Mark Walton (born March 29, 1997) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, and he was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL draft. He also played for the Miami Dolphins.
 Walton in 2019 | |||||||||||
| No. 22, 32 | |||||||||||
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| Position: | Running back | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | March 29, 1997 Miami, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Miami (FL) Booker T. Washington | ||||||||||
| College: | Miami (FL) | ||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2018 / round: 4 / pick: 112 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Early life
editWalton attended Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, Florida. During his career, he rushed for 2,769 yards and 45 touchdowns for the Tornadoes.[1] He committed to the University of Miami to play college football.[2][3]
College career
editWalton played in all 13 games as a true freshman at Miami in 2015, rushing for 450 yards on 129 carries with 9 touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2016, he started all 13 games and rushed for 1,117 yards on 209 carries with 14 touchdowns.[4][5][6] In 2017, as a junior, he rushed for 428 yards and three touchdowns on 56 carries in only four games due to ankle surgery which forced him to miss a majority of the season.[7] On December 5, 2017, Walton declared his intentions to enter the 2018 NFL draft.[8]
College statistics
edit| Season | Team | Conf | Class | Pos | GP | Rushing | Receiving | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | ||||||
| 2015 | Miami (FL) | ACC | FR | RB | 13 | 130 | 461 | 3.5 | 9 | 22 | 293 | 13.3 | 1 |
| 2016 | Miami (FL) | ACC | SO | RB | 13 | 209 | 1,117 | 5.3 | 14 | 27 | 240 | 8.9 | 1 |
| 2017 | Miami (FL) | ACC | JR | RB | 5 | 56 | 428 | 7.6 | 3 | 7 | 91 | 13.0 | 0 |
| Career | 31 | 395 | 2,006 | 5.1 | 26 | 56 | 624 | 11.1 | 2 | ||||
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 9+5⁄8 in (1.77 m) |
202 lb (92 kg) |
30 in (0.76 m) |
9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) |
4.60 s | 31.5 in (0.80 m) |
9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) |
18 reps | |||||
| All values from NFL Combine[9] | ||||||||||||
Cincinnati Bengals
editWalton was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round (112th overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft.[10] In the Bengals' Week 4 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, he had his first five professional carries for nine rushing yards to go along with two receptions for 28 receiving yards.[11] Overall, he finished his rookie season with 14 carries for 34 rushing yards to go along with five receptions for 41 receiving yards.[12]
On April 6, 2019, Walton was waived by the Bengals after being arrested for the third time in the offseason.[13]
Miami Dolphins
editAfter a mini-camp tryout, Walton signed with the Miami Dolphins on May 12, 2019.[14] Walton made his first start against the Washington Redskins, rushing six times for 32 yards in a 16–17 Dolphins loss. He rushed for 66 yards on 14 carries the following week against the Buffalo Bills, also catching one reception for −8 yards.[15] On November 4, he was suspended four games by the NFL for violating the league's personal conduct and substance abuse policies for his offseason arrests.[16] The Dolphins waived him on November 19, 2019, after his fourth arrest of the year.[17] His suspension was lifted on December 3, 2019.[18] Walton was suspended an additional eight weeks by the NFL on November 13, 2020,[19] and reinstated on January 4, 2021.[20]
Legal issues
editWalton was arrested three times during the 2019 off-season. He was first arrested and charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession on January 16, 2019, in North Miami-Dade.[21] On February 15, 2019, he was arrested for a second time and charged with misdemeanor battery for an altercation triggered after he grabbed a phone from a neighbor in Miami.[22] The charges underlying his third arrest on April 4, 2019, stemmed from a March 12, 2019, incident in which Walton fled on foot from his rented car after police tried to pull him over. Authorities found a rifle in the car and accused Walton of carrying a concealed firearm, resisting an officer without violence, possession of marijuana, and reckless driving.[23] Walton pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor weapons charge from the March 2019 incident on August 19, 2019, and he received six months of probation and was required to turn in all of his firearms as well as undergo anger management and driving courses.[24] The two marijuana possession charges and the battery charge were also dismissed.[16]
On November 19, 2019, Walton was arrested in Davie, Florida, for allegedly attacking a woman who was five months pregnant with his child. Walton was charged with aggravated battery of a pregnant woman.[25] On January 3, 2020, he was charged with a second count of aggravated battery of a pregnant woman for a different incident with the same woman in March 2019.[26] He was arrested on February 27, 2020, for violating a restraining order.[27] On May 13, 2020, the aggravated battery charge against him from November 2019 was dropped.[28]
