PU graduate part of victorious Team USA
By: Justin Feil
In mid-July, former Princeton University quarterback Jeff Terrell was watching Brig Walker play football on the NFL Network.
Though Walker was the Tigers’ leading tackler in 2006, he found it a hard-to-believe turn of events.
"He’s doing the actual NFL, and he saw me playing football," Walker said. "It should be the other way around."
While Terrell is opening training camp with the Kansas City Chiefs, Walker, his fellow 2007 Princeton University graduate, completed his football career on a high note when he shared in the United States of America national football team’s 23-20 overtime win to capture the International Federation of American Football World Championship in Kawaski, Japan. It means Walker leaves his college career as a double winner.
"I’m happy to be able to do that," Walker said. "In high school, we didn’t win the state championship so that ended on a loss. Then I played in the state all-star game and lost that game. So I went out twice a loser. To go out twice a winner in college was nice. They were both pretty cool."
Walker thought he had the perfect ending to his college career last fall when he helped Princeton capture its first Ivy League championship since 1995. Last month, however, he had the chance to help Team USA win its first entry into the World Championships. Japan had won the first two World Championships as well as the gold medal at the World Games in 2005. It was Japan’s first loss in world championship play.
"In Japan, I was amazed how much independent interest there was in football," Walker said. "This tournament itself existed without America for eight years. Japan has a corporate league, like a semi-pro league. Some players get paid pretty well. Some are there to have a good time. This was like their all-star team. They’d played together a couple games before the tournament started. They got behind our guys a couple times. We were expecting them to throw all day. They did and did it well.
"It came down to blocking a punt and making a field goal, so it was close. We expected them to be as good as they were."
Coming out with a win was special, but it was only one part of the package that made the trip to Japan such a no-brainer for Walker, who graduated with a degree in molecular biology. Having stayed for 10 days after the championship game to tour with his sister, Mackenzie, Walker found the experience rewarding in a number of ways.
"It’s kind of hard to separate into smaller components," said Walker, who came to Princeton from Vancouver, Wash. "The trip had a lot of fun parts. One was the ability to play football after I thought my career was over. Second, the ability to represent my country at some level, there’s a lot of honor involved with that. The third thing is I got to go to Japan. Being half Japanese-American, it’s a land I’d never seen before, but wanted to see since I was a kid.
"It was kind of perfect timing," he added. "I graduated from college. My sister graduated from high school. She got to come and we got to travel around."
Their mother’s family is originally from Japan, and they were able to locate a special family landmark in Yamaguchi Ken. Walker also had the opportunity to climb Mount Fuji, visit Hiroshima and explore numerous temples and shrines.
Walker kept his Japanese connection while studying at Princeton. His senior thesis looked Japan’s bio warfare program and it’s impact on science and technology after it was cut following World War II. He had also studied Japanese at Princeton. Getting the chance to visit Japan while playing football worked out perfectly, even if it was a long process.
"From the first correspondence they gave to me, it was January or February, then they told us (who made Team USA) in March or April," Walker said. "It was kind of a long wait. I was planning on going to Japan anyway. I was trying to figure out, if I don’t make it, when should I get my ticket because (flight) prices were going higher and higher. Luckily it worked out."
Walker met the rest of the 45-player roster when Team USA met for a two-week mini camp in San Jose, Calif., before departing for Japan. The practices, too, were something that Walker never expected to have again after graduating from Princeton.
"We had two weeks of two-a-days," Walker said. "We all joked around about it. We didn’t expect this. It all goes with the territory. It wasn’t that bad. They put in a lot of schemes. We basically had a team of rookies and had to find some common lingo. A lot of teams use different terms. It was pretty much like football camp. They did a good job of letting us have a good time and get ready. They managed everything well."
The team was coached by Texas head coach John Mackovic. Assistant coaches came from varied backgrounds, as did the players. Coming from Princeton, Walker felt no different from any other player there.
"The scheme was a little different," he said. "I felt fine. In general, to learn the scheme was difficult no matter what, no matter you were from. I think I was right in the mix.
"They had a number of packages that tweaked what outside backer was. I was basically outside backer the whole time in some variation."
Team USA won all three games it played all in a week’s span. Playing Tuesday, Thursday and then Sunday was a difference for the American team.
"Luckily, they recognized that," Walker said. "They made them 12 minute quarters, and it was kind of a running clock. It was a partial running clock. It’s not as bad as it would seem. It was still pretty tiring. You only have 45 guys so you got a decent rotation.
"It was a lot of fun. We played Korea and Germany and then played Japan in the finals. It was a lot of fun getting out there and making the hits, and getting some tackles and pressuring the quarterback. It’s what I’ve been doing."
There was plenty of defensive pressure in the opener as Team USA set seven records in a 77-0 win over Korea. Special teams and defense accounted for 42 of the points. Walker, who kept an on-line journal for the USA Football Website, noted that Korea played hard from start to finish.
"It was a good win. It might have been the difference of exposure to the game," Walker said. "I did mean what I said. Korea ended up winning the inspirational team from the tournament officials. At any point in that game, they could have put their heads down or been (mad) or showed an array of negative emotions. They were happy to be there and working hard. I don’t think they would have been any different if they were winning. That was pretty unique to me. Usually when you get a team down, you can see it. You can see they conceded. They really didn’t."
Team USA won its division when it topped Germany, 33-7, to move into the championship game. There, it faced a determined Japanese opponent, but prevailed in overtime.
It was the perfect way to end a college career for Brig Walker, who will work in health care consulting beginning next month. He can begin his next phase after finishing up with the cultural and athletic combination that was almost too good to be true.
"I expected to go there," he said. "It was one of the opportunities to go there. It was great."

