Oct. 12, 2011
By Dan Ryan
B-CUAthletics.com
Randy "Sweetback" Walker, perhaps the greatest running back in the history of Bethune-Cookman football, has passed away at the age of 59.
Walker and roommate Wayne Allen combined to be one of the most prolific running back tandems in all of college football back in the 1970s as they led the Wildcats to a 1973 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship and the program's first victory over Florida A&M since the days of Cy McClairen.
Walker's 1972 total of 1,142 yards still stands as the Wildcats' single-season rushing record. His career total of 2,429 yards stood for a quarter of a century until Pa'Tell Troutman (2,839) and Allen Suber (2,897) surpassed it recently.
In one of the greatest single-game displays of rushing, Walker gained 229 yards and scored five touchdowns in a 75-23 rout of Savannah State in 1973. His single-game high was 235 yards against Morris Brown in a 1972 season he posted six 100-yard games.
He was named All-SIAC twice as well as All American and was even considered a potential Heisman Trophy candidate in the same breath as the legendary Walter Payton, who was playing at Jackson State while Walker was at Bethune-Cookman. In fact, the two were friends, rooming together at an All-American banquet in Dallas and facing each other when the teams played from 1972-1974.
After Bethune-Cookman, Walker signed with the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts, but suffered a leg injury during his rookie season. The St. Louis Cardinals drafted him in the tenth round in 1976, but he never saw regular season action.
His high school career is still fondly remembered in Ft. Pierce, Fla., where he led Ft. Pierce Central to 24 wins in 26 games during his junior and senior seasons in 1970-71, including the 1971 4A state title. Walker was among 20 players would go on to play college football.
Walker is survived by his wife, Patricia and three children.
A viewing will be held Friday, October 21 from 6-8 p.m. at Boyds Funeral Home, 2966 MLK Blvd in Ft. Myers, Fla. The funeral will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 22 at McGregor Baptist Church, 3750 Colonial Blvd in Ft Myers, Fla.
