Former NFL running back considers comeback

Herschel Walker, left, fights Scott Carson during a Strikeforce heavyweight mixed martial arts fight in San Jose Calif., Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Ben Ray Staff Writer

Herschel Walker is a freak-there’s no other way to put it. He is considered one of the greatest players to play college football, finishing with 5,259 yards rushing in his career to go along with 26 touchdowns.

Those impressive numbers helped him become the only player to finish in the top three in Heisman voting every year he played, winning the 1982 Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award.

His professional career was not too shabby either. He signed with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League in 1983, where he led the league in rushing in 1983 and 1985.

In 1985, he had arguably the most successful season in professional football history, finishing with over 4,000 yards of total offense, including rushing for a professional football record of 2,411 yards, shattering the National Football League record of 2,105 yards established by Eric Dickerson in 1984. He finished his USFL career with 5,562 yards rushing.

Walker made the switch to the NFL in 1986, playing for the Dallas Cowboys. He played for four teams over a 13-year career, finally retiring in 1997 while playing for the Cowboys.

He finished his career with 8,225 yards rushing, 61 touchdowns, 4,859 receiving yards, 21 touchdown receptions, and 5,084 kick return yards. His combined total rushing yards between the USFL and the NFL is 13,787, technically making him No. 5 all-time.

So what is one of the greatest football players of all time up to these days? The 48-year old Walker now spends his free time during his post-football days training for Mixed Martial Arts fights, and guess what-he’s pretty good.

He defeated Greg “Dangerous” Nagy in his first fight, proving that Nagy is in fact not that “dangerous.” Nagy was born in 1983, the same year Walker made his professional football debut. Walker then proved the first fight was no fluke, knocking out Scott Carson in the first round of his next match.

You won’t find many NFL players in the kind of shape that Walker is in as he approaches the young age of 50, as he claims to do over 3,500 sit-ups and 1,000 push-ups a day.

You also will not find any former NFL players that at the age of 50 would even consider a comeback, but then again Walker has never been one to back down from a challenge.

Walker is also a fifth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and also danced with the Fort Worth Ballet. In 1992, he qualified as the brakeman for United States two-man bobsled team and the four-man bobsled team, eventually only competing with the two-man team and finishing seventh.

The bottom line is Walker is a freak. He dominated college football for three years, became one of the premier players in the USFL, and had a long career in the NFL. It’s not too crazy to think that he could make a comeback to the NFL.

With most teams going to a two-back system, Walker could easily split time with another back. He claims to want to play for the Vikings again. Wouldn’t that be something?

Fresh off of the dramatic Farve-era, the Vikings could begin the Herschel Walker era. Could you imagine Walker being paired up with another freak like Adrian Peterson? Yeah, me too.

So Herschel, I know that you are reading this right now, and I ask that you make this dream a reality and come back to the NFL.

It would be something spectacular to see Walker make a comeback. It would be even better for the NFL as the league faces a potential lock out, as the leagues player’s association and owners can’t come to an agreement on the new collective bargaining agreement.

What better way to get fans back on board by featuring a 50-year-old running back? Heck, put him on the cover of Madden football, I am sure that he would even break the dreaded Madden curse.