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Personal
Kenneth Matthew Walter, Jr., was born in Cleveland, Ohio on Aug. 15, 1972. Along with serving as a ball boy, Walter honed his punting skills while working training camps with the Cleveland Browns from 1992-95 and the Baltimore Ravens in 1996 ... A graduate of Euclid (Ohio) High School where he was a teammate of former Minnesota running back Robert Smith … Walter averaged 43.5 yards a punt as a senior after being named all-district as a sophomore and junior ... Earned letters in football and baseball in addition to being named to the school’s all-academic team as a senior ... Walter counts former Redskins great Sammy Baugh as one of his favorite all-time punters. Ken and his wife Chante, celebrated the birth of Kenneth Christian (1/28/02) the week of Super Bowl XXXVI.
Career
Transactions Ken Walter was
re-signed by the Patriots as a free agent on November 22, 2006. Placed on injured reserve on December 19, 2006. Signed by Seattle Seahawks on Nov. 24, 2004. Signed by the Patriots as a veteran free agent on October 17, 2001 ... Re-signed with the Patriots (2/18/02) … He was originally signed as a rookie free agent by the Carolina Panthers (4/14/97) 1997 NFL draft … Released by the Panthers (4/24/01).
Career Highlights
Walter led the AFC and ranked second in the NFL with a net punting average of 38.1 during the 2001 season.
Walter boomed almost half of his punts, 24 of 49 (49.0%), inside the 20, the highest ratio in the NFL during the 2001 season. He did not punt into the end zone in the final eight weeks of the regular season (40 consecutive punts).
Walter earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors after averaging 42.2 yards on five punts, including two inside the 20, against the Dolphins (12/22/01).
Walter’s 86 punts inside the 20-yard line with the Panthers are still a Carolina franchise record.
Walter’s one touchback ranked as the lowest in the NFL in 1999 as well as the lowest single-season total in Panther history.
Walter was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after averaging 53.3 yards a punt at San Diego (9/14/97), the highest single-game average for a rookie since New England’s Pat O’Neill averaged 54.3 (9/25/94).
In 1997, Walter had a net punting average of 40 or more yards in the season’s first four games, becoming the first punter to begin his career in that fashion since the league began computing the statistic in 1976.
In 1997, Walter was named to the All-Rookie team by Pro Football Weekly, College and Pro Football Weekly and Football News.
College
A three-year letterman at Kent State, Walter punted 230 times for 8,590 yards for a 37.3 average for the Golden Flash. As a senior (1994), Walter recorded 80 punts for a 38.4 average with one block and a long punt of 64 yards against Toledo. Walter averaged 34.1 yards on 67 punts for 2,282 yards his junior year (1993) and averaged 39.0 yards as a sophomore (1992) on 83 kicks for 3,295 yards, in addition to a career-long punt of 65 yards against Central Michigan as a sophomore.
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