From the gridiron to center stage, how Georgia’s Jalon Walker was destined for greatness at an early age
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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
ATHENS, Ga. — When Jalon Walker was a boy, he told his mother he was going to become famous and arrive in Hollywood in a limousine.
As a potential first-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft, there’s a good chance the Georgia linebacker might soon become a household name.
And if professional football doesn’t work out for some reason, the aspiring sports commentator and voice-over actor might still work in Hollywood one day.
You might have already heard Walker’s deep and resonant voice in one of the SEC’s “It Just Means More” TV commercials.
That’s not the only way Walker is using his commanding pipes. He’s one of the leaders of a unit that is starting to play like dominant Georgia defenses of the recent past going into Saturday’s game against Florida at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville (3:30 p.m. ET/ABC/ESPN+).
“I don’t take that lightly,” Walker said. “I feel that our standard at the University of Georgia is incredibly long and historic, and I want to keep that torch and flame going. I want to set an example for the younger guys to see what it takes and what you need to do to be a leader.”
In the Bulldogs’ 30-15 victory at Texas on Oct. 19, Walker had seven tackles, three sacks and a fumble recovery — all in the first half. Going against offensive tackles Kelvin Banks Jr. and Cameron Williams, who are considered potential high NFL draft picks, Walker was the first player in at least the past 20 seasons to have three sacks and seven tackles against a No. 1-ranked team in the AP poll.
After Georgia’s defense surrendered 39 points in a 41-34 loss at Alabama on Sept. 28 and 21 in the second half of a 41-31 victory against Mississippi State two weeks later, coach Kirby Smart called on Walker and others to take ownership of the unit.
The Bulldogs responded with seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss and shut out the Longhorns in the first half.
“He gets everybody pumped up,” Bulldogs cornerback Daylen Everette said of Walker. “He’s doing his job, and then even off the field, his leadership, he motivates people to be good. He’s a great leader, great guy.”
Walker has been around football his entire life. His father, Curtis Walker, was a Division II All-American linebacker at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. He still holds the school’s single-game record with 25 tackles against Wofford in 1991 and was a team captain and MVP.
In 1995, Curtis joined Catawba’s coaching staff as linebackers coach and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2001.
Two years later, Curtis was hired as Coastal Carolina‘s first defensive coordinator under coach David Bennett. He spent 10 seasons with the Chanticleers.
After one season as Western Carolina’s defensive coordinator, Curtis was hired as Catawba’s head coach in December 2012. He was the first Black head football coach at his alma mater and at any school in the South Atlantic Conference.
Jalon and his brother Deuce, who is 2½ years younger, attended practices of their father’s teams nearly every day when they were old enough.
“I got the opportunity to be around football a lot,” Jalon said. “Being on the sideline, being at his games, being in the locker room, being at his practice. It was a great opportunity for me to learn football in a different way, from a different point of view.”
Jalon didn’t start playing football until the seventh grade. His small Christian-based middle school didn’t have a team, so he played basketball, soccer and track and field growing up. His father was pleased when Jalon joined the Salisbury 49ers, a recreational league team.
“It was a little strange being the head coach in this community, and my son’s not even playing football,” Curtis joked. “We were excited that he finally decided that he wanted to play.”
“I appreciate my dad, because he let me fall in love with football myself,” Jalon said. “He didn’t press me to play football. He just let football come to me.”
At Salisbury High School, Jalon helped the Hornets reach the Class 2A state championship game as a sophomore. The next season, they defeated St. Pauls High School 42-14 to win a state title. Jalon had 12 tackles in the final contest. During an 11-game season, which was played in the spring of 2021 because of COVID-19 restrictions, he had 97 tackles, 19 for loss and eight sacks.
Jalon was ranked the No. 3 outside linebacker in the country and No. 1 prospect in the state in the Class of 2022 by ESPN Recruiting. He committed to Georgia in March 2021, choosing the Bulldogs over Clemson, North Carolina and Ohio State.
“He’s just such a high-character kid with high moral values and a great family,” Smart said. “You think back to all those wins you get in recruiting and how you really don’t know how important they are. I think back to when he called and told us he was coming, what that changed his life towards and what it changed for us.”
Curtis and his wife, LaSheka, who works as a development officer at Catawba College, raised their sons to be well-rounded students and not just athletes. Deuce is a freshman defensive back at Georgia State.
LaSheka encouraged her sons to write their goals on Post-it notes, which littered the inside of their closet and dresser. She recited Habakkuk 2:2 from the Bible: “Write the vision and make it plain.”
