As a life lesson, appreciating every moment is something many people can relate to and can strive to achieve. It was never more true to Kirkland native Bryan Walters last fall when his college football career ended in November after Cornell University lost to the University of Pennsylvania.
“It crept up on me really fast,” he said. “All of a sudden I’m done with football, and especially now that I see the team out there for spring practice it’s weird. It was such a big part of my life, everyday and now I don’t have that extra time commitment.”
But Walters, who graduated from Juanita High School, where he played football, basketball and baseball, wasn’t actually done with football just yet. He signed a two-year rookie free agent deal with the San Diego Chargers last weekend during the NFL draft.
Walter spent all four years playing wide receiver for Big Red. He is considered one of the most productive offensive players in the Ivy League, earning multiple honors and breaking records. Walters was given an All-Ivy League honorable mention in 2008, was named the Ivy League special teams player of the week in November, 2006 and in October, 2007. He earned the Ivy League Rookie of the Week award during his freshman season as well. He had 2,032 receiving yards during his career, with 643 yards his senior season and was responsible for scoring six touchdowns over the past four years.
But for Walters, the records and honors didn’t mean as much as winning would have. Cornell finished it’s 2009 season with a 2-8 record.
“The records and honors are great, but it would have meant more if we’d be winning,” he said. “It’s a honor to be listed with guys like Ed Marinaro, but I think the records would have meant more with more wins.”
One thing Walters said he has learned from football is that like anything else in life, what you put in is what you get out.
“The more you put into it the more you’re going to get out. You can’t take days off, and you can’t slack off. I’ve seen too many people who come and think they can walk through, but you can’t. You are given an opportunity like this once in a life time,” he said.
A standout moment in his Cornell career for Walters dates back to his freshman season, when he was playing as a kick returner.
“We were playing Penn, our arch rival, and we were losing in the fourth quarter, they had just scored and I returned the kick back for a touch down and we ended up winning. It closed out our season and it’s kind of always stuck out to me,” he said.
Walters, who will graduate at the end of May with a degree in economics, said his time at Juanita helped prepare him not only academically for Cornell, but also physically.
“It’s when I first started lifting consistently and so when I got to Cornell I knew what to expect. Also, playing three sports (at Juanita) helped me learn to balance my time. Playing football is like playing three sports. You have to expect at least five hours a day.”
Those hours watching film and studying other teams paid off for Walters, providing the foundation for what he hopes will become his future. But he said, even he didn’t get an offer to play in the NFL, he said he hoped to have a career working as apart of some sports organization.
“Bryan is a tremendous young man with a bright future in whatever he does,” said Travis Burkett, an assistant coach at Cornell. “Football-wise the most impressive things about him are his willingness to prepare and do the things necessary to be successful (off the field ability) and his ball skills (on the field ability). He is a very conscientious player and has great game day focus. In terms of his future in football, I definitely think that Bryan has a chance to play professionally. With the NFL, I think a team would be wise to use a pick on him, and if that doesn’t happen I have no doubt that he will get picked up as a free agent.”
No matter how things go, whether he ends up playing for years in the NFL or putting his econ degree to use, Walters said appreciating the moment is important.
“You have to live in the moment because time flies. High school and college football have been the best times of my life and it’s just flown by,” said the player.
