A small-town fly route for Deion Branch, Javon Walker

Deion Branch followed a high-school teammate to Mississippi.

Javon Walker arrived after playing two seasons of professional baseball for the Florida Marlins.

A little bit of chance and a whole lot of coincidence. That's how two future NFL receivers ended up junior-college teammates eight years ago in a town so small the closest movie theater was seven miles to the north and the only stoplight Branch could remember was next to the gas station.

They played for Jones County Junior College, located in Ellisville, Miss., with a population of about 3,500. Branch was the 5-foot-9 split end who ran routes as sharp as broken glass and Walker was a 6-3 flanker whose stride was as long as it was strong.

"I love it, the fact I had a great teammate such as him," Branch said. "And the player he turned out to be in the league."

Their paths converged for just one season and have been intertwined ever since. Both entered the NFL in 2002, each went through a contract dispute that precipitated a trade in the past year, and Sunday two old friends will face each other with two new teams when the Seahawks play in Denver.

"We both know exactly what each other has gone through," Walker said.

Walker was traded from Green Bay to Denver in April, and he leads the Broncos with 51 receptions and scored seven of his team's 21 touchdowns. Branch was acquired by the Seahawks in September and he is second on the Seahawks with 35 catches, four for touchdowns.

The idea of facing each other as professionals wasn't much more than a daydream eight years ago when they were junior-college teammates. Branch recalled daily runs to the Sonic Drive-In. Walker remembered arguing about the best rap record label. Walker liked Master P's No Limit while Branch preferred Bad Boy.

"I guess he won that one," Walker said.

They were two of the three future NFL players at Jones County in 1998. Anthony Maddox was Branch's high-school teammate from Georgia who also went to Jones County, and now is starting at defensive tackle for the Houston Texans. How did two NFL receivers fit into the same junior-college offense?

"They were the offense," Maddox said. "I don't know how they got the ball to both of them."

Branch caught 69 passes for 1,012 yards in 1998, his final season before going to Louisville. Walker caught 37 passes for 735 yards, his first year at the school. After playing two seasons at Jones County he moved on to Florida State. Jones County was undefeated in 1998.

"I was young back then, too," said Ed Smith, the Jones County offensive coordinator in 1998. "I thought, 'Boy, there's not much to this wide-receiver coaching.' All I really had to do was tell them what time the game was and what color jersey to wear."

Florida offered Branch a scholarship out of high school, but he did not qualify academically. He was considering going to Albany State in Georgia, but Maddox was headed to Jones County, and he asked the coaches there if they were interested in a wide receiver. After letting one college opportunity bounce off his hands, Branch found Jones County the perfect place to bounce back.

"I'm glad it happened to me because I put a lot of things in perspective at an early age," Branch said. "I think it was the best thing for me."

Walker could have enrolled in 1997, but he spent his first year out of high school playing professional baseball. He was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the eighth round.

Walker was a running back in high school, but he became an over-the-top receiving threat at Jones County.

"He was like a long-distance type runner for us," Smith said.

That stride carried him all the way to the first round of the 2002 NFL draft where he was chosen with the 20th selection by Green Bay. Branch went 65th.

The entrance isn't the only similarity in the paths they've walked as professionals.

Walker sought a new contract from Green Bay in 2005, but reported without a new deal and suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of the year. He was traded from Green Bay to Denver in April for the Broncos' second-round choice.

When Branch decided he would not play for New England without a new contract, Walker was one of the people who called to voice his support.

"I knew what he was going through," Walker said.

Branch's holdout ended with his trade to Seattle, and he signed a six-year, $39 million deal after the Seahawks gave up their first-round choice to acquire him. Walker has a five-year, $40 million contract with Denver.

They are united by more than just the similarity of their circumstances. There is a bond there, a friendship that is the fulfillment of something Branch remembers his coaches talking about when he arrived at Jones County.

"The guys that you meet here," Branch remembered being told, "are going to be your friends forever. It was kind of funny because we were all trapped in this college, there wasn't anything there except for the school."

Well, that and two future NFL receivers whose talent was too large to hide even when it was tucked away in a Mississippi town small enough to count the stoplights.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com