Upstate NY Native, Ex-Syracuse Player Fired by NFL Team for ‘Behavior Issue’

David Walker is no longer a member of the Chicago Bears' coaching staff.

The 53-year old Rochester, NY native is the latest Bears' staffer to depart the team for one reason or another. Notably, the team's defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigned from his post earlier this season, a departure that was followed with false reports of FBI raids and other troubling details.

Though Walker's firing was not sensationalized by false reporting, the details are still very concerning.

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Bears' RB Coach, Former Syracuse Player Fired for 'Behavioral Issue'

A story from The New York Post and other outlets shared an update that Chicago Bears' running backs coach David Walker had been fired as of Wednesday morning. Walker was in his second season with the Bears; he had returned to coaching in 2022 after stepping away from the sidelines in 2019.

Walker was let go by the Bears due to poor behavior in the workplace. Walker had already been reprimanded by Chicago's HR department in a previous instance, and this infraction, his second, let to his firing.

On the firing of Walker, head coach Matt Eberflus said this:

“As the head coach, we are building a program and have standards to uphold to as a staff and organization both on and off the field, and those standards were not met."

“It’s disappointing from my vantage point,” Eberflus said. “We have a standard to uphold to. When that standard is not met, we act. We act accordingly, and that’s what we did today.” - Matt Eberflus via The New York Post

Walker's coaching career began back in 1994 as an assistant coach with a high school in Florida. He then spent nine years --- from 1995 through 2003 --- as the running backs coach for his alma mater, Syracuse.

He has also spent time with the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions in that same role. Here is a clip from an interview Walker gave as a member of the Lions' staff:

Walker played running back for Syracuse, and was a member of the First Team All-Big East in 1991. He finished his career with the fourth-most rushing yards by a player in school history (2,643), trailing only Joe Morris (4,299 yards), Larry Csonka (2,934), and Floyd Little (2,704).

He played high school football at Irondequoit High School, which is located in a suburb of Rochester. He was a four-time all-county football player, and was inducted into the Section V Hall of Fame as an inaugural member.

Assistant quarterbacks and wide receivers coach Omar Young is taking over for Walker, per The New York Post.