Austin Walter

BIOGRAPHY

Austin Rashad Walter was born on August 17, 1996, at Houston, Texas. He is a running back for the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL. Son of Anthony and Dian Walter and has a twin brother Aston. In his time in Crosby High School, he was the District 19-4A Player of the Year and a member of Dave Campbell's Texas Football's All Texas High Schol Team. 

In 2015, Walter attended Rice University and earned Conference USA All-Freshman honors. He led the Owls with 1,097 all-purpose yards, 652 kickoff return yards, 5.8 rushing yards per carry and was second with 437 yards rushing. In the following season, Walter was the only running back to see action in 12 games and posted a scored of career-high three touchdowns against Prairie View. In 2017, he scored the Owls first points outside the United States on a 23-yeard run in the fourth quarter versus Stanford. In his senior year, Walter received the All-Conference USA third-team. In the 2019 NFL Draft, Walter went undrafted until he tried out for the 49ers and signed on May 4. Walter and his fellow rookie teammates packed 30K meals to fight hunger in the Bay Area as part of the 49ers Huddle for 100 on June 18, 2019.

On September 18, 2019, Walter was signed to the New York Giants practice squad.[6] Following injuries to starting running back Saquon Barkley and backup Wayne Gallman, Walter was promoted to the 53-man roster on October 10, 2019, but then waived the next day. On November 22, 2019, Walter was drafted by the Dallas Renegades in the 2020 XFL Supplemental Draft. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

On September 23, 2020, Walter was signed to the San Francisco 49ers' practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster on November 5 for the team's week 9 game against the Green Bay Packers, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He was promoted to the active roster on November 11, 2020. He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on December 17, 2020, and activated on December 28.On February 8, 2021, the 49ers signed him to a one-year contract extension.