Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 32 -- Wesley Walker, Ultimate Deep Threat

We are counting down Cal’s top 50 athletes based on their careers as post-collegiate professionals. Their performance as Golden Bears is not factored into the rankings.

32. WESLEY WALKER

Years at Cal: 1973 to 1976

Sport: Football

Pro team: New York Jets

Age: 70

Hometown: San Bernardino, Calif.

Why we ranked him here: Chosen in the second round of the 1977 NFL draft by the New York Jets, Walker played 13 seasons — all with the Jets — and became one of the game’s great deep threats. Only three receivers whose careers began in the 1970s or later have higher career yards-per-catch averages than Walker’s mark of 19.0. He topped 20 yards per receptions in eight different seasons, including 1978 when the 6-foot, 179-pounder hauled in 48 passes for 1,169 yards — an impressive 24.4 yards each time he caught a pass. All of those numbers led the NFL, which explains how Walker landed first-team All-Pro honors. In ’86, Walker turned 12 of his 49 receptions — nearly a fourth of them — into touchdowns. He had finished second in the AP Rookie of the Year voting in 1977 and twice was a Pro Bowl selection. He had 22 games of at least 100 receiving yards, topped by six catches for 194 yards (32.3) and four touchdowns in a 51-45 overtime victory vs. Miami in 1986. Amazingly, Walker achieved all of this despite being legally blind in one eye. He retired after the 1989 season with 438 career catches for 8,308 yards with 71 TD catches. His receiving yards and TD catches rank second in Jets history and his yards-per-catch figure is an all-time franchise best, and ranks 12th on the career NFL chart. He also boasts a 96-yard TD catch against the Miami Dolphins in 1985, which remains the longest pass play in club history. In 2012, Walker was inducted into the Jets’ Ring of Honor.