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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Walls Scholarship
8/10/2000 | Football
Former Ole Miss All-America tight end Wesley Walls of Pontotoc, Miss., and his wife, Christy, have endowed a football scholarship at the University of Mississippi.
The $100,000 gift is being used to provide a football scholarship to any Ole Miss signee from Pontotoc County.
"Wesley Walls is one of our truly outstanding graduates," said Ole Miss Chancellor Robert C. Khayat. "We are proud of him and truly grateful to Wesley and Christy for this generous gift. The scholarship will enable worthy student-athletes from Pontotoc County to follow Wesley's example."
"We are excited about the endowed scholarship being given by Wesley and Christy," added former Athletics Director John Shafer. "It is a great tribute to this young family to give back to their university. We hope this commitment opens the door for other student-athletes to endow scholarships at Ole Miss. We gratefully thank them for this generous gift."
Walls, a five-time Pro Bowler with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League, is beginning his 12th season in the NFL after leading Carolina in receiving two of the last four years.
"I've received so much from Ole Miss, not only an education and a chance to play college football, but also as a person," Walls said. "I met my wife here and we truly love Ole Miss and her people. This scholarship represents a way to come back and help Pontotoc County. There are a lot of good athletes over there.
"It's also important for guys to come back and give to their university. I hope other Ole Miss pro athletes will look at what we're doing with this scholarship and will follow our efforts to assist in all the good things that are going on here."
At Ole Miss, Walls earned four letters and excelled both on the field and in the classroom. He came to Ole Miss in 1985 as a defensive end, but took on tight end responsibilities his senior campaign when he became one of the nation's few two-way players in 1988.
Following his senior year, Walls was selected first team All-America at tight end by the Associated Press. He was also a first team All-Southeastern Conference pick, was selected Mississippi's Amateur Athlete of the Year, and was chosen as one of three permanent Ole Miss team captains.
Off the field, Walls compiled a 3.41 GPA in General Engineering, earned Academic All-America honors, was a three-time Academic All-SEC pick, was selected Colonel Rebel at Ole Miss, was named to the University of Mississippi Hall of Fame, and received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. He was selected as one of 11 National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholar-Athletes and was chosen to give the response at the awards dinner in New York City.
Following his career at Ole Miss, he was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 1989 NFL draft. He saw limited action his first three years with the 49ers before spending the next two years on injured reserve. In 1994, he signed a free agent contract with the New Orleans Saints and emerged as a budding star. He finished second among New Orleans receivers in 1995 when he established a team record for Saints tight ends with 57 catches for 694 yards and four touchdowns. His two-year totals with the Saints included 95 receptions for 1,100 yards and eight touchdowns.
Since joining Carolina as an unrestricted free agent in 1996, he has become a fan favorite of Panther fans and has established himeslf as the permier tight end in the National Football Conference. In his six seasons with Carolina, Walls has been named to the Pro Bowl five times (1996-99, 2001). While wearing a Panther uniform, Walls has 305 catches for 3,661 yards and 40 touchdowns.
In Walls' first season with Carolina in 1996, he had 61 receptions for 713 yards and 10 touchdowns in helping lead the Panthers to the NFC Championship Game. The 1999 season saw Walls post personal career bests in receptions (63), receiving yards (822) and touchdowns (12). His 12 scores tied for team honors that year.
Walls leads all NFL tight ends in touchdown catches and is third in receptions and receiving yards since 1996. During the 2001 season, Walls became the 17th tight end in NFL history to record 400 career receptions.
"This gift sends a very strong signal to our current and former professional athletes that somebody needed to take the lead," said Executive Director of the Loyalty Foundation George Smith. "Wesley has done this. It is our goal to one day have all athletic scholarships endowed at the University of Mississippi."
