AUBURN, Ala. – Walk-on linebacker Brooks Walton will be walking out of Auburn when he graduates in May 2022 and is already reminiscing on his football career and time as a Tiger.
Walton's football career started in the fourth grade when he played quarterback on a flag football team. He then went on to play tackle football in middle school and on through high school at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Walton knew he wanted to go out of state for college, and Will Hastings, a receiver for Auburn from 2015-19 and an alum of the same high school as Walton, introduced him to the Plains.
"[Hastings] was a senior when I was a freshman, so we got to know each other," said Walton. "I came down to Auburn a couple of times to see him and see the campus. He was kind of my first step in the door, and then I had a couple of other buddies who were also looking at coming to Auburn because we all wanted to be engineers here."
Walton enrolled in August 2018, but hernia surgery delayed his Auburn football career.
"I started back with lifting about six weeks after surgery," said Walton. "I lived in the Hill my first year, so I would walk to the Rec Center every day I could to stay in shape for when I started up with everything in January.
"I wanted to go somewhere where football really mattered. I knew I wanted to end up walking on somewhere big.
"Ultimately it came to a combination of two things: the engineering school at Auburn being better and something one of the coaches told me during the recruitment process. He said, 'If you're going to walk on, don't pick the school for the football, pick the school for the school and the experience you're going to have at it.'"
Walton takes the order of student-athlete very seriously, as he is very focused on his studies. As an aerospace engineering major, Walton has made the SEC Academic Honor Roll the past two years.
"It isn't the easiest at times, especially during the football season, but it's what I wanted to do," he said. "I love doing it. The school aspect is really interesting to me, and I still consciously make time to see friends. I'm working hard, but it'll all be worth it in the end."
After graduation, Walton doesn't have all the answers but says his goal is to work for a company like Lockheed Martin working on defense contracts.
Once he graduates, Walton won't only be starting an engineering career, but he will simultaneously be ending his football career and his time at Auburn.
"I love football," he said. "Someone asked me the other day, 'why are you playing?' and it's kind of hard to explain. I love being around everybody and the atmosphere, just the way everyone interacts with each other."
As a senior, Walton looks back at his time in the program and on campus and shares his advice for younger players.
"You have to remember why you're playing football," he said. "There are a lot of tough days and days where you feel like things aren't going your way. It's all been worth it for me."
Ashley Birdsong is a student worker in Auburn Athletics media relations
