University of Tennessee Athletics
Engineering for a Future
February 01, 2005 | Football
Feb. 1, 2005
By Donnell Field
Darwin Walker last made his impact felt on the Tennessee campus in the fall of 1999 as Tennessee closed out the century with back to back 10-plus win seasons, two SEC titles and a national championship in the inaugural BCS championship game.
By the time Walker left the Vols for the services of the NFL, he had garnered All-SEC honors and was a major force in the middle of the defensive front for the Big Orange. Now his services belong to the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, while maintaining his spot in the starting lineup (it is the Eagles first trip to the Super Bowl since 1981 when they lost to the Oakland Raiders 27-10). But it is not his skills on the NFL that make Walker special, but what he does when he is not shirking huge, offensive lineman and chasing scraggily quarterbacks, or rangy rushers, he tags with another partner to work on his skills that he polished on while attending the University of Tennessee.
Walker earned his degree in civil engineering and he has used that degree to build on the success of a business he co-owns with partner Paul Tucker in 2002, Progressive Engineering Group, LLC., which is based right here in Knoxville. Progressive is licensed in 21 states throughout the country and features over 80 years of combined design experience. It is a career Walker says fits him best.
"I'd been around the construction business my whole life, so I knew I wanted to do something in that capacity," Darwin said. "I knew football wouldn't last forever. Engineering was something that I loved to do almost as much as football.
"Besides playing in the NFL, it's one of the things I'm most proud of in my life," Darwin said. "There's nothing like that rush from closing a deal. It's almost as good as sacking the quarterback." After each sack Walker's celebration dance move is that of raking mortar mix, tying his other passion with his football.
Some of the facilities that Progressive have worked on have been Vulcan Materials (Sevierville), American Safety Razor (Knoxville), East Maryville Baptist Church (Maryville), Ft. Sanders Park West Medical Office (Knoxville), the UT Tennis Center, St. Mary's Hospice (Knoxville), Bent Creek Resort (Gatlinburg), Onyx Pointe (Knoxville) and US Cellular's - 192,000 sq. ft. regional communication center (Knoxville). He and his partner are planning to build an office in Philadelphia.
To date, Progressive Engineering has done more than $250 million worth of business. Near the end of 2004 Progressive Engineering was awarded a $140 million project to help build a new state prison.
"It's the single-biggest project we've gotten, and it's the largest public works project in Tennessee history," Tucker said.
Walker and Tucker have plans to open branch offices in the Philadelphia and Charleston areas.
"During the season I'm devoted to football and it's hard because I'm a hands-on guy. I want to be involved in the day-to-day operations of the business."
Walker learned his trait from his father James Walker, who was in the construction business while Darwin and his brother James Jr. were growing up. Even during the football seasons the Walker boys would be out helping their father on the job site each and every Saturday. Darwin began working with his dad when he was 12 years old. For some, the hard work might have seemed too much for Darwin and his brother James. But to Darwin, it was a life lesson.
"A lot of kids might have thought my dad was punishing us by making us work, but I'm glad he did it," Darwin said. "It made me a man."
By the time he was 14, he was able to do the workload of a grown man.
No matter what the weather was like outside, the work had to be done and Darwin was relentless in what he set out to do. His brother James describes a time when he saw Darwin carrying three 75-pound bags of concrete mix on his shoulders.
"I mean, he was as strong as anyone I'd ever seen," James, Jr. said It was amazing because he had 15 minutes to get his job done before the mortar wasn't usable anymore. He never seemed to tire out. It takes timing and a lot of teamwork to lay bricks. I don't think people understand that.
"There was this 50-pound cast-iron mortar hoe that we used to use," James Jr. said. "Darwin would just jump down in there, grab the hoe, and go to work; I mean, this thing was heavy. And the most amazing thing about it was that he was doing this when he was 12. He could work all day with that thing keeping eight, 10 masons going all day. He worked faster than a machine could."
But it was a case where Darwin learned early that hard work and determination pays off. Today he is finding success both on the construction site and on the football field.
In the meantime, Darwin and his partner are quite content to keep on building on the legacy they are leaving for the citizens of Knoxville, East Tennessee and all across America.
