ADELAIDE veteran Taylor Walker has had more thrown at him than most in his career, but perhaps the most damning came almost two years ago when he was branded racist and suspended for six matches for a racial slur made during a state league game in July 2021.
The 33-year-old, who plays game 250 against West Coast on Saturday, conceded he may never win total trust back from the Indigenous community.
"To be honest, football was never really my priority when that occurred," he said.
"And it hasn't really been a priority in terms of being able to earn the trust or respect back from all the communities and Indigenous boys within the football club.
"It's just an ongoing thing. I don't think I probably will ever earn that 100 per cent trust back.
"But it's something that I will continue to chip away at every single day, continue just to make myself learn and grow and understand.
"...I don't really want to stand here and publicly talk about what I have been able to do, I would rather just put my head down and go to work."
Walker has accomplished many things along his journey, but he says his proudest moment is being called dad.
"My kids are beautiful little human beings," the father-of-three told reporters on Wednesday.
"And being able to see them grow over the last three and a half years has been amazing.
"As a sportsperson, you become very selfish and tunnelled in to think it's about me.
"But it has given me a great understanding and perspective ... you can still perform when there's change and you have got to be able to be adaptable to what's thrown at you."
Walker, labelled a "Broken Hill bogan" by Adelaide's inaugural coach Graham Cornes, was named captain when Phil Walsh arrived to coach the Crows in late 2014.
"When you look at our country, we're very quick to kick people down," Walker said.
"So when someone puts a lot of belief and confidence in you, you do grow as a human.
"And it's an underestimated trait that we should continue to strive to do, is pump people up and give them belief and confidence.
"And that's certainly something that he did when he told me he wanted me to be skipper."
Walsh, after coaching Adelaide for just a dozen games in 2015, was murdered by his son - Cy Walsh was found mentally incompetent, with undiagnosed schizophrenia, when he stabbed his father to death.
"That was another challenging time for the footy club which we were able to navigate our way through," Walker said.
The 33-year-old will in the next fortnight open talks with the Crows about another contract for next season.
"I just love footy. I just want to keep playing footy for as long as I can," said the club's all-time leading scorer with 564 goals.
"The way I've looked at it is it could potentially be my last milestone, I don't know when I'm going to finish.
"It's a roller coaster for every sportsperson, whether it be AFL, tennis, golf, whatever it is.
"It's not a smooth journey. So it makes your character, it creates challenges and it makes you very resilient.
"That's something that I think has held me a good stead to be able to stand on the moment on the eve of 250 games."
