Herschel Walker Thinking Comeback in 2011???

[Harry Buffalo]

Ex-great Walker says he can still play

The Philadelphia Daily News

 

As improbable as it would be at age 48, Herschel Walker believes he can become "the George Foreman of football."

 

Walker, the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner as a Georgia junior running back, played 15 seasons of professional football, including 1992 through '94 with the Eagles, and retired at the end of the 1997 NFL season.

 

He remains the only NFL player to score three ways on plays of 90 or more yards in the same season, achieving that spectacular hat trick for the Eagles in 1994 by taking it to the house on a rush, a pass reception and a kickoff return.

 

To hear him tell it, Walker can still give a boost to any NFL team willing to ignore the date on his birth certificate. He turns 49 on March 3.

 

"If I continue to stay in the shape I'm in now, I know I can play when I'm 50," Walker insisted yesterday during a teleconference to promote his Saturday bout with 27-year-old Scott Carson in a Strikeforce event in San Jose, Calif.

 

"Right now, if you asked me if I can play today, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind I can play football, that I can help a team out," said Walker, whose spent his final three NFL seasons primarily as a receiver and kick returner for the Giants and Cowboys. "I can 100 percent guarantee you I can help a football team out . . .

 

"I think I'm a better conditioned athlete right now than I was when I was playing. I'm 48 now, and I'm in better shape now than I was in my early 20s playing football."

 

A remarkably versatile athlete who flashed Olympic-level sprinter's speed for the Georgia track team and made it to the 1992 Winter Olympics as a bobsledder, Walker's latest — or, more accurately, most enduring — competitive passion is mixed martial arts. A student of MMA since he was 15, he holds a fifth-degree black belt in tae kwon do and also has trained in such varied fighting disciplines as Muay Thai and Kenpo.

 

The matchup with Carson (4-1), originally scheduled for Dec. 4 but postponed when Walker (1-0) was cut above his eye in training, is the second with Strikeforce for the 1999 College Football Hall of Fame inductee. He made his debut by scoring a third-round technical knockout over another opponent more than 20 years his junior, Greg Nagy, on Jan. 30, 2010.

 

Walker and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker were on the teleconference to promote a Showtime-televised card headlined by the matchup of welterweight champion Nick Diaz and Evangelista Cyborg. But Walker is the major attraction, at least with casual viewers unfamiliar with more established MMA stars, as Coker noted in calling him "arguably one of the greatest athletes of the century." He didn't say whether that was the 20th century, or the 21st.

 

Some of the questions Walker fielded were about his relative neophyte status in MMA, and he answered them with appropriate humility.

 

"I want to step into that cage on Saturday and have people say, 'Hey, this guy can really fight,' " said Walker, who added that "I can never say I'm a great MMA fighter, but I can still say I have a lot of athleticism."

 

But when the talk got around to football, as might be expected the day after the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers advanced to Super Bowl XLV, Walker was in more comfortable territory.

 

"I picked Green Bay and Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl, and I got it right," said Walker, who likes the Steelers to win their seventh Lombardi Trophy.

 

Walker is a two-time Pro Bowler who ranks eighth on the NFL career list, with 18,168 all-purpose yards, and led the USFL in rushing twice in his first three seasons as a pro.

 

He clearly longs to play in the Super Bowl, something he never accomplished. He said he was clocked in 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash last February, and "I think if I can get back to my track work, I can run it pretty fast. I know I can run it better than a 4.5."

 

Walker did, however, contribute in his own way to three Super Bowl victories for the Dallas Cowboys. The retooling Cowboys traded him to the Minnesota Vikings five games into the 1989 season, acquiring five players and six draft choices (including one that became Emmitt Smith, now the NFL's all-time leading rusher), which laid the foundation for the Dallas dynasty of the mid-1990s.

 

Walker never thought he was used properly in Minnesota, which is a part of the reason he so welcomed his time with his next team, the Eagles.

 

"I had a great time in Philly," he said. "I didn't know what to expect when I first went to Philadelphia. I knew they had some real tough fans, but I fell in love with the fans there. They got on your case when you didn't play well, but they cheered you on when you did.

 

"To be honest with you, I think Philly rejuvenated my football career. Philadelphia gave me an opportunity to play with somebody like Reggie White, who I consider to be one of the finest defensive linemen ever. I got to play with Randall Cunningham, Seth Joyner, all those guys. I love Philly. I tell everyone Philly is a tough city, but they know their sports and they love their sports."

 

Asked what team he would like to play for if he returned, Walker said: "I'd say either Minnesota or Atlanta. Probably Atlanta the most, since it's home for me. Being a Georgia boy, and all. It's just home for me."

 

Although it's highly unlikely a pushing-50 Walker would ever be offered an NFL contract, consider this: The cover of the Dec. 12, 1983, issue of Sports Illustrated had a then-47-year-old Jim Brown in a Raiders uniform. Alongside Brown's photo was a headline that read: "You serious? A comeback at 47? HEY! You're just what the borrr-ing NFL needs!" *

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Hersche...y-in-NFL-012511

 

Holy hell. I don't even know what to think about this guy playing any position at age 48.

