GREEN BAY -- I am worried about Javon Walker. And I'm not the only one.
I know Donald Driver, the Packers' two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver and Walkers' former teammate, is worried about him. I know Dallas Cowboys receivers coach Ray Sherman, who held the same position with the Packers in 2002 when Walker was the team's first-round draft pick, is worried about him. And I know Mike Sherman, who as the Packers' coach/GM at the time traded up to draft Walker, is worried about him.
I just hope the people who are closest to Walker -- closer than any of us -- are worried enough about him to get him some much-needed help.
Perhaps you're unfamiliar with what's happened to Walker since the affable, effusive, likeable ex-Packers first-round draft pick went to the Pro Bowl in 2004, when he had 89 catches for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns.
On the field, he suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee in the 2005 regular-season opener at Detroit -- after spending the off-season complaining about his contract and threatening to hold out -- and missed the rest of the year. The Packers dealt him to Denver for a second-round pick (essentially replacing him with second-round pick Greg Jennings) and Walker spent two up-and-down seasons with the Broncos before being released and signing a surprising six-year, $55 million contract with the Oakland Raiders this spring, a deal that included $16 million in guaranteed money.
However, it's off the field where Walker, sadly, has gained the most notoriety. The June 16 incident in which he was found beaten and unconscious on a Las Vegas street corner, the victim of a robbery, was simply the latest.
Walker reportedly suffered a fractured orbital bone (eye socket) and concussion in the incident, which occurred after a weekend of partying, including spraying the crowd at Tryst nightclub inside the Wynn hotel with a few of the 15 bottles of Dom Perignon he bought at a $15,000 price tag two nights earlier.
This, in the aftermath of the New Year's Day 2007 shooting death of Broncos teammate Darrent Williams, who died in Walker's arms after the limousine in which they were riding was sprayed with bullets in a drive-by shooting.
While his teammates attended Williams' funeral in Fort Worth, Texas, Walker went to Las Vegas. Later, Walker said the shooting occurred after Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall and his cousin sprayed partygoers with champagne, which infuriated the alleged shooters, leading to Williams' death.
ESPN.com's Bill Williamson, who used to cover both the Packers and the Broncos, points out in a column this week that Walker could've avoided the Las Vegas mess had he not opted to again pass on a Williams-related event. The inaugural Darrent Williams Foundation fundraising gala and parade were the same weekend, and although Williams' mother had asked Walker to be there, Walker had said he was busy.
The story also took a bizarre twist before the arrest of one of Walker's alleged abductors, Arfat Fadel, as Walker claimed he was beaten when he answered his hotel room door and was dragged out of the hotel.
Bellagio surveillance video contradicted that claim, and Las Vegas Police Lt. Clinton Nichols said earlier this week Walker had spent several hours club-hopping late June 15 and early June 16 before "willingly" getting into Fadel's black Range Rover with Fadel and the other alleged assailant.
"The suspects knew who Mr. Walker was. He did not know who they were," Nichols said Tuesday, and added that Walker "probably had a little too much to drink."
Before the Packers played the Broncos in Denver last season, the State Journal sent me there early to do a story on Walker. Out following his third knee surgery, Walker wasn't at the Broncos' facility that week, but I did randomly run into him at a bar following Game 4 of the World Series the Saturday before the teams met in a Monday night game.
He seemed genuinely happy to see a familiar face from his "old days" in Green Bay, and we talked for about 15 minutes. (Unfortunately, the last edition of the State Journal, with my story sans quotes from him, had already gone to press, or I would've taken advantage of the opportunity to call in a few quotes to improve the story.)
While he acted like the same jovial kid I remember him being in 2003 and '04, he was also seemingly partying harder than he ever did in Green Bay, where the nightlife is considerably tamer. I'd met him out on several occasions during his time with the Packers, and he never behaved the way he did that night in Denver.
When I mentioned the story on my Wisconsin State Journal Packers blog, the reaction was mixed. Some wondered why they should care. Some, being Packers fans that still hold a grudge for the way Walker forced his way out of town, were considerably harsher in their reactions.
From where I sit, Javon Walker seems like a good person who's lost his way after a traumatic life-changing event. Here's hoping he gets the help he needs.
Jason Wilde, a Milwaukee native who graduated from Greendale Martin Luther High School and the University of Wisconsin, is a two-time Associated Press Sports Editors award winner and a Wisconsin Newspaper Association award winner.
His daily coverage can be found on the State Journal's Web site and through his Packers blog on madison.com.
