atlanta in 1991 and have enjoyed working with him since. But Favre was out of line and out of his mind to get in the middle of Walker’s contract dispute with the Packers. It was ill-advised and insensitive.
If Walker had not been injured at the start of last season, he might still be a Packer. Had he produced another strong year he would have received that contract extension. A gigantic one. And all would likely have been forgiven and forgotten on all sides.
The Broncos are the beneficiaries. Sure, high second-round picks are valuable, but there was no receiver in the draft as good as Walker. It is a good bet that he will return to old form. This is an upscale player whose production has been upscale. View his numbers in each of his first three seasons in catches, yards and touchdowns and they go up, up, up. Last season was a throwaway with the injury. Broncos doctors believe he will regain full strength.
If so, the Broncos have a pass catcher who turns 28 in October, a fifth-year player who flirted with baseball as a Florida Marlins minor-league outfielder, a go-route, post-route runner who acrobatically gets the football and a receiver who can take a hit and keep moving upfield. One with sure hands. One who fiercely blocks.
There are reasons that this substantial receiver, who is 6-feet-3, 215 pounds, was coveted by New Orleans, Philadelphia, New England, Miami and Kansas City. Those are just a few of the teams that were wowed by Walker.
Give the Broncos credit for piling picks, possessing collateral to make the trade work and toppling the competition for Walker.
Give them credit for making the deal even without a firm contract in place. No dumb move here like Houston’s, when it bailed on Reggie Bush in part because it could not sign him before the draft. Walker is expected to sign a six-year deal that could give him at least $10 million in signing bonuses.
“We are very, very close to having a deal and have been working on this contract extension prior to the draft,” Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist said. “We had been working on this trade since the scouting combine back in February. The trade was actually done two minutes before it was time to make that second-round pick. Javon Walker is going to be a big part of what we do. He will help our team as a whole and make individuals better. He will free up a lot in our offense. He is a big, explosive, exciting playmaker.”
He is a version of T.O., the star receiver that Denver did not sign.
He is the top-flight version of Ashley Lelie the Broncos patiently sought as their consistent, big-play receiver.
Any doubts about the character of Walker should be nixed when considering what Packers president and CEO Bob Harlan told me via telephone Wednesday: “Javon had a marvelous season before he got hurt. He always has a big smile on his face and is very polite. I enjoyed him. I’m sorry it came to this conclusion. We wish him well. Both sides needed to move on, and that’s what happened. He is a great threat, great competitor. He was a favorite of our fans and our organization. He will be an asset to that organization and the fans will love what he does. He had great appreciation from our fans. The same will be true for Denver.”
That is a heck of an endorsement from a franchise that just chucked a player.
How will Lelie handle this? How will it end with Lelie? Who knows? Few care.
The Broncos made the correct move.
Just ask a general manager in the Broncos’ division, which I did.
His answer: “Absolutely, we noticed that move. When that trade was made, it became an immediate concern. We went, ‘Uh-oh.”‘
Staff writer Thomas George can be reached at 303-820-1994 or tgeorge@denverpost.com.
