Sports stats



Lightning Assigned Johnson, ex-Hurricane Walker

March 9, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Stockton Lightning News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Lightning of the arenafootball2 league have been assigned LB Carl Walker and DB Ty Johnson by the af2 League Office, Lightning head coach Doug Murray announced today.

"Ty comes into this season as a probable starter while containing good leadership and community outreach skills and is well-established within this region," said Murray. "Carl may be the best athlete we've signed to date, and carries a pedigree that arenafootball2 teams rarely find."

Walker, 25, is slated to begin his first af2 season in Stockton after compiling a four-year college football career at national power Miami (NCAA), where he was a part of the 2001 National Championship squad that overpowered Nebraska in the 2002 Rose Bowl Game. Despite a battle with injuries throughout his four-year tenure, Walker managed to work his way into 30 games with the Hurricanes, garnering 16 tackles as a linebacker along with two forced fumbles.

His career-best numbers came as a 2000 freshman while playing for head coach Larry Coker, where he appeared in nine games while recording six tackles and two forced fumbles, helping guide the Hurricanes to a Nokia Sugar Bowl title.

A decorated athlete from Jackson (Fla.) High School, the 6-foot-3 208-pound native of Jacksonville, Florida was garnered a second-team USA Today All-American honors, and was a Parade All-American and SuperPrep All-American. Walker was listed as the seventh-ranked defense back in PrepStar's 1999 Top-100 Dream Team. In his senior year, Walker recorded a whopping 123 tackles, blocked seven punts and forced four fumbles. As a special teams performer, Walker blocked 12 kicks in his high school career.

Walker is reunited with Lightning quarterback Derrick Crudup, who was a teammate of his at Miami from 2001-03.

Johnson, 26, returns to af2 competition after a one-year absence. Last season, he played in the local Golden Coast Football League. Johnson spent time with the Central Valley Coyotes in 2005 on head coach Fred Biletnikoff Jr.'s practice squad roster while battling injuries. As a 2004 af2 rookie with the Laredo Law, the 6-foot, 210-pound two-way receiver and defensive back appeared in seven games, tallying 12 catches for 182 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

The Vallejo native ranked eighth on Laredo with 15 tackles and had one interception on the defensive side.

"Coach Murray's integrity and expertise brought me to the team," said Johnson. "He speaks highly of his faith and professionalism, and that he wants to make his team a family. The thought of joining that type of team made it one of the most intriguing aspects, especially representing the number one fan-base in arenafootball2."

Stockton opens training camp today and begins the 2007 af2 season on Saturday, March 31 with a road matchup against the defending ArenaCup Champion Spokane Shock, beginning at 5:00 p.m. PT. The Lightning finished their inaugural 2006 arenafootball2 in fourth place in the National Conference's West Division and recently hired Doug Murray as the second Head Coach in team history.

In their first season, the Lightning ranked third in af2 attendance with an average of 7,445 fans per home game. Season tickets for the 2007 Lightning regular season are on sale now. For more information on season tickets, merchandise, or other information, please call the Lightning at (209) 373-1500 or visit www.stocktonlightning.com.

• Discuss this story on the arenafootball2 message board...

arenafootball2 Stories from March 9, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central