Herschel Walker Vying For NFL Comeback?

Super Bowl XLV fever is in the air, and one person who’s catching it is Herschel Walker. As he prepares for this second mixed martial arts fight this weekend against Scott Carson at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg, Walker seems adamant that he can still contribute to an NFL team despite the fact that he’s turning 49-years old this coming March.

Using old people in sports is a gimmick reserved for farm teams, bad Kevin Costner movies, good Robert Redford movies, the Minnesota Vikings and struggling sports entities like Strikeforce. It’s almost unthinkable to have Walker suit up again for any NFL team no matter how desperate they are.

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There are natural safety concerns about a man Walker’s age fighting in the ring, especially considering that he doesn’t have the experience of a guy like Randy Couture who is 47-years old. Strikeforce uses Walker in “safe” matches against guys that don’t have a discernable future in the sport so that Walker can be used as a central attraction to draw viewers.

That’s mostly because Strikeforce is still having trouble taking a chunk out of the UFC’s viewership. The NFL doesn’t really have that problem, and I simply can’t envision any team making a high risk investment in a guy who has been on this planet for nearly a half-century.

Assuming that Brett Favre actually retires this year, there is no player over the age of 40 that plays a position that involves full contact. There’s a handful of kickers in the league who are over forty, but nobody cares about them anyways.

Walker still claims he can run a sub 4.40 forty yard dash, and while I certainly won’t question his athletic talent or his natural gift for speed, I doubt if his body can handle the brutality of the sport he hasn’t played professionally in nearly fourteen years.

What Herschel Walker should do instead is put a football helmet on his skull, run as fast as he can, head first in to a brick wall and see if he survives. Because that’s what it probably feels like to be tackled by James Harrison and Clay Matthews these days.

While Walker never played in the Super Bowl, he is still eighth on the NFL’s list for all-purpose yards. He would need 5,378 more yards to surpass Jerry Rice, who tops the list. In other words – he’s a football legend.

Perhaps that’s just the way it should stay. Still, it’s nice to see Walker display a big passion for the game of football. I’m sure there are a lot of Chicago Bears fans that wish their quarterback had the same kind of spirit that Walker has.

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