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Tag: Herschel Walker

  • Herschel Walker Trade Sees 25th Anniversary This Week

    This week is the 25th anniversary of the biggest trade that happened in the history of American football.  On October 12, 25 years ago, running back Herschel Walker was traded to the Minnesota Vikings by the Dallas Cowboys. The Walker trade led to the success of the Dallas Cowboys in the early 1990s, which has made it widely considered as one of the five biggest trades in all of sports history.

    The historic deal involved the Cowboys trading their talented running back to the Vikings, who reportedly believed that it needed Walker to start the team winning championships. Instead, the deal jumpstarted a hugely successful period for the Cowboys, who were able to select Emmitt Smith, Alvin Harper, Darren Woodson and others with the picks the Vikings provided to form a team that would get them to the Super Bowl by 1992.

    According to The Viking Age, Vikings coach Mike Lynn had been wrong about the team’s needs and his expectations of Walker’s addition to it. “Walker was not a top-of-the-line dominating Walter Payton/Eric Dickerson running back but a complementary back, a good piece who needed other good pieces around him in order to be of value,” wrote Dan Zinski of The Viking Age. Apparently, Lynn did not notice “the yawning void at quarterback” as well as other key roles the Vikings needed to boost in order to improve their performance.

    The Cowboys enjoyed great success in the Super Bowl as a result of the Walker trade, but things didn’t necessarily become peaceful for the team with its success. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and coach Jimmy Johnson have reportedly been feuding since the early ‘90s and are still arguing over who gets credit for the Walker trade 25 years after it happened.

    Johnson reportedly claims he surprised Jones with the idea of trading Walker, while Jones counters that he had been toying with the idea before they ever started directly talking about it. Johnson eventually left the Cowboys with a $2 million severance check.

  • Herschel Walker Backs Trump For Bills Ownership

    Herschel Walker gave an interesting interview to USA Today this week, and portions of it have spread like wildfire online after he both claimed he could step into an NFL game today–at the age of 52–and announced that he backs Donald Trump’s decision to go for ownership of the Buffalo Bills.

    Walker and Trump have a longstanding friendship, going back to his pre-NFL days, when he played for the tycoon on the USFL’s New Jersey Generals in 1984/1985. Walker says Trump would keep the Bills relevant.

    “He would be a great owner, and a credible owner. People can think what they want to think about Jerry Jones — he’s a terrible general manager, but he’s a great owner. He has done a tremendous job in marketing his team to keep it relevant. I think that’s the same thing Donald Trump would do with the Buffalo Bills,” Walker said.

    While many of Trump’s fans are supportive of the idea, some think he may have a problem with some of the other NFL owners after his 1986 antitrust lawsuit against the league on behalf of the USFL.

    “He did try to bring the NFL down,” said an unnamed NFL owner. “Certainly, a lot of owners aren’t around anymore. Maybe some of the new guys wouldn’t bear the same type of resentment that some of the older guys would. Do you think he would be a good partner for us or be somewhat of a maverick and be in it for himself? All questions that have to be asked. It’s not just the USFL stuff. Who knows how serious he is. He likes to have his name out there. Let’s put it this way: I don’t think his confirmation would be a slam dunk.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Herschel Walker, MMA Fighter, Wants To Play Football, Thinks Trump Should Own Buffalo Bills

    In an interview with USA Today, Herschel Walker, 52 year old former NFL running back and current MMA fighter, said “I can play in the NFL today.” Although he conceded that he “couldn’t take every snap”, he was quick to point out, “running backs nowadays don’t play every down. Now they send in the choir section. Physically, I can still do it.”

    Walker made similar noises about returning to the NFL back in 2011, when he was still 48. “I’ve told everyone that at 50 I might try football again to show people I can do that,” he had said at a news conference, “I’m 48 and in better shape now than I was when I was in my early 20s, playing football.” He added that, if he did join a team, it would be the Atlanta Falcons because “I’m a Georgia boy. That’s just home.”

    It has been 17 years since Walker last played football. His last game was in 1997 when he played for the Dallas Cowboys and barely touched the ball. The Cowboys lost to the New York Giants 20 to 7.

    Playing football wasn’t all Walker discussed with USA Today. He said that Donald Trump would be “a great owner, and a credible owner” for the Buffalo Bills.

    “People can think what they want to think about Jerry Jones — he’s a terrible general manager, but he’s a great owner. He has done a tremendous job in marketing his team to keep it relevant. I think that’s the same thing Donald Trump would do with the Buffalo Bills,” Walker explained, “He may rub some people the wrong way, but you can’t argue with his success as a businessman. You want an owner with some flair. He knows how to promote.”

    Speaking of promotion, Trump was apparently tickled with Walker’s comments, repeating them in a tweet:

    There is no mention of Walker’s comments on his Twitter account. Instead, the former football player focuses on his charity efforts. WHAS11 reported that Walker was in Louisville, KY last week to discuss mental health. Health, both mental and physical, has been a key issue for Walker in the many charity events he attends.

    Herschel Walker wrote Breaking Free: My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorder. According to the publisher’s website, “In Breaking Free, Herschel tells his story — from the joys and hardships of childhood to his explosive impact on college football to his remarkable professional career. And he gives voice and hope to those suffering from DID. Herschel shows how this disorder played an integral role in his accomplishments and how he has learned to live with it today.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons