Welcome back to the Hall of Fame Series here on 18Stripes. If you want to read the prior posts to get a better understand you can go here. Today, we go to the backbone of the 2002 “Return to Glory” season, the defense. This player would become one of the leaders of the defense and the Irish’s first Unanimous All-American since 1993, Shane Walton.
Background
Shane Walton took a less than conventional path to All-American success, well at least on the football field. Walton entered in the fall of 1998 on a soccer scholarship and ended up leading the team in goals and points (10 and 27 respectively). Walton showed his flair for the dramatic with four of his ten goals being game-winning goals and another tying another game. He was one of three freshmen to make either first or second-team All-Big East Conference and also made the All-Freshman Team. Coach Mike Berticelli even predicted All-American success for the San Diego forward. Due to the promise given to him by Berticelli, Walton was given an opportunity to work out in the spring for the football team. After impressing Coach Bob Davie during the spring, Walton earned a football scholarship. Hamstring injuries hampered his 1999 season, but Walton overcame and became a starter in the 2000 opener vs Texas A&M and recorded his first interception against 2001 Heisman winner Eric Crouch the following week. Walton continued to be a solid starter over the course of the 2000 and 2001 seasons before blossoming in his senior year.
The All-American Season: 2002
With new coach Ty Willingham, Walton never got to be called a full-time captain until after the season, but along with junior Gerome Sapp, Walton anchored the secondary and the defense. Walton started the 2002 season with three interceptions against Maryland. From there, Walton continued to be integral to a shutdown defense that only allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete more than 50% of their passes twice, and one of those was eventual Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer. His seven total interceptions were sixth in the nation and his two pick-sixes were tied for second in the nation. He also had moments essentially sealing the Michigan game with his pass defense on the two-point conversion and almost closing the Michigan State game with his coverage on Charles Rogers on fourth down (I mean look at this and tell me how Rogers got his foot inbounds). Walton, along with Kansas State’s Terrance Newman, swept the major All-American honors and were two of the finalists for the Nagurski Award for Best Defensive Player, which was won by Terrell Suggs. Walton also picked up team MVP for the 2002 season.
Final Stat Line: 68 Tkls, 5 TFL, 7 PD, 7 INTs, 2 TDs, 1 FF, 1 FR
Post College
Walton was selected in the fifth round by the St. Louis Rams and couldn’t translate his skills to the professional level. He suffered a herniated disc and was put on the Injured Reserve in October 2003 before being cut after the season. He bounced around teams for a couple of years before falling out of professional football. He has gone back to his high school alma mater The Bishop’s School in La Jolla where he was the boys’ soccer coach, assistant football coach, and now assistant Athletic Director. He also started the Shane Walton Foundation in 2009 to help underserved youth in the San Diego area for potential private schooling through tutoring.
Why He Should Be In
Walton is the first unanimous All-American since 1993 and the first on the defensive side of the ball since 1990. He was a finalist for the top defensive player and was the representative of a defense that brought swagger and legitimacy back to Notre Dame (albeit briefly but we didn’t know that in 2002). He was the cornerstone of the defense that allowed 5.86 Y/Att and was a top twenty defense nationally across multiple categories.
Why He Shouldn’t Be In
Much like Faine’s issues from last week, Walton really lacks any hardware. While he was a finalist for the Nagurski, Walton failed to be a finalist for the Thorpe Award, given to the Top Defensive Back (Newman won the award against safeties Mike Doss of Ohio State and Troy Polamalu of USC). The 2002 Notre Dame team gets lost in the shuffle I think among Notre Dame fans, let alone college football fans at large, due to their poor finish at USC and against NC State in the Gator Bowl.
Ultimate Ruling: Seems Unlikely
Shane Walton is such a fascinating case because his career was solid as a corner for the Irish, peaking in this Unanimous Selection for a position where he seemed to be seen as the second-best player at Cornerback. I think his lack of individual hardware or real national impact moment really hurts his potential candidacy. What also hurts Walton is that I’m unsure if Notre Dame has submitted him into consideration despite his seemingly strong case. I’m not sure if it would make a difference but that is the first step of the process.
What do you think of Walton’s career at Notre Dame? His post-Notre Dame career? Sound off below. Next time I’m going to take a look at a fan favorite from the mid-00s who also played two sports at Notre Dame. That’s right next week is Shark Week as I take a look at the Hall of Fame case for Jeff Samardzija.
Shane Walton and Jeff Faine have been 2 of my favorite players, ever. That said, it’s a shame that because they didn’t play on good teams, they are less likely to get the accolades they deserved. I can see why you didn’t think they’d be deserving, but they were the cornerstones that made bad teams look above-average. I feel that’s more important ultimately than being the best stud on a team of 4 and 5 star guys.
I get it, but it’s a shame.
Idood, I am so with you on this. I already spoke about Jeff, but. for Shane — what a genuine impact player he was that year. Those first 8 games, such fool’s gold, we all bought in. Then the ugly crash. I flew in for from Paris for the BC disaster. Figured it would be revenge for ’93 BC (which I had also flown in for). Oh oh oh.
PJ, loads of thanks for writing this, but darn you for bringing me back to that terrible moment when all the wheels just came… off. But Shane played great, so to Idood’s point — and yours, PJ:
the Hall of Fame, needs the whole package.