He's 52 years young, and he won two mixed martial arts bouts a few years ago. So, why shouldn't Herschel Walker jump back into pro football?
“I can play in the NFL today,” Walker, the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner and 15-year pro player, told USA TODAY in a Thursday story. “I couldn’t take every snap. But running backs nowadays don’t play every down. Now they send in the choir section.
“Physically, I can still do it.”
The last time Walker physically did it was 1997, 17 years ago, meaning he has been out of the NFL since before Peyton Manning got in. Between his 12 years in the NFL (with the Cowboys, Vikings and Eagles) and three in the USFL, he rushed for 13,787 yards, behind only the NFL totals of Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Curtis Martin.
Walker, though, was always known for being a spectacular physical specimen honed by a well-documented regimen of sit-ups and pushups dating back to his high school days, before he became a star at Georgia in 1980.
He was 48 when he won his MMA bouts before walking away from that sport. "Hey, I'm 2-0,'' he told USA Today.