He Whose Name Shall Not Be Spoken Wants To Make A Comeback?
by Christopher Gates on Jan 25, 2011 12:35 AM CST
in Minnesota Vikings
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PrintThere's one player in the illustrious history of the Minnesota Vikings that tends to make fans of the Beloved Purple cringe like none other. He was thought to be the missing piece to a Super Bowl puzzle, and he was. . .for another team, after the Vikings gave up a boatload of picks and players to acquire him. The mere mention of this player's name is often enough to send Viking fans into an uncontrollable fit. So, in the interest of everyone's public health and sanity, I'm not going to outright mention his name here.
(If you don't know who I'm talking about by this point. . .ask another Viking fan. I take no responsibility for what happens after you hear the name.)
Well, it turns out that this player is. . .and I hope you're sitting down for this. . .wanting to make a comeback to the NFL.
Apparently he feels that he's in better shape now at the ripe old age of 48 than he was when he actually played in the National Football League. He also hasn't played a single down in the NFL since 1997. But, when asked about the possibility of a comeback, he listed two possible teams.
"The two teams I would come back to play for are Minnesota or Atlanta," (he who shall not be named) said. "It would probably be Atlanta because that's home for me.
I know it's a long shot to happen and everything. . .but, still, this is too weird to comprehend at this point.
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Considering the things that have happened to this franchise....
Would you really be surprised if it happened?
Prior to this year, perhaps
After this year? Not one bit.
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by Christopher Gates on Jan 25, 2011 12:39 AM CST up reply actions
lol I was thinking the same thing.
Hey for the price we paid for him he should still be playing for us… Or at least wiping out the locker room.
It's a lot easier to love the Vikings when they win...
Does this guys name rhyme with
Werschel Halker?
What the hell is a nurple?
Real words.
"Time for some Percy Harvin Magic Baby!"-Me right before he returned a Kickoff for a Touchdown against Shits, err, Pittsburgh...
by marsexxxy23 on Jan 25, 2011 3:37 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Like Marsexxxy23 said...
Nurple is not a word.
Just like Shizzle is not a word, yet you can rhyme anything if you end it with izzle.
You catch my drizzle?
But I should not confine that to Snoop,
Snoop spent 20 years rhyming plenty other words, so he gets a pass for the “izzle”.
Hell, John Cougar Mellencamp is famous because he rhymed “town” with “town” for an entire song.
Purple rhymes with Her pell.
Pell is a word look it up!
It's a lot easier to love the Vikings when they win...
Hershel will have to ask Hershel if this is a good move for Hershel
Gosh, what an opportunity to do a stunt. Not that the guy would be totally horrible; he knows how to carry a football, and at 48 he’s still probably faster than some running backs in the NFL…
I wouldn’t want him on the Vikings, but it would be interesting to see if he could get his 40-yard dash time below five seconds. I never saw a guy run harder in a straight line, but there’s an inevitable degradation of muscle tissue as we age…ask Jack Lalanne.
Interestingly enough
He said he just ran a 4.4.
Of course that is crazy Herschel land too.
by Jepp The Viking on Jan 25, 2011 11:01 AM CST up reply actions
Could you see him after one game?
Laying on the field pretending he was dead? Hell a practice would kill him.
It's a lot easier to love the Vikings when they win...
One hit from a top LB or S and
He is going to have a vested interest in the scooter store.
Worse SB matchup ever!
As I was reading this I kept thinking...
“…there’s no way they’re talking about HIM, right? There has to be some other player who is equally despised under identical circumstances…”
Nope.
Hmmm
We Vikings fans shouldn’t have animosity toward Herschel Walker. The trade wasn’t his idea. When he got to the Vikings, he did about the same as he did for other teams. The problem with the trade is that the Vikings front office agreed to it.
Some elite athletes just have it in their bloog. I bet Brett Favre and Herschel Walker would play football forever if they could.
The point is, seeing a 50 year old man taking a big hit would seem more like elderly abuse than a sport.
Mike Lynn's Fault
And then when we had him, we didn’t use him appropriately. The complete failure of the “trade” is on the Vikings FO and HC.
Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!
SKOL!
by DCPurple on Jan 25, 2011 7:09 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Absolutely
I bear no ill will towards Herschel Walker. Our front office and coaching staff completely whiffed on that one.
1. We gave up far too much for him.
2. Once we had him we didn’t design a running game to utilize his strengths.
I think I remember Jerry Burns saying something to the effect that he didn’t want the offense to become one dimensional around Herschel Walker. It didn’t have to be!