During a Sunday sermon at Southern City AME Zion Church in Salisbury, the pastor announced that he was searching for a child to compete in a singing contest. The winner would be awarded a trophy.
“Jalon’s eyes lit up,” LaSheka said. “And so, of course, in true Jalon style, he went and won the trophy. He won it a few years back-to-back. [His musical talent] comes from just being around it and hearing it.”
Back then, Jalon’s voice didn’t sound like the late James Earl Jones’ — his high-pitched tone was more like Cyndi Lauper’s. Before long, Jalon was singing with the church choir and performing with 100 Men in Black, a community male choir in Salisbury.
After Curtis became Catawba’s head coach, Jalon sang the national anthem at the Indians’ home openers. He also performed at Catawba basketball and minor-league baseball games. Curtis remembered a woman crying in the stands during one of Jalon’s performances.
Jalon also took up acting; he was the Tin Man in the “Wizard of Oz” and Scott Kunkle in “Dear Edwina” musicals at school.
“For all those who know Jalon Walker, you know his work ethic,” Curtis said. “You know that guy grinds. When he did the musicals in middle school, he was there every day, as long as it took for him to learn his lines and perfect his songs.
“When he was running for the student government president in high school, he did everything in his power to make sure that he was going to be the one selected. It’s the same work ethic we see now.”
Curtis resigned as Catawba College’s coach in November 2022. He works as an analyst at Livingstone College in Salisbury, which gives him more flexibility to attend his sons’ games.
Jalon’s opportunities at Georgia didn’t come quickly. He played behind veterans like Nolan Smith Jr., Smael Mondon Jr. and Jamon Dumas-Johnson the previous two seasons. Still, he led the Bulldogs with five sacks to go with 20 tackles in 14 games in 2023.
“I feel that there was development that I’ve always needed,” Jalon said. “I feel like that time I took learning and being able to be developed by the coaches here has helped a lot. We have great players here. But when an opportunity was presented to me, I definitely had to capitalize on every opportunity that I got.”
Despite not starting a game at Georgia until this season, Jalon has opened the eyes of NFL scouts. ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. ranks him as the No. 10 prospect eligible for the 2025 NFL draft; Matt Miller has him at 14th.
Jalon’s proclamation to his mother many years ago might just be coming true.
Before the Bulldogs played TCU in the CFP National Championship in Los Angeles in January 2023, Jalon visited with his parents and brother in a hotel lobby. LaSheka reminded Jalon of what he’d told her as a child.
“Well son, you made it,” LaSheka told him. “You may not have made it in the limo, but you made it to Hollywood.”
“Looking back, you hear a child say that and you think they’re just talking and dreaming,” LaSheka said. “It melts my heart. It really makes me happy. I smile from ear to ear because ever since he was a little boy, he always knew that he wanted to do something great.”
HOUSTON — Astros starter Framber Valdez said he apologized to catcher Cesar Salazar after hitting him in the chest with a pitch Tuesday night, but the left-hander insisted it wasn’t intentional.
Valdez appeared to shake off Salazar on a 1-0 pitch with the bases loaded and Trent Grisham of the New York Yankees at the plate in the fifth inning. Salazar then urged Valdez to step off the mound, but he proceeded with the pitch, which Grisham launched to deep left field to give New York a 6-0 lead in an eventual 7-1 win.
On the second pitch to the next batter, Valdez hit Salazar in the chest with a 93 mph pitch, raising questions about whether he was upset about what happened in the Grisham at-bat and if it was intended.
Valdez said it was not.
“What happened with us, we just got crossed up,” Valdez said in Spanish through an interpreter. “I called for that pitch, I threw it and we got crossed up. We went down to the dugout and I excused myself with him and I said sorry to him and I take full responsibility for that.”
Valdez was then asked directly if he did it on purpose.
“No,” he said. “It was not intentional.”
Valdez and Salazar were talking when reporters entered the clubhouse after the game, and Valdez said they had sorted things out.
“We were able to talk through it,” he said. “We spoke after the game … at his locker and everything’s good between us. It’s just stuff that happens in baseball. But yeah, we talked through it and we’re good.”
Salazar also was asked about what happened on the pitch where he was hit.
“The stadium was loud,” he said. “I thought I pressed the button, but I pressed the wrong button. I was expecting another pitch, but it wasn’t it.”
Salazar said Valdez didn’t hit him on purpose.
“No, me and Framber we actually have a really good relationship,” he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Welcome to September! Five months into Major League Baseball’s 2025 season, a number of things seem to be settled — from a few divisions to some award races — but plenty of intrigue remains entering the homestretch.
