Passing On Money Was A “No-Brainer” For David Walker
May 30th, 2026
New Bucs rookie edge rusher Rueben Bain made several hundreds of thousands of dollars playing college football last season.
His teammate, David Walker, the Bucs’ 2025 fourth-round draft pick? That wasn’t his college experience.
Walker played five college seasons, two at Southern Arkansas and three at Central Arkansas, small-school programs lacking the cash to entice stud players.
Walker passed on the opportunity to cash in at bigger schools, as well as better position himself for the 2025 NFL Draft.
During a sitdown for Buccaneers.com, Walker explained that he stayed at Central Arkansas for two distinct reasons. And after hearing them, Joe can say there are few guys like Walker walking around the college football landscape.
“I was hard,” Walker said. “I talked to my family about it. The decision was my little brother was coming to [University of Central Arkansas] to play football, and I was like, ‘Man, this will probably be the only chance that I get an opportunity to play with him.’ So I was like, ‘I can leave and go make some money, or I can just stay.’
“And another thing that made me stay was I was 10 sacks and 10 tackles for loss from the all-time record at [Central Arkansas]. So I was like, ‘Man, I could go somewhere and get 8 sacks and maybe get drafted higher, but I can stay here [at Central Arkansas] and be forever cemented. So it was just about that to me.”
What a class move by Walker, who called his college decision a “no-brainer.”
A common attendance at a Central Arkansas football game is 8,000 people. It’s not a place to get noticed, but Walker made sure he did get noticed while staying loyal to his football and real-world families.
Walker is an easy guy to root for, an underdog, and an underdog coming off major knee surgery before ever completing an NFL practice in pads.
May 30th, 2026 at 9:46 pm
Refreshing!
May 30th, 2026 at 9:51 pm
Perhaps he knew he’d be exposed at a bigger school.
Those stats are just padded to make players look better.
It worked though. Licht was fooled.
That’s how you win Superbowls……..
May 30th, 2026 at 9:56 pm
What are you going to say when walker proves you wrong lynchmob?
May 30th, 2026 at 10:07 pm
Wake me up when he plays a game moron.
May 30th, 2026 at 10:15 pm
Fate dealt him a cruel twist last summer.
Good for him passing on the cash he might have made at a bigger school so he could be teammates with his brother. I hope he makes up the difference during his NFL career.
Watch his college tape. He hits like a freight train. If he can bring that kind of play to the NFL level, there’ll definitely be a place on our roster for him.
May 30th, 2026 at 10:30 pm
Heylynch you are bitch. Love to run into you sometime
May 30th, 2026 at 10:41 pm
How many sacks and TFL had Walker in his last college season?
May 30th, 2026 at 11:05 pm
10.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss his senior season. He broke those school records.
May 30th, 2026 at 11:37 pm
He dominated at the senior bowl practices and the game. Go watch it on YouTube the one on ones where he is winning against SEC tackles. They rotate players so much in the game the players only get 20 or so snaps. He should have been credited with 2 sacks but they only gave him 1 1/2 sacks.
Jason will look like a genius drafting him and Lynchmob will go silent never admitting he was wrong. His type never do.
May 30th, 2026 at 11:59 pm
#99 has a bee in his bonnet.
Internet tough guys are all the same.
In real life they are complete losers.
No wonder they love Bowles so much.
May 31st, 2026 at 12:42 am
LynchMob50 Says:
May 30th, 2026 at 10:07 pm
Wake me up when he plays a game moron.
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Hey Joe — You give this guy a platform to broadcast his negativity and this is how he expresses his thanks!