For a guy that I consider to be an offensive genius and the originator of the so called, “west coast offense”, that just boggles my mind.
I AM VIKING, HEAR ME ROAR!!!
You are right about it not being his fault
But, he is the symbolic focal point for the anger generated by the trade that sent the Vikings into a dark age for a decade. His acquisition directly led to another team’s dynasty [and arrogance: remember “America’s Team”] while the Vikings tried to shove him into playing a different style of football that didn’t maximize his talents. So everything bad about the trade gets put on his shoulders when fans hear his name. It is he who was supposed to be the missing piece and he who ended up not being. That, at least to me, is why his name generates such a vitriolic reaction.
It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a Viking to raze a village.
by Luft Krigare on Jan 25, 2011 7:22 AM CST up reply actions
dark age for a decade?
The Vikes went to the playoffs seven years out of those ten, including the 15-1 ‘98 team. Granted, a couple of those playoff teams were 9-7 one and done teams, but to say they went into the dark ages is a bit of a stretch. And Dallas was called ’America’s Team’ back in the 1970’s; the Herschel trade didn’t bestow that moniker on them.
In a lot of ways, it was Denny’s best job of coaching, as he had no first round picks to fill the roster with, and was able to get a lot of mileage out of fairly average talent.
I agree that Herschel doesn’t need to bear the brunt of the anger on this. I saw him interviewed and he said he would do anything, even carry water, if it would help the Vikings win. A lot of reporters tried to get him to blast Jerry Burns for not running out of the I formation, but he never bit. He always busted his ass and did what was asked of him, even though what he was asked to do wasn’t his primary skill set.
The Daily Norseman
Off Tackle Empire
SB Nation Minnesota
See, you think I give a shit. Wrong. In fact, while you talk, I’m thinking; How can I give less of shit? That’s why I look interested."
On top of being
bi polar.
Not easy when one day you feel like you could conquer the world, and the next you just want to sit in bed all day.
by Jepp The Viking on Jan 25, 2011 11:04 AM CST up reply actions
He however did come here and promptly suck up the place.
I mean I hate to say it he did not shine up here at all.
It's a lot easier to love the Vikings when they win...
Yeah, and Michael Jordan recently said he could still score thirty a night in the NBA.
Athletes are type-a personalities and fierce competitors by nature, so of course many of them don’t realize how their skills inevitably decline with age. Heck, that probably goes for most of us. Except for me, of course. I could still go out on a high school football field or b-ball court and kick some azz. ; )
It’s too bad the former Viking in question didn’t show some of that fire when he actually played for the Vikings—it must have been one of his less-competitive personalities that showed up on game day.
by Midnight Rambler on Jan 25, 2011 7:00 AM CST reply actions
Actually
I remember some pretty good runs from Herschel…most notably the loose sock run. The problem was that Herschel was a straight forward I-formation runner, and we were set up for cutting and running for the sides. We simply didn’t use him the right way. Imagine having used Randy Moss as a short yardage TE.
No, Herschel's first game as a Viking against the Pack
Don’t think it was his first run, but it was one of his first. Off tackle, shoe comes off as someone tries to tackle him, he breaks free for a 48 yard run, one shoe and all. Metrodome erupted, and I thought it was a great trade, lol.
The Daily Norseman
Off Tackle Empire
SB Nation Minnesota
See, you think I give a shit. Wrong. In fact, while you talk, I’m thinking; How can I give less of shit? That’s why I look interested."
I remember his 1st game. He ran for like a 150 yards.
Everyone thought wow this is the answer, the missing piece. He never ran for that many yards ever again in a Viking uniform.
I agree that Herschel was not used properly by the Vikings.
But I’ve long argued that even if the Vikings had shifted to a power-I type offense to fit Walker’s skills, they still gave up too much for him. Dallas won three Super Bowls with those Viking picks, and I am skeptical the Vikings could have done the same with Walker, even in a scheme that suited him.
Regarding my original post, this is one instance where my continuing frustration with the Vikings’ bungling of the Walker deal makes me ignore some details.
by Midnight Rambler on Jan 25, 2011 12:41 PM CST up reply actions
Of course they gave up too much for him.
But again, that wasn’t his choice. The FO didn’t think that “gee, if we give up all our depth for a decade, we’ll have more than one missing piece.”
