| Herschel Walker |
| Height |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight |
225 lb (102 kg; 16.1 st) |
| Division |
225 |
| Reach |
74.0 in (188 cm) |
| Style |
Kickboxing |
| Stance |
Orthodox |
| Team |
American Kickboxing Academy |
| Years active |
2009–present |
| MMA record |
| Total |
0 |
| Wins |
0 |
| By knockout |
0 |
| By submission |
0 |
| By decision |
0 |
| Losses |
0 |
| By knockout |
0 |
| By submission |
0 |
| By decision |
0 |
| Draws |
0 |
| No contests |
0 |
Herschel Junior Walker (born March 3, 1962) is a former American football running back in the United States Football League for the New Jersey Generals and in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, and the New York Giants.
Walker attended and played college football at the University of Georgia, where he was awarded the Heisman Trophy in 1982. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
Early life
Walker was born in Wrightsville, Georgia to Willis and Christine Walker, one of seven children in a blue collar family.[1]
High school (1975–1979)
Walker played for the Johnson County High School Trojans in Wrightsville, Georgia from 1975–1979. In 1979, he rushed for 3,167 yards, helping the Trojans to their only state championship.[2] He was awarded the first Dial Award for the national high-school scholar-athlete of the year in 1979.
College career (1980–1983)
In college football, he played running back for the University of Georgia, where he was an All-American and won the 1982 Heisman Trophy. Walker was successful even in his freshman season in 1980, setting the NCAA freshman rushing record and finishing third in the Heisman Trophy voting while helping Georgia go undefeated, capping the National Championship season with a win over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.[3] He would go on to win the Heisman in 1982, his junior year.[4] In 1999, Walker was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.[5]
In the formation of the United States Football League, Walker saw an opportunity to do something then forbidden by NFL rules, namely, to turn professional after the end of his junior season rather than wait for his collegiate class to graduate (four years after the high-school graduation of his peer group). He also sought to choose where he would play professionally, as he felt he could make considerable money from product endorsements; as he was quoted on one occasion: "I don't know if I would want to play in the NFL unless it was for the two New York teams or the Dallas Cowboys."
With endorsement considerations in mind (As it turned out, however, Walker attracted only one major advertising deal, in a joint promotion by McDonald's and athletic-shoe manufacturer Adidas; in the ad, Walker's line was, "First the Big Mac meal—then the Adidas deal," referring to discount coupons on Adidas merchandise that accompanied the purchase of a Big Mac at McDonald's).[citation needed], Walker signed with the New Jersey Generals in 1983, owned by Oklahoma oilman J. Walter Duncan, who after the 1983 season sold the team to real-estate mogul Donald Trump. In order to circumvent the league-mandated $1.8-million salary cap, Walker signed a personal services contract with Duncan (later compensated by Trump) to the protest of no one, as the other owners appreciated Walker's name value to the league. Similar arrangements were made later when other big-name college stars signed with the league. Although this move was challenged in court, Walker and the USFL prevailed, and Walker began play with the Generals.
He went on to win the USFL rushing title in 1983 and 1985 and in the latter year also gaining over 4,000 yards in total offense. He holds the professional football record for single-season rushing yards with 2,411 yards in 1985, averaging 5.50 yards per attempt in 18 games. In his USFL career, Walker had 5,562 yards rushing in 1,143 carries, averaging 4.87 yards per carry, during his three seasons with the Generals. In 1983, he rushed for 1,812 yards in 18 games. In his second pro season, his rushing yardage dropped to 1,339, but he caught passes for more than 800 yards giving him over 2,100 yards in total offense.[6]
The Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League, suspecting that the USFL was not going to last, acquired Walker's NFL rights by drafting him in the fifth round of the 1985 NFL Draft. When the USFL in fact succumbed after its technically successful, but financially fruitless antitrust suit against the NFL in 1986, Walker went to play for the Cowboys, eventually establishing himself as a premier NFL running back with two consecutive Pro-Bowl seasons (1987 and 1988).
In 1989, at the height of his NFL career, the Cowboys traded Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for a total of five players (LB Jesse Solomon, DB Issiac Holt, RB Darrin Nelson, LB David Howard, DE Alex Stewart) and six draft picks (which led to Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Kevin Smith, and Darren Woodson). This was judged to be one of the turning points in the rise of the Cowboys to the top echelon of the NFL. Nicknamed the "HWT" (Herschel Walker Trade), Walker's trade was widely perceived as an exceptionally poor move considering what the Vikings had to give up in order to get him, and remains one of the most frequently vilified roster moves of the team's history. The Vikings coaches reluctantly accepted Walker after the trade and never totally used the tool they had been given. Scout.com says, "but Walker was never used properly by the coaching brain trust."[7] "Herschel the Turkey," a mocking "honor" given out by the Star Tribune newspaper to particularly inept or disgraceful Minnesota sports personalities, is named for him.[8]
Walker played for the Vikings for two and a half years, never amassing 1,000 rushing yards in a season. His rights were then acquired by the Philadelphia Eagles, and, subsequently, the New York Giants. Eventually, he was re-acquired by the Cowboys, where he was used not only as a running back but as a flanker and other offensive positions as well. In addition to running and catching passes, Walker was also often used to return kickoffs throughout his career.
