Crooked Path Walker

I should not sympathize with Javon Walker. Abiding closely to the strictures of hallowed fan logic, Javon should forever catch my enmity.

However, as Javon's strange journey unfolds, the insults I once heaped upon him, the ones spat out during his rocky departure from Green Bay, fade into distant memory.

Perhaps, I find something of myself in Javon, identify with his misfortunes and misfortunate reactions. I'll spare you any autobiography in this piece. More to the point, I suspect Walker's behavior to be more universal than often characterized by the media probing for any human weakness to sell copy.

On Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Walker considered retiring effective immediately, this after signing a lucrative contract with Oakland in the offseason. Javon pledged to return his sizable bonus. To whatever end, Al Davis talked Walker out of retirement. And now Javon won't talk about it all.

Javon's career is an arduous one to say the least. A near bust early in his career after a disappointing rookie season, Walker came of age in the high-powered Packers offense in year three. Remember Walker not Donald Driver pushed the offense to greater heights, his unique combination of size and deep speed pointing to an elite status not yet achieved.

The holdout commenced like clockwork. Unfortunately for Javon, the script veered astray from its normal reading. Brett Favre called out the young receiver for not honoring his contract. Management stood firm, perhaps too firm, intent on appearing steadfast at the expense of their relationship with Walker.

Javon threatened retirement for the first time, displaying an almost adolescent tendency to push the nuclear option. Eventually Javon shuffled back to camp, sundering the ACL in his right knee and any ties to Green Bay in the first game.

A year late, Javon got his wish and was shipped to the Broncos. The promise of rookie quarterback Jay Cutler, the new Elway, the new Favre, combined with Walker's undeniable talent licensed high hopes in Denver. Walker performed well in his first year, but the team stumbled.

Javon was left alone, running wild through opponents' secondaries, all targets drawn on him. Still, his numbers were good and the Broncos looked to improve with their young quarterback.

Did I say I identify with Javon Walker? No, that's not exactly true. A close friend didn't die in my arms, like Darrent Williams did in Javon's arms. In the early hours of New Year's Day 2007, their limo sprayed with bullets, Darrent bled to death, and Javon emerged with his shirt covered in blood and an understandable silence about his usually unreserved self.

Walker rarely talks about Darrent's death publicly. Can you blame him? But because he doesn't, do you assume it doesn't haunt him?

I didn't think so.

His second season in Denver brought Brandon Marshall to the fore. As Walker battled more injuries to his right knee, Brandon became what Walker portended to be. Their skill sets were eerily similar, both tall and fast. Marshall perhaps more physical, Walker perhaps smoother.

Yet the difference wasn't enough to turn Brandon and Javon into complimentary parts of a seamless passing attack. Walker sulked. The team eventually released him.

Enter Al Davis and the Raiders big spending this past offseason. Another new start for Javon, in the franchise most unlike any other NFL franchise. The inmates running the asylum, the recipe for success from the best of the Raiders' glory years. I don't know if Davis is right in his minted trust of Walker, Gibril Wilson, Tommy Kelly, et al, but points for boldness might transform into real points.

This story wraps up nicely with that new beginning, but like all real tales, that is not the end. Javon was beaten and robbed a month and half ago in Vegas. His strange version of events didn't jive with the more plausible scenarios. Another media silence ensued.

And then just last week, Walker unhappy with his performance in a Raiders jersey thus far offered a resignation of sorts to Al Davis. Not the first retirement Javon has contemplated, but a different one. This retirement wasn't offered to serve his own ends. Moreover, this was a point of pride, not the threats of youthful braggadocio.

Does this latest strange act in Javon's tale indicate an unique if relative maturity? I don't know. Walker's path is turning into that of a wanderer's. He just might not fit into the bizarre world of pro football and thus might be more like you and me if you throw out the forty times and bench presses.

You won't find me rooting for Javon in Silver and Black or Pewter and Red or wherever he finds a home. But I do hope he finds that home one way or another.