[TheClevelandSound]

No.

[Erie Dawg]

I don't doubt for a minute walker could do it. He is one very fit individual, and seeing him in the ring for a fight, the man was cut. You can tell he didn't hang up the cleats and pick up the remote

[tshirtfan]

If his bones can handle the beating, he can do it.

 

Ricky Williams has extended his longevity with yoga, calisthenics, and probably most of all splitting carries. I bet Walker could last 200 carries.

[Vagitron]

I don't doubt for a minute walker could do it. He is one very fit individual, and seeing him in the ring for a fight, the man was cut. You can tell he didn't hang up the cleats and pick up the remote

 

Fit to fight and fit to play in the NFL are two completely different animals. I think he'd get killed.

[ClevelandBigDawg]

Let's pick him up. It can't hurt right??

 

Someone had to do it.

[JFoul]

I dont know if he could handle the beating in the NFL now because of age. That aside, the guy has always been a physical freak and I remember reading somewhere that he was recently clocked at 4.35 in the 40yd dash.

[steel88]

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/1/24/19528...ll-live-updates

 

bam 4.38 at 47 years old

[hoorta]

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/1/24/19528...ll-live-updates

 

bam 4.38 at 47 years old

 

ER, right- don't believe everything that's printed. Marcus Allen played in the NFL at 37, and Walker thinks he can still tote the rock at 10+ years older? I'd like to see it. And not by the Browns.

 

[Kosar_For_President]

If anyone can do it it is this dude.

[lodilobo]

Ex-great Walker says he can still play

The Philadelphia Daily News

 

As improbable as it would be at age 48, Herschel Walker believes he can become "the George Foreman of football."

 

Walker, the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner as a Georgia junior running back, played 15 seasons of professional football, including 1992 through '94 with the Eagles, and retired at the end of the 1997 NFL season.

 

He remains the only NFL player to score three ways on plays of 90 or more yards in the same season, achieving that spectacular hat trick for the Eagles in 1994 by taking it to the house on a rush, a pass reception and a kickoff return.

 

To hear him tell it, Walker can still give a boost to any NFL team willing to ignore the date on his birth certificate. He turns 49 on March 3.

 

"If I continue to stay in the shape I'm in now, I know I can play when I'm 50," Walker insisted yesterday during a teleconference to promote his Saturday bout with 27-year-old Scott Carson in a Strikeforce event in San Jose, Calif.

 

"Right now, if you asked me if I can play today, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind I can play football, that I can help a team out," said Walker, whose spent his final three NFL seasons primarily as a receiver and kick returner for the Giants and Cowboys. "I can 100 percent guarantee you I can help a football team out . . .

 

"I think I'm a better conditioned athlete right now than I was when I was playing. I'm 48 now, and I'm in better shape now than I was in my early 20s playing football."

 

A remarkably versatile athlete who flashed Olympic-level sprinter's speed for the Georgia track team and made it to the 1992 Winter Olympics as a bobsledder, Walker's latest — or, more accurately, most enduring — competitive passion is mixed martial arts. A student of MMA since he was 15, he holds a fifth-degree black belt in tae kwon do and also has trained in such varied fighting disciplines as Muay Thai and Kenpo.

 

The matchup with Carson (4-1), originally scheduled for Dec. 4 but postponed when Walker (1-0) was cut above his eye in training, is the second with Strikeforce for the 1999 College Football Hall of Fame inductee. He made his debut by scoring a third-round technical knockout over another opponent more than 20 years his junior, Greg Nagy, on Jan. 30, 2010.

 

Walker and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker were on the teleconference to promote a Showtime-televised card headlined by the matchup of welterweight champion Nick Diaz and Evangelista Cyborg. But Walker is the major attraction, at least with casual viewers unfamiliar with more established MMA stars, as Coker noted in calling him "arguably one of the greatest athletes of the century." He didn't say whether that was the 20th century, or the 21st.

 

Some of the questions Walker fielded were about his relative neophyte status in MMA, and he answered them with appropriate humility.

 

"I want to step into that cage on Saturday and have people say, 'Hey, this guy can really fight,' " said Walker, who added that "I can never say I'm a great MMA fighter, but I can still say I have a lot of athleticism."

 

But when the talk got around to football, as might be expected the day after the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers advanced to Super Bowl XLV, Walker was in more comfortable territory.

 

"I picked Green Bay and Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl, and I got it right," said Walker, who likes the Steelers to win their seventh Lombardi Trophy.

 

Walker is a two-time Pro Bowler who ranks eighth on the NFL career list, with 18,168 all-purpose yards, and led the USFL in rushing twice in his first three seasons as a pro.

 

He clearly longs to play in the Super Bowl, something he never accomplished. He said he was clocked in 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash last February, and "I think if I can get back to my track work, I can run it pretty fast. I know I can run it better than a 4.5."

