Steve Walsh's Brother, Chris, Is Nation's Best In Football
ST. PAUL, Minn. - In between home recruiting visits from Illinois and UCLA, Chris Walsh took time to accept a plaque.
The latest award is the biggest yet for the Cretin-Derham Hall High School quarterback, who already has received All-Metro and All-State honors for the second straight year. Walsh was named national high school football player of the year.
Walsh is the first Minnesota state player in any sport to receive the national honor from the Gatorade Circle of Champions program, which names state, regional and national winners in five sports. Previous recipients of the football award include Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jeff George in 1985, the first year it was given; Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith in '86, and former Ohio State running back Robert Smith of Euclid, Ohio, in '89. Robert Smith was the Big Ten freshman of the year in 1990.
Walsh threw the ball only 14 times a game because the Raiders (11-1) didn't have to pass. In the backfield with Walsh was junior running back Carl McCullough, the Star Tribune's Metro Player of the Year, who had 29 touchdowns. But when the 6-3, 190-pound Walsh did throw, he was invariably on target. He completed 107 of 170 passes - 63 percent - for 1,828 yards and 20 touchdowns, and was intercepted only five times.
Counting one start as a sophomore and his junior season, Walsh threw for 4,343 yards and 43 touchdowns in his career. The Raiders were 22-3 in games he started.
Walsh, whose brother, Steve, quarterbacks the New Orleans Saints, carries a 3.4 grade-point average.