Career overview
Walker rushed for 5,562 yards in his USFL career.[9] His combined rushing numbers for the USFL and the NFL (13,787 yards) would place him 5th All-Time on the NFL's career rushing list.[10]
In 12 NFL seasons, Walker gained 8,225 rushing yards, 4,859 receiving yards, and 5,084 kickoff-return yards.[11] This gave him 18,168 total combined net yards, ranking him second among the NFL's all-time leaders in total yardage at the time of his retirement; as of the start of the 2007 NFL season, ten years after his retirement, he still ranks eighth.[12] He also scored 84 touchdowns: 61 rushing, 21 receiving and two kick off returns for touchdowns.[11] Walker is the only player to have 10,000+ yards from scrimmage and 5,000+ return yards (all of which were on kickoff returns). He is the only player to gain 4,000 yards three different ways: rushing, receiving, and kickoff returns. He is one of six players (Jim Brown, Lenny Moore, Marcus Allen, Marshall Faulk, and Thurman Thomas) to exceed 60 touchdowns rushing and 20 touchdowns receiving. Another NFL record he possesses is that he is the only player with a 90+ yard reception, 90+ yard run, and a 90+ yard kickoff return all in the same season (1994). He is also the only player to record an 84+ yard touchdown run and an 84+ yard touchdown reception, in the same game (December 14, 1986). That same day, he had 100 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving. Walker is currently ranked eighth all time in all-purpose yards with 18,168, despite spending his first three seasons in the USFL.
There will perhaps always be a certain tendency to view Herschel Walker's professional career as a disappointment.[citation needed] This is likely due to the high, even unrealistic, expectations that were placed on him due to his extraordinary college career and the scrutiny to which he was subjected because of the dollar amount of his trade to the Minnesota Vikings. Another factor working against Walker's legacy is the fact that he never played on a championship team. Others, however, defend Walker by pointing out that he was at least in part a victim of the rule changes that had been adopted by the NFL in the spring of 1978, which were widely assumed to discourage offenses from running (rather than time; in addition, the NFL teams on which Walker played seldom used the I-formation, out of which he ran so successfully throughout his career.
Legacy
Walker is regarded as one of the top college running backs of all time. In 1999, he was selected to Sports Illustrated's NCAA Football All-Century Team.[13] On the Fox Sports Net show Sports List, Walker was named the best college football running back of all time, and was selected as the third greatest player in college football history by ESPN.[14] Walker had his jersey number "34" retired from his alma mater, The University of Georgia.
In 2003 Johnson County High School named its football field in his honor.[15]
Walker was a highly popular and visible personality, even in his college days, as evidenced by the fact that both a thoroughbred and a standardbred race horse were named after him, the former while he was still in college. He also made several appearances in the sports documentary Damn Good Dog (2004).[16]
Training
Walker is also intriguing for being one of the few pro football players to become successful without the use of free weight training. Rather than a heavy weight room regimen, Walker used bodyweight exercise, calisthenics, and conditioning. He remains to this day an oddity in the pro football world. He has been said to do hundreds of pushups and situps daily, rather than lift weights, while maintaining extremely low body fat.
Walker married his college sweetheart, Cindy DeAngelis Grossman in 1983. After eighteen years of marriage they divorced in 2001.[17]
He is a born-again Christian who frequently talked about his faith during his USFL interviews. Since his retirement he has attracted little publicity, although he made a guest appearance on The Hour of Power, hosted by noted televangelist Robert Schuller.
He has a sixth-degree black belt in tae kwon do and he nearly made the Olympic team in the sprint relay. He competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics in two-man bobsled, finishing seventh.[18] He ran the 100 meters in 10.22, the 100 yards in 9.3. He also won back-to-back American Superstars competitions in 1987 and 1988. Walker stated in a phone interview on The Jim Rome Show on November 20, 2006 that he still performs 2,500 sit-ups and 1,500 push ups every morning. He has been going through this same routine every morning since high school.
In November 2007, Walker appeared on the HDNet show Inside MMA as a guest. He indicated that he would take part in a mixed martial arts reality show in the near future (along with José Canseco) and that he would have an official MMA fight at the conclusion of the show.[19]
In a 2008 autobiography entitled "Breaking Free," Walker confesses that he suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as "multiple personality disorder."[20] He has claimed that due to his disorder, he cannot remember the season he won the Heisman Trophy, let alone the moment. He also claimed that during an episode, he had held a gun to his own head. He stated he did not ever remember doing this. He is getting help for this disorder, and feels he has recovered by gaining back control.[21]
He has recently been a contestant in the second season of the Donald Trump reality television show Celebrity Apprentice Although he owns a food service company[22], he was fired during the 8th episode for failing as Project Manager on a task to create a new meal for Schwan's LiveSmart frozen food line.[23] Throughout the season, each celebrity raised money for a charity of his or her choice; Walker selected the "Alternative Community Development Services (dba Project Turnaround)."[24]
MMA Career
On September 21, 2009, it was announced that Herschel has been signed by MMA promotion Strikeforce to compete in their heavyweight division. He will begin a 12-week training camp with trainer Bob Cook, at the American Kickboxing Academy California in October. American Kickboxing Academy is the high-profile camp in San Jose, Calif., that trains UFC standouts Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Jon Fitch, Cain Velasquez and Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson. It is unknown when or with whom Walker will be entering the cage,[25] although on a recent interview on ESPN, Walker stated that he may fight as early as December 2009.[26] He has recently appeared in a commercial for Zaxby's."I've been training for several years. I would play college football games on Saturday and then compete in martial arts tournaments on Sunday after church. I'm now looking forward to opening up another chapter in my life and to competing in MMA," said Walker in a news release.
Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown |
|
| 0 matches |
0 wins |
0 losses |
| By knockout |
0 |
0 |
| By submission |
0 |
0 |
| By decision |
0 |
0 |
| Draws |
0 |
| No contests |
0 |
References
External links
