Tennessee Titans: Delanie Walker’s reaction to doubters is legendary

Tennessee Titans tight end, Delanie Walker, has no shortage of doubters for the 2019 season.

It has been a long road back for Tennessee Titans tight end, Delanie Walker, but he’s quickly proving those who doubted he could make it back wrong.

Walker suffered a gruesome ankle injury in Week 1 of the 2018 season against the Miami Dolphins. It was the first time in his career since his rookie campaign that the veteran played in less than 14 games in a season.

Walker made his return to Nissan Stadium on Saturday night in the Titans’ second preseason game, and it didn’t take long for him to get back into the swing of things.

Walker caught two passes from quarterback Marcus Mariota, one of which was a catch over the middle for 15 yards down the field, and the other resulted in an 11-yard touchdown play. Most importantly, the Titans tight end looked like himself.

Don’t think Walker wasn’t paying attention to the doubters who question his ability to still play at a high level at the age of 35, though. He’s well aware of them, especially those who are ranking lesser-known tight ends ahead of him on lists, per Turron Davenport of ESPN.

“They got dudes that ain’t even played a snap in the NFL ranked higher than me,” Walker said. “That’s just ridiculous. I’ve been doing this for 14 years. The disrespect. That’s like someone coming in my face and disrespecting me. I look at that and take it. I feed off of it. It makes me hungry. That’s why I strive to come back 10 times better than I’ve ever been. I am going to show everybody this year.”

Examples of Delanie Walker disrespect

The kind of list Walker is talking about, for example, would be this one from NFL Network’s David Carr. Walker didn’t even make that top 10, yet Carr had tight ends like Darren Waller and David Njoku, both who have proved nothing in this league, ranked ahead of him.

We have chronicled all offseason long the kind of disrespect Walker has received, whether that be on regular or fantasy football articles. For some reason, No. 82 has been forgotten or disrespected by a slew of pundits in both areas, despite him being one of the most consistent and best tight ends in football from 2014 through 2017.

Clearly, one injury isn’t enough to keep down what we would consider a future Hall of Fame tight end. Keeping tabs on the kind of negative attention he’s received isn’t great for all players, but Walker is taking it all in stride and using it to fuel his fire for the 2019 season.

I’d hate to be the first defender to get in his way in Week 1, because this man is motivated — and that’s an understatement.