Ravens cornerback Tray Walker is “fighting for his life,” according to his agent, after a serious motorbike crash Thursday evening just north of Miami.
“It’s a bad situation,” said Ronald Butler, Walker’s agent. “I’m going to be honest. We’re praying that he’s able to fight through it.”
The 23-year-old fourth-round pick last year out of Texas Southern was taken to the trauma center of Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, police said. Butler said Walker is in intensive care after spending the night in surgery.
“He has some head injuries,” Butler said. “He’s fighting for his life right now. That’s really the most I can say.”
Jennifer Piedra, a spokeswoman for Ryder Trauma of the medical group Jackson Health System, did not provide an update on Walker’s condition this morning. “We have no comment at this time,” she said.
Top Ravens officials were leaving for Florida this afternoon to provide support for Walker and his family.
“Oh my God, this is devastating news,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in a statement Thursday night. “Our prayers and hopes are with Tray and his family tonight.”
Harbaugh wrote a letter to the team Friday that the Ravens shared on their website.
“That was the kind of phone call you never want to get as a coach, as a parent, as a brother, as a friend. This shook me and all of us,” he wrote.
Shalonda Martin, Walker’s sister, told the Miami CBS station that “we’re praying. We ask everyone else to pray, make sure he gets out of surgery.”
Shortly before 8 p.m., Walker was riding a Honda dirt bike west on Northwest 75th Street when he collided at an intersection with a Ford Escape traveling south on Northwest 21st Avenue, police said.
Police said Walker was not wearing a helmet. The bike also did not have headlights, said Detective Dan Ferrin, spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department.
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To ride legally, the dirt bike must have headlights and a license plate, Ferrin said.
Walker was also “wearing dark clothing, which may have been a factor,” Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said Friday.
The driver of the Ford Escape, whom police identified Friday as Donzetta Coaxum, 62, of Miami, was uninjured and remained at the scene. Ferrin said she had a stop sign at the intersection.
“Detectives are trying to determine exactly what happened, if the Ford Escape took the stop sign or if she just didn’t see Walker,” he said.
Ferrin said police continue to investigate the crash.
In Harbaugh’s letter to the players, he advised them to “consider your actions and choices.”
“I am asking you to consider what is at stake in your life. Consider what your thoughts, actions and choices mean to those around you. Live your life fully and with purpose. Have fun and share your happiness. Find Your Faith, and allow God to Grow Your Faith.”
Walker, a Miami native, played in eight games with the Ravens during his rookie season and had one tackle. His action was mostly limited to special teams.
Several Ravens teammates, including defensive backs Shareece Wright, Anthony Levine and Julian Wilson, took to Twitter on Thursday night to wish Walker well.
“Tray was like a brother to me; hearing some news like this hurts my heart,” tweeted Wilson, who missed his entire rookie season after he broke his leg in rookie minicamp. “I know Tray’s a fighter [and] he’s going to pull through.”
Walker, a high school teammate of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and Oakland Raiders receiver Amari Cooper, dedicated his rookie season to his father, Tommy Lee Walker, who died of a heart attack in November 2014. He was 53.
His father’s ashes were spread off the waters of Miami last year, the day after Walker was drafted by the Ravens. Walker became the first Texas Southern player to be drafted since wide receiver Joey Jamison was taken by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round in 2000. He was the highest draft pick for the school since center Joe Burch was a third-round pick by the New England Patriots in 1994.
Walker was considered a developmental cornerback, largely because he didn’t face top competition in college. However, the Ravens loved his length — 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds — and Harbaugh said that another team was prepared to take Walker had the Ravens not drafted him with the 136th overall pick.
As Ravens players packed up their locker the day after the regular-season-ending loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Walker admitted that it was frustrating not being able to contribute more during his rookie year.
“It was just a learning step for me,” Walker said. “There was a lot for me to learn and accomplish throughout the season, adjusting to the length of the season as well as studying the game. At some points, it was [frustrating]. But I just used that as an edge for me. Just learn from that and just hope and wish that I come back strong for next year, and [am] able to get on the field and make the plays that they want me to make.”
Baltimore Sun staff reporter Jessica Anderson and the Sun-Sentinel contributed to this article.
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An earlier version of this article misidentified Tray Walker’s agent’s name. It is Ronald Butler. The Sun regrets the error.