Patrick Walker

Northern Colorado senior wide receiver Patrick Walker capped off his stellar career with the Bears by being honored on the Sports Network All-American Third Team.

Walker was one of 14 Big Sky Conference student-athletes honored on the three teams, tying the Southern Conference for the most selections. Walker was also one of four on the Third Team. He is the first Northern Colorado football player honored as an All-American since Cristian Sarmento in 2008.

In a Bears uniform, Walker broke the school single season and career records for receptions with 84 and 178, respectively. In both categories he bettered former standout and current San Diego Chargers Vincent Jackson's marks. Walker had at least 100 yards in each of his last five games of 2011, broke both the school and Big Sky Conference single game receiving yards record with 315 yards against North Dakota and ended the regular season ranked seventh in the nation in both receptions per game (7.64) and receiving yards per game (106.45). He was named to the Big Sky All-Conference Second Team and is nominated for National Football Foundation Colorado Chapter honors.

In addition to the career catches record, Walker also finished his stellar career fourth with 2,393 receiving yards, tied for fifth with 17 receiving touchdowns, eighth with 3,069 all-purpose yards and ninth with 623 kickoff return yards.

He also played last week in the FCS Senior Bowl, along with two other Big Sky student-athletes. Walker was a member of the winning North Team.

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