 

Walker did, however, contribute in his own way to three Super Bowl victories for the Dallas Cowboys. The retooling Cowboys traded him to the Minnesota Vikings five games into the 1989 season, acquiring five players and six draft choices (including one that became Emmitt Smith, now the NFL's all-time leading rusher), which laid the foundation for the Dallas dynasty of the mid-1990s.

 

Walker never thought he was used properly in Minnesota, which is a part of the reason he so welcomed his time with his next team, the Eagles.

 

"I had a great time in Philly," he said. "I didn't know what to expect when I first went to Philadelphia. I knew they had some real tough fans, but I fell in love with the fans there. They got on your case when you didn't play well, but they cheered you on when you did.

 

"To be honest with you, I think Philly rejuvenated my football career. Philadelphia gave me an opportunity to play with somebody like Reggie White, who I consider to be one of the finest defensive linemen ever. I got to play with Randall Cunningham, Seth Joyner, all those guys. I love Philly. I tell everyone Philly is a tough city, but they know their sports and they love their sports."

 

Asked what team he would like to play for if he returned, Walker said: "I'd say either Minnesota or Atlanta. Probably Atlanta the most, since it's home for me. Being a Georgia boy, and all. It's just home for me."

 

Although it's highly unlikely a pushing-50 Walker would ever be offered an NFL contract, consider this: The cover of the Dec. 12, 1983, issue of Sports Illustrated had a then-47-year-old Jim Brown in a Raiders uniform. Alongside Brown's photo was a headline that read: "You serious? A comeback at 47? HEY! You're just what the borrr-ing NFL needs!" *

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Hersche...y-in-NFL-012511

 

Holy hell. I don't even know what to think about this guy playing any position at age 48.

This reminds me of Jim Brown. About 20 years ago, he challenged Franco Harris to a foot race.....100 yard dash, I think. Brown was 50 years old, and Harris was in his prime. Ask Jim how that worked out.

[nickers]

He must be friends with Ricky Williams and smokin the good stuff...

[WRREBEL]

I would love to see this.. it would be entertaining at worst. But what team woud waste a roster slot on him?

[LCDawgFan13]

I hope he gets a tryout somewhere. It would be fun to follow. His conditioning is there...the guy is in incredible shape. And still running a sub 4.5 40 time. The only question is if he can take the beating...but he seems to be answering that everyday with the guys he is training with in mma. If anyone out there has ever done any mma training, you know that you definitely take a beating. I think he might be able to share time in the backfield behind a solid O-line.

[Speedyd900rr]

Im sure he's just saying this to promote his fight in some wierd way.

 

Either way, all I got from the article was that he thinks he can help a team out not that he really wants to.

[The Gipper]

If he is serious about doing this, I think he should try it first with the UFL with the Florida Tuskers or Las Vegas Locomotives or whoever.

[BUNSofSTEEL08]

This reminds me of Jim Brown. About 20 years ago, he challenged Franco Harris to a foot race.....100 yard dash, I think. Brown was 50 years old, and Harris was in his prime. Ask Jim how that worked out.

OUCH My Hammy !!!

I Am 48...Play Hoops 3 days a week... I play with 20 and 30 yrs old guys. Shoot Pass well... Rebound... Drive... the Problem ? This year pulled Calf (Twice) and a Sore Achilles !! When my Muscles and such are holding up ..its Cool though.

[TheClevelandSound]

OUCH My Hammy !!!

I Am 48...Play Hoops 3 days a week... I play with 20 and 30 yrs old guys. Shoot Pass well... Rebound... Drive... the Problem ? This year pulled Calf (Twice) and a Sore Achilles !! When my Muscles and such are holding up ..its Cool though.

 

And I Talk...Like This !!!

[Tim Couch Pulls Out]

This was all taken out of context. He's not planning a comeback. He said he was in the best shape of his life and a reporter asked if he could still play football, to which he responded yes. And he then went on to explain that he feels that his body and mind is in the best shape ever, and that he doesn't feel his age shouldn't hinder him from playing.

 

On Jim Rome today, he said he would not be making a comeback, and it was all just the media herding a story to their points.

 

 

At 50 years old, fighting in Strikeforce and running 4.3 40's? I'm pretty sure he could still play football, and probably even start. Splitting carries, more than likely.

[DieHardBrownsFan]

When you reach his age your body cannot take the contact and recover nearly as quickly as it could as when you are in your twenties. That is just a fact of life. He may be in great physical condition, but he would not last long before he was taken out on a stretcher.

[lodilobo]

OUCH My Hammy !!!

I Am 48...Play Hoops 3 days a week... I play with 20 and 30 yrs old guys. Shoot Pass well... Rebound... Drive... the Problem ? This year pulled Calf (Twice) and a Sore Achilles !! When my Muscles and such are holding up ..its Cool though.

Yeah...tell me about it. When I was 48, I was still running marathons. Now that I'm 60, both knees need replacements....bone on bone....When they told me I had to get the knees replaced, I asked how long the rehab would be, before I could start running again. My doctor just looked at me weird, and called me an idiot. I'm still running....much less. Enjoy those games while you can......getting old sucks.