Thursday, January 27, 2011

Hey Herschel ... Pa-leeeeze say it ain't so

       Herschel Walker's desire to play pro football again might not be such a bad idea if the NFL had a 40-years and older bracket. But since that's not the case, the former Heisman Trophy winner should abandon such talk.      
       Yeah, I've heard the conversations about how he's still a marvelous physical specimen. Can't argue with that. It's obvious that Herschel has not been rooted to a Lazy-Boy since he retired from the game 13 years ago. And sure, he's got the requisite toughness as a shining star on the mixed martial arts circuit.
       Looks can be deceiving.
       Exhibit A: Muhammad Ali.
       "The Greatest" had everybody psyched out when he faced Larry Holmes as a 38-year old shell of himself in 1980. Ali's weight was down and physically, he looked as fit as the night he "whupped" Sonny Liston. Looks couldn't help Ali against his old sparring partner. It was so sad to look at that full-page picture of Ali that ran on the back page of the New York Times. The photo captured the visual essence of a worn-out and badly bludgeoned fighter sitting on a stool in his corner, unable to answer the bell for the 11th round of a scheduled 15-round championship fight.
       Herschel, whose 49th birthday isn't that far off, is still chiseled. At 215 pounds, he's a little lighter than what he was during his days as a pro. As for speed, who really knows? He claims he can run 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash. I'm not convinced of that. But let's give him the benefit of the doubt. And let's not forget that the Herschmeister was an Olympic bobsledder.
       An adage that many of us have heard since high school still rings true. Football is a collision sport. The only way to get in shape for football is to play football. The last time Herschel was on an NFL payroll as a player, Bill Clinton had just started his second term as America's Commander-in-Chief.
       That's a long time to stay away from the collision sport. As an athlete ages, their reflexes and reaction time diminish. Also consider the physical pounding that pro players take, running backs in particular. In the fighting sports such as boxing and mixed martial arts, the athletes don't compete all that often (three, four times a year) compared to pro football. In contrast, the NFL season is now running five months or longer (depending on if a team makes the playoffs and how far they advance).
        At best, it would be a long shot for Herschel to survive the rigors of practices and games for that length of time -- and that's being kind. When an athlete stays in a sport for too long, or attempts to make a comeback well past his or her prime, he or she invites disaster. We can all remember scenarios of players trying to recapture their days of glory even though their time as a prime-time player was over. It was sad to watch legends like Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath and O.J. Simpson in the final days.
       As for me, I'd rather remember Herschel as that amazingly freakish package of size and speed in those days when he was the Goliath of college football. On the pro side, he still ranks among the best all-around offensive players to ever put on a uniform.
      Herschel Walker, do us and yourself a favor. Cease and desist. Instead of an NFL comeback, come up with another idea that has a reasonable chance of coming to pass.
      
     
   
      
     

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