Which of the current contenders will reach the playoffs? How will the closer division races play out? Which teams will secure first-round byes? And how many games will the Colorado Rockies lose?!
To discuss what the final month of the regular season might bring, we asked 16 ESPN baseball experts some of the game’s biggest questions, covering September and beyond, and to explain their answers. We also asked them to make bold predictions about what will happen over the final stretch.
Let’s get into it.
Which team will finish with the best record in baseball?
Milwaukee Brewers: 14
Detroit Tigers: 1
Los Angeles Dodgers: 1
What makes the Brewers the favorite to secure the majors’ best record? Besides the buffer the Brewers have built as we enter the final month of the regular season, there’s just nothing to suggest a falloff. They are on track to win about 100 games and their run differential supports that pace. The remaining schedule is friendly. And Milwaukee’s production has come from every position and category. It’s just a really complete team. — Bradford Doolittle
How many of the current 12 teams projected for the playoffs will be in the postseason field?
All 12: 15
11: 1
You have the Royals ousting the Mariners from the playoff field. Why do you think that will happen? The Kansas City Royals will make the playoffs. Crazy? Not so. They’ve played great in July and August. Vinnie Pasquantino is mashing home runs, Bobby Witt Jr. is red hot and the players they added at the trade deadline have chipped in to make this a good offense. The Royals also have a pretty easy schedule the rest of the way. But which team can they catch?
It might hinge on a three-game series at home against Seattle in mid-September. The Mariners have a recent history of falling just short of the postseason — including last year, when the Royals clinched a wild-card spot with 86 wins and the Mariners won 85 (the Mariners blew an 8-0 lead against Kansas City in June, which loomed large at the end of the season). Seattle has struggled on the road, so the aforementioned series can catapult the Royals back into the postseason. — David Schoenfield
Who will be the No. 1 seed in the AL: Toronto or Detroit?
Detroit Tigers: 14
Toronto Blue Jays: 2
The Tigers were the overwhelming choice. Why did you take them? For me, this was mostly a schedule play. The top seed, based on the standings, is likely to be the Tigers or the Blue Jays, with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners all within plausible striking distance. Toronto doesn’t have an easy series left. Detroit’s schedule isn’t nearly as rigorous. In a race this close, with teams this close in talent and production, little things like schedule luck often determine the outcome. — Jeff Passan
You were one of two voters to pick the Blue Jays. Why do you think they top Detroit? The Tigers are a wonderful story, but not so much since the All-Star break, as they have played .500 ball, struggled to score runs and their ERA is among the bottom 10 in baseball. The Blue Jays are peaking at the right time, scoring plenty of runs, and Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber make the rotation formidable. Frankly, all three AL East contenders are better than the current Tigers, and it should show in the final standings. — Eric Karabell
Assuming the Brewers get one, who will get the second bye in the NL?
Los Angeles Dodgers: 9
Philadelphia Phillies: 5
San Diego Padres: 2
Despite dealing with star players slumping and a mountain of injuries this season, the Dodgers are still the slight favorites for the No. 2 seed in a stacked NL. Explain why. Because those are the very reasons why the Dodgers firmly believe their best baseball is still ahead of them. Their bullpen will soon be as close to whole as it has been all season. The same can be said about the lineup. The rotation already is, and the four-man group they’ll put together in October will be scary if the starters remain healthy.
That’s a big “if,” considering the pitching ailments that have plagued them the last couple years. But at the end of the day, the Dodgers possess the most depth and talent in the sport. They feel as if they’re on the verge of truly showcasing it. — Alden Gonzalez
The Phillies also received a fair number of votes. What makes them your pick? The Phillies seem to be flying under the radar for a team that has spent most of the season on a 95-win pace. Maybe it’s the Zack Wheeler injury, maybe it’s their struggles against the New York Mets — or maybe it’s just that this is about what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from Philly over the past few seasons.
But there is plenty to like here over the final month and into October as well. Even without Wheeler, the Phillies have the best Game 1 starter of any NL contender in Cristopher Sanchez. Kyle Schwarber has a real shot at Ryan Howard’s franchise home run record (58). They acquired the best reliever to move at the deadline in Jhoan Duran and filled their biggest hole by trading for outfielder Harrison Bader. Oh, and they currently hold that second spot in the NL — with a 1 1/2 game cushion over the Dodgers. — Dan Mullen
Will the Dodgers or Padres win the NL West?
