[JRL]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. --- Former Tennessee star Jackie Walker was easy to spot on the field. Just don't try finding him in a college football hall of fame. storyPhotos();
His brother thinks he knows why the Southeastern Conference's first black All-American isn't included in the College Football Hall of Fame or even the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
"It's because of his sexual orientation," Marshall Walker said.
Jackie Walker was gay.
Walker was honored twice as an All-American and became the first black voted captain by his Tennessee Volunteers teammates. The linebacker returned five interceptions for touchdowns between 1969 and 1971, setting an NCAA record that has been tied but not broken.
Tennessee recognizes him with a photo hung on the wall of its athletic department, part of a gallery honoring its All-Americans, and he was inducted Thursday into the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.
Walker didn't talk about his sexual preference with teammates. But by his senior year, he didn't hide it either, even as rumors swirled around campus about the football star who dressed sharply, sang beautifully and even had a part in an on- campus production of "Fiddler on the Roof."
Just before Walker died of complications from AIDS in 2002, Marshall Walker promised his brother that he would get him more attention for his football accomplishments. He said Jackie chuckled.
"Sports was something that Jackie could take or leave," Marshall Walker said.
"Sometimes you wonder if Jackie did it because that was what expected."
That might be why Walker was cut by the 49ers without playing in an NFL game and failed in a bid with the Washington Redskins. Walker then moved to Atlanta, where he worked for the city's recreation department.
He traveled the world, hosted parties and played tennis on a team he created. Yet his connection with Tennessee football faded -- so much that even Walker's nephew didn't know the extent of his uncle's achievements.
"My nephew's head nearly exploded when he saw his uncle's picture," Marshall Walker said. "His first comment was, 'Uncle Marshall, I didn't know that Uncle Jackie was famous like that or that he could play sports like that!' "
Walker and roommate Andy Bennett became Tennessee's second and third black players in 1968, joining Lester McClain, who had been there for a season. Kentucky was the first SEC team to integrate in 1966 and Mississippi was the last in 1971.