THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9409240381
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
James Walton is a linebacker's linebacker.
Here is a guy, after all, whose nicknames are ``Bull'' and ``Mr. Intense''; whose favorite pastimes are playing football, watching football, and talking football; and who lives to ``fly to the football,'' ``talk crazy'' and display his ``bad attitude.''
``I love it,'' Walton says. ``I like to be right up in the action.''
He usually is. Walton, a 6-foot-2, 255-pound senior, has been Norfolk State's most consistent defensive player from virtually the moment he set foot on campus 13 months ago.
Last season, Walton led the Spartans in tackles with 100, and was voted All-CIAA. It was an impressive feat, considering Norfolk State's defense gave up the most points in school history.
This season, the defense is improved, and Walton's load is a bit lighter. But he's again among the leaders in tackles. Through three games he has 27, one behind leader Ronald Hawkins.
If there's a category in which Walton is the undisputed leader, it's intensity. The night before a game, he doesn't sleep. In practice, he's sometimes told to slow down a little. On the field, he's the first one to hug a teammate who makes a big tackle, the first one to chew somebody who misses one.
``Mr. Intense? I see that as a fitting name for him,'' says Norfolk State defensive coordinator Dennis Winston. ``He's very intense, and really physical. The type of guy you can count on.''
Walton picked up the ``Mr. Intense'' label from his Norfolk State teammates. His other main handle, ``Bull'' was given to him by a coach at the University of North Texas, where Walton played two years before coming to Norfolk State.
``He said all I wanted to do was bull rush, bull rush, and run people over,'' Walton says.
He still does.
``He's got very good pass-rushing technique,'' Winston said. ``No one in our practice can block him.''
Norfolk State coach Darnell Moore says that if Walton can learn to channel his aggression a little more effectively, he'll be even better.
``He hasn't played to his potential yet,'' Moore said. ``He's given us the effort. Once he's able to play under control, he's going to have terrific games for us every week.
``It's not that's he's played poorly,'' Moore added. ``It's just that I expect so much from him.''
Walton comes by his intensity naturally. He grew up in football-crazed Texas, worshiping the Cowboys. It was nothing for his high school team, Dunbar of Fort Worth, to play in front of 25,000 fans.
``Twenty-five thousand on Friday night,'' Walton said. ``That's why I tell the guys here, man you have to get up for football, man. Because sometimes they take it nonchalant. Then I talk to them and get them fired up.
``When you got 11 guys firing to the ball, all of them fired up and with a bad attitude, that's what I like.''
Walton was heavily recruited out of high school, but the bigger schools - Houston, Texas A&M, Kansas State and LSU - backed off when he was late qualifying academically. North Texas, a Division I-AA school, told him they'd take whether he qualified or not. He did, and played some as a true freshman.
By his sophomore season, Walton was a key part of the defensive line. He made 32 tackles, and his future looked bright.
But Walton ran into academic troubles, and sat out his junior year. His grades didn't pick up and he sat out the next year as well. By then, there was a new coach, and Walton decided to transfer.
His defensive coordinator, Artis McCants, was a good friend of Roderick Foppe, who was then the offensive coordinator at Norfolk State. McCants called Foppe, one thing led to another, and Walton came to Norfolk State.
Walton was an instant starter for the Spartans, and has missed precious few downs in 14 games. He has spent most of them at linebacker, his first love, but played some defensive end against Virginia State.
``He could play either,'' Moore said. ``It's a question of playing him where we need him.''
Make no mistake, they need him.
``He could be a force in this league, the way we're using him,'' Winston said.
Walton, a social work major, is hoping to be a force in another league: the NFL. He's got several friends in the league, including former high school rivals Jesse Armstead (New York Giants) and Marcus Buckley (New York Giants), both linebackers from the Dallas area. ``I was better than them all through high school, so I figure maybe I can get a shot,'' Walton says.
Winston, who played linebacker in the NFL for 11 years, says he thinks Walton has a shot, if he can improve his speed. Walton says he's already spoken to track coach Steve Riddick about postseason workouts.
Walton would be the first Spartan to play in the NFL since A.J. Jimerson, who played linebacker for the Los Angeles Raiders in 1990.
Walton figures that with the NFL adding two teams next year, his chances should improve.
With Walton on hand for seven more games, the NSU defense should, too. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by Lawrence Jackson
James Walton
Photo
Norfolk State linebacker James Walton: ``When you got 11 guys firing
to the ball. ... that's what I like.''
by CNB