On February 1, 2021, Walton was arrested in Miami for allegedly attempting to break a Pizza Hut window.[29]
On March 24, 2022, Walton was arrested in Miami for an alleged armed robbery.[30]
References
edit- ^ Degnan, Susan Miller (January 9, 2015). "Booker T. Washington star running back Mark Walton looking forward to becoming a Hurricane". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ^ Dowlar, Corey (September 30, 2013). "2016 RB Mark Walton commits to Miami". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ^ Chirinos, Christy Cabrera (February 4, 2015). "Booker T. Washington's Walton, King sign with Miami". Sun-Sentinel.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ^ Degnan, Susan Miller (April 6, 2017). "UM's Mark Walton: focused, fierce, excelling amid family struggles". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ^ Porter, Matt (December 22, 2016). "Mark Walton, in every way, the No. 1 back for Miami Hurricanes in 2016". Palm Beach Post. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ^ Chirinos, Christy Cabrera (December 21, 2016). "After year of ups and downs, Mark Walton heads into bowl game as UM's MVP". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ^ Degnan, Susan Miller (April 28, 2018). "Who is Mark Walton, the Miami Hurricanes running back drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals?". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ^ Davis, Craig (December 5, 2017). "Hurricanes star running back Mark Walton declares for the 2018 NFL draft". Sun-Sentinel.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
- ^ "Mark Walton Combine Profile". NFL.com. Archived from the original on March 26, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ^ Teope, Herbie (April 28, 2018). "Cincinnati Bengals draft RB Mark Walton at No. 112". NFL.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
- ^ "Cincinnati Bengals at Atlanta Falcons – September 30th, 2018". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on June 19, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ^ "Mark Walton 2018 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ Sheeran, John (April 6, 2019). "Bengals waive RB Mark Walton". CincyJungle.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
- ^ "Dolphins Sign Kirk Barron, Jamar Summers & Mark Walton". MiamiDolphins.com. May 12, 2019. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- ^ "Dolphins' Mark Walton: Paces backfield in loss". CBSSports.com. October 20, 2019. Archived from the original on October 21, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
- ^ a b Wolfe, Cameron (November 4, 2019). "Dolphins RB Mark Walton suspended four games for three offseason arrests". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^ "Miami Dolphins Waive Mark Walton". MiamiDolphins.com. November 19, 2019. Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^ @AaronWilson_NFL (December 3, 2019). "Former Dolphins RB Mark Walton suspension lifted remains a free agent" (Tweet). Retrieved December 3, 2019 – via Twitter.
- ^ Florio, Mike (November 13, 2020). "NFL suspends RB Mark Walton eight weeks". NBCSports.com. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- ^ Wilson, Aaron [@AaronWilson_NFL] (January 4, 2021). "Suspensions lifted by Roger Goodell: Mark Walton (Dolphins), Michael Pinckney (Patriots)" (Tweet). Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ Roling, Chris (February 18, 2019). "Report: Mark Walton had unreported January arrest". USAToday.com. Archived from the original on January 4, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
- ^ Ovalle, David (February 16, 2019). "Mark Walton, former Canes star now with the Cincinnati Bengals, arrested in Miami". MiamiHerald.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
- ^ Butler, Alex (April 4, 2019). "Bengals RB Mark Walton arrested for third time in 2019, hit with police Taser". UPI.com. Archived from the original on January 4, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
- ^ "Dolphins RB Walton gets probation for weapons charge". USA TODAY. Associated Press. August 19, 2019. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- ^ Mather, Victor (November 19, 2019). "Dolphins Cut Mark Walton After Battery Arrest". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^ "Ex-Fins RB faces 2nd domestic assault accusation". ESPN.com. January 3, 2020. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
- ^ Alexander, Christina (February 27, 2020). "Former UM, Dolphins player Mark Walton arrested". WSVN.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ Wolfe, Cameron (May 13, 2020). "Aggravated battery charge against ex-Dolphin Mark Walton dropped". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
- ^ "Former Bengals and Dolphins Running Back Mark Walton Arrested in Miami". Sports Illustrated. February 1, 2021. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ Glasspiegel, Ryan (March 24, 2022). "Former NFL running back Mark Walton arrested for alleged armed robbery". New York Post. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2023.