Los Angeles Dodgers: 13
San Diego Padres: 3
The Dodgers were our voters’ overwhelming favorite to win the division. Why — and how — do you think San Diego can overtake L.A.? More than any other team, I think the Dodgers look at their seasons from 30,000 feet, rather than succumbing to the concerns of the moment. They demonstrate this every year with their handling of pitching injuries — they essentially rest veteran starters through long stretches of the season, rather than push them in May and June, in order to do what they can to ensure that the players will be relatively fresh in October. This is why we’ve seen such a deliberate ramp-up with Shohei Ohtani.
That’s why I think the Padres will wind up winning the division. They bolstered their bullpen with Mason Miller at the trade deadline, and since then, it feels like they’ve been playing a series of Game 7s. And, let’s face it, San Diego is all-in in trying to win right now, with its top-heavy roster and the likes of Dylan Cease and Michael King headed for free agency in the fall. The Dodgers, on the other hand, won’t go to the whip in September in the same way. No matter how their own division plays out, they’ll make the playoffs and have a shot to repeat as World Series winners, while it feels as if San Diego is going to go all-out down the stretch to win the NL West.
Different pressures, different styles, different context. — Buster Olney
Who will win the AL West?
Houston Astros: 8
Seattle Mariners: 8
Make the case for the Astros: Picking Houston to win the West isn’t going out on much of a limb: They’re currently in first place, just got slugger Yordan Alvarez back from injury and simply have more pedigree than Seattle. The Mariners have a slightly easier schedule the rest of the way but their road woes are for real — and will likely prevent them from going on an extended run. Picking against the Astros would be the headline-scratching move. They’re the division champ once again. — Jesse Rogers
Make the case for the Mariners: The Mariners aren’t playing their best baseball, but they are healthy and within striking distance of the Astros for the division entering September. Their starting rotation is elite. The bullpen and offense should be better. Meanwhile, the Astros have recently gotten Yordan Alvarez back from injury, but they’re without Josh Hader and Isaac Paredes, among others. The division could come down to the three-game series between the two rivals in late September. — Jorge Castillo
How many games will the Rockies lose?
119: 1
118: 3
117: 1
116: 3
115: 3
114: 3
113: 1
112: 1
We got quite the breadth of answers to this question, but you were one of three to say 118 losses — our second-highest loss total. Why is that your prediction? The Rockies aren’t far removed from being on a modern record-setting pace for losses, and they’ve been especially awful against the current 12 teams in the playoff field: 9-50 (.153). They play 13 of their final 24 against that group, at a time when they’re increasingly leaning on younger and less experienced players. Their September isn’t going to be pretty. — Tristan Cockcroft
Make one bold prediction about the final stretch
Tim Kurkjian: Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh will finish the season with 60 home runs.
Matt Marrone: With most of the playoff field set — other than last-minute jockeying for seeds — all eyes will be on the Mariners over the final days of the season, as Raleigh sets a new AL home run record.
Kiley McDaniel: Between hitting and pitching, Shohei Ohtani catches Raleigh in total WAR.
Passan: Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz will finish in the top five of AL MVP voting.
Karabell: The Phillies call up top pitching prospect Andrew Painter on Sept. 7 and he goes 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA.
Mullen: Nolan McLean will be the NL’s best pitcher not named Paul Skenes over the final month and take the mound in October — as the Mets’ Game 1 playoff starter.
Paul Hembekides: Boston’s Garrett Crochet will overtake Detroit’s Tarik Skubal and win the AL Cy Young Award.
Schoenfield: The Red Sox will catch the Blue Jays and win the AL East.
Gonzalez: Actually, the Yankees will win the AL East.
Cockcroft: Not only do the Yankees overtake Toronto for the division title, but they also grab a first-round bye, even if they can’t quite catch the Tigers for the No. 1 seed.
Olney: The Yankees have such a soft schedule in the final weeks that they wind up with the second-best record in the AL … but because Toronto holds on to win the division, New York is the No. 4 seed and faces Boston in the wild-card round.
Tim Keown: The Padres, with the easiest remaining schedule in baseball, will go 7-0 against the Colorado Rockies in September to win the NL West and take the second first-round bye spot.
Castillo: The Mets will overtake the Phillies and win the NL East.
Doolittle: If we started the playoffs tomorrow, the bracket would look exactly the same as it will after we’ve played out the season.
Voters: Dan Mullen, Liz Finny, Paul Hembekides, Jeff Passan, Eric Karabell, Alden Gonzalez, David Schoenfield, Tim Kurkjian, Kiley McDaniel, Tim Keown, Jorge Castillo, Matt Marrone, Bradford Doolittle, Jesse Rogers, Tristan Cockcroft, Buster Olney
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