Super Bowl XXVII : THROUGH THE YEARS : Footnotes To History : XVII : FULTON WALKER : MIAMI DOLPHINS

When Fulton Walker was watching television from his Martinsburg, W.Va., home recently, he perked up when he saw football analysts selecting an All-Super Bowl team.

Then he nearly fell out of his chair when he noticed that he was not a member of that team.

The kick returner was John Taylor of the 49ers.

“I guess people really have forgotten me,” Walker said glumly.

The Washington Redskins will not forget him after he nearly ruined their party during the Redskins’ 27-17 victory over the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII at the Rose Bowl.

Walker, setting standards that have not been approached since, returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and a Super Bowl record. He totaled 190 yards in kickoff returns, another record. In two Super Bowls, he returned kicks a record 283 yards, which is 76 yards more than Larry Anderson of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who is in second place.

Walker holds or shares six Super Bowl records, as many as Franco Harris.

“That touchdown return is something I remember around this time of the year and think, ‘Gosh, that record is still standing!’ ” said Walker, an environmental consultant in Martinsburg.

Walker broke his long run late in the second quarter, giving the Dolphins a 17-10 halftime lead. He still remembers his moves.

“I made it look like I was going right, then I cut left and caught them off guard,” he said. “It was a play we had worked on and worked on in practice.”

Walker said that when he reached the end zone, he felt like the Redskins, who couldn’t believe it.

“I said, ‘Somebody must have clipped, something must have happened,’ ” he recalled. “Then Eddie Hill tackled me, and Roy Foster grabbed the ball and spiked it, and I knew it counted.”

He sighed. “You know, you are the first guy to call and talk to me about that kick return since it happened,” he said to a reporter. “I guess when you lose in that game, nothing else matters.”

* 1983 AT ROSE BOWL

Miami 7 10 0 0 -- 17 Washington 0 10 3 14 -- 27

Mia--Cefalo 76 pass from Woodley (von Schamann kick)

Wash--FG Moseley 31

Mia--FG von Schamann 20

Wash--Garrett 4 pass from Theismann (Moseley kick)

Mia--Walker 98 kickoff return (von Schamann kick)

Wash--FG Moseley 20

Wash--Riggins 43 run (Moseley kick)

Wash--Brown 6 pass from Theismann (Moseley kick)

A--103,667

Winning Coach--Joe Gibbs

MVP--John Riggins