Bruin Lineman Has Hunger for Success : UCLA: Nose guard Walker has gained 35 pounds since arriving in Westwood, but he hasn’t slowed down.

The eating habits of UCLA nose guard Bruce Walker have assumed almost mythic proportions in Westwood.

Walker, 6 feet 4 and 295 pounds, has gained 35 pounds since coming to UCLA in 1990. And a lot of it isn’t muscle.

Walker reportedly took up a restaurant chain on its all-you-can-eat shrimp offer, eating nine plates of shrimp before the waitress stopped serving him. He then went into the kitchen to serve himself, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.

“Nine plates of shrimp?” Walker said. “That’s not true. I had three plates of shrimp.”

Walker dined at one of the best hamburger joints in Seattle while on a recruiting trip to the University of Washington, and other players watched in awe as Walker kept eating one-pound hamburgers.

“I had two hamburgers and people said I was eating hamburgers all week,” Walker said.

“Just because I’m big, people think I eat a lot because of my weight,” Walker said. “I don’t eat that much, it’s just that I have a slow metabolism.

“It bothers me when people tell me how much I should weigh. I’ve gained weight each year (since coming to UCLA), but each year I’ve been playing better. So, I don’t think my weight is a big factor.”

Walker weighed 240 pounds during his senior season at Dominguez High in Compton. A tailback and linebacker, Walker rushed for 1,375 yards and 15 touchdowns to set a school record. A sprinter on the track team, Walker ran the 200 meters in 22.1 seconds.

One of the nation’s most heavily recruited prep football players, Walker ate his way around the country, gaining 25 pounds while visiting Notre Dame, Colorado, Washington, Miami, Florida State and UCLA.

Walker weighed 260 when he arrived at UCLA, and the Bruin coaches, who had planned to play him at linebacker, moved him to defensive end. One of only three true freshman to play defense that season, Walker played in all 11 games, starting three. He made 28 tackles, second on the team among linemen.

“I was a little too heavy,” Walker said. “The coaches were surprised. They expected me to come in at 240 and I was 260. They wanted me to lose weight, but they also needed a defensive end, so since I was bigger, they moved me to defensive end. When I came in I was overweight, but I was in better shape than I was at a lighter weight.”

Walker, who gained 35 pounds last year, was moved to nose guard last season, starting 10 games. He led UCLA’s linemen with 37 tackles.

Walker reported at 318 pounds for the start of two-a-day drills in August after suffering a hamstring injury two weeks before camp opened.

“I got hurt so I couldn’t run and I was still eating, but I wasn’t burning it off,” Walker said. “The coaches were upset, but there wasn’t anything I could really do.”

Sidelined for the first two games, Walker has played himself back into shape and back into the starting lineup. Walker, who has started UCLA’s last three games, made a personal-best 12 tackles during the Bruins’ 20-0 loss to Arizona State and he leads UCLA’s linemen with 39 tackles.

UCLA Coach Terry Donahue says Walker’s play has improved as his weight has decreased.

“Bruce’s adjustments have been in terms of conditioning and weight,” Donahue said. “I think as the season has gone along he’s gotten in a lot better shape and as the season has progressed he’s able to play a lot more plays than he was at the start of the season. I hope he’ll be able to keep getting in better and better shape each week.”

Although Walker has gained weight, he also has increased his totals in the weight room. UCLA’s strongest player, Walker, who bench-pressed 385 pounds in high school, has bench-pressed a team-high 515 pounds and has improved from 450 pounds in the squat to a team-high 640 pounds. However, Walker realizes that how much he weighs, and not how much he can lift, will always be an issue.

“Sometimes I don’t satisfy some people,” Walker said. “There’s been a big thing made about my weight, with people telling me I need to lose weight. But I’m doing my job. I’m making plays and I’m not allowing teams to run in my area. I’m taking on two or three blocks, so I must be doing something right.

“I could make 20 tackles and somebody would say I should have made more. I just try to satisfy myself. I learned in high school that I can’t play to make everybody happy.”