Quay Walker reveals story on transitioning from basketball to football

Quay Walker heard his name called by the Green Bay Packers in the 2022 NFL Draft after spending his collegiate career at Georgia. However, playing football was not always the dream for Walker, who grew up wanting to play basketball before a conversation changed his life for the better.

Shelton Felton, who is now the head coach of Valdosta High School, was the one who suggested Walker played football instead of basketball. Felton say Walker throw down a dunk and suggested his athleticism and size would be better suited for the gridiron. Initially, Walker had his doubts but switching to the defensive side of the ball changed everything.

Walker told the full story after being drafted.

“That happened when I was 15,” Walker said. “I was in the gym and I ended up dunking a ball and (Coach Felton) was there. This was probably the first or second day after he got hired. He was just walking through. I wasn’t a football player at all but he came up to me and told me ‘you’re 6’3, 6’4, and playing power forward in basketball. That’s the normal height of a Division I point guard.’ He was like ‘6’3, 6’4 is big in football.’

“So, tried football out but my first season, halfway through, I really didn’t like it. You can tell by my body language. He said ‘stick with it’ because I was playing offense at the time. Next school year, my junior year, by the springtime he switched me over to defense. Before you knew it, everything just fell the way it was supposed to out of nowhere. Listening to him was the best thing I could have ever done.”

As we know, football ended up working out for Walker. He was ranked a five-star prospect by the On3 Consensus and was the No. 3 linebacker in the 2018 recruiting class. One successful career and national championship later with Georgia and Walker is now going to play in the NFL.

Walker was selected 22nd overall by Green Bay and will be expected to make an immediate impact in their defensive scheme. Playing in a stacked front seven in Athens, the linebacker finished with 65 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss, and 1.5 sacks last season.

Had it not been for a conversation on a basketball court with Felton, the Packers would not have a franchise linebacker leading the pack over the next few seasons.