And then the coaching staff was clueless as to what to do with a tailback. Not sure that’s changed much over the years…
by Shawn Gillogly on Jan 25, 2011 12:59 PM CST up reply actions
"You don't pick up the pace, Albert Young, and we're going to replace you with a 48 year old RB!"
Wow. The unkindest cut, lol!
According to Wiki, MR. Walker is currently a professional MMA fighter. I’d say he’s probably still in shape.
Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!
SKOL!
i thought he pretty much sucked at 33..
..i remember when Jim Palmer tried a comeback with the orioles one spring training well into his 40’s..when a sportscaster asked nolan ryan what he thought about that he said flatly “he left the game because of declining ability years ago. for him to think he can now comeback and perform is foolish”… that exact statement can apply to HW as well
"the following statement is true:
the preceding statement was false" - george carlin
by BranFavrenton on Jan 25, 2011 8:12 AM CST up reply actions
trade him
get him and trade him to dallas for a bunch of picks.
i do bleed purple, just can not get enough even with a sb win go vikes
by new york viking on Jan 25, 2011 8:04 AM CST reply actions 2 recs
he's likely just trying to generate some buzz arounnd his upcoming MMA fight..
…seems to be working
"the following statement is true:
the preceding statement was false" - george carlin
by BranFavrenton on Jan 25, 2011 8:05 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
Do you guys still have the rights to him? IF he retired while under contract with your team, I think you still would have the rights to him as a player. I bet Hershall could convince Favre to come back for another run at it.
The Green Bay Packers...Putting bad coaches out of their misery since 2010
Oh Mr. Walker
You don’t actually get to USE a walker. j/k
He’s probably in better shape then he was in his playing days due to MMA training. That and he said he ran a 4.4 the other day. Mind you this is all Hershel’s braggadocio.
by Jepp The Viking on Jan 25, 2011 11:07 AM CST reply actions
NFL Retirement Home
I am starting to wonder if Minnesota is the NFL’s retirement home. Over the years we have seen many a washed up player spend his final years here, long after he/she (Favre) was of any use.
He’s 48 now, which means he has 20 years more experience than he did last time we sold the farm for his magic beans. Let’s see if Atlanta will sign him, them trade away all our first round draft picks for the next 5 years, give them some good prospect linebackers, and then throw in a few more later round picks. It can’t lose, he is the missing piece to the puzzle . . . We can sign him to a huge deal, build his dogs their own houses, allow him to join the olympic bobsled team . . . whatever it takes for him to drag down the Vikings for 10 more years.
by rjweatherstone on Jan 25, 2011 11:37 AM CST reply actions
Ali looked great before his fight against Larry Holmes, too.
Muscle mass and definition are not the same thing as speed, reflexes and coordination. The latter physical skills are the first to go, and one reason relatively few pro athletes play far in to their thirties, much less their forties.
Injuries and physical wear and tear are, of course, big reasons athletic careers don’t last long, but look at non-contact sports like track and field (hey, they consider it a big deal in Europe). There are very few world-class sprinters over the age of thirty.
by Midnight Rambler on Jan 25, 2011 12:36 PM CST up reply actions
He ran a 4.4
I think the physical and speed is there. Coordination? How much do you need to take a hand off? Still don’t want to waste a roster spot on him although he may be better than Albert Young, but not Lorenzo Booker.
How strict...
are the MMA drug tests? Do they even bother?
by HammeroftheGods on Jan 25, 2011 12:42 PM CST up reply actions
Given the fact that the Packer's tell their players 24 hrs in advance of drug tests
I don’t think it’d be a problem.
by Jepp The Viking on Jan 25, 2011 12:43 PM CST up reply actions
How about Steroid Tests?
I think they stockpile piss from the offseason and send it in.
"Time for some Percy Harvin Magic Baby!"-Me right before he returned a Kickoff for a Touchdown against Shits, err, Pittsburgh...
by marsexxxy23 on Jan 25, 2011 3:46 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Meant to add clean after stockpile
"Time for some Percy Harvin Magic Baby!"-Me right before he returned a Kickoff for a Touchdown against Shits, err, Pittsburgh...
by marsexxxy23 on Jan 25, 2011 3:47 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
They test every match
And if you don’t fail it they immediately inject you with 100cc’s of Dynobol. Oh the good old days…
It's a lot easier to love the Vikings when they win...
he looks great!
but what do the psychologists have to say about him?
I BELIEVE...
by ArizonaVikingsFan on Jan 25, 2011 7:14 PM CST up reply actions
It seems
like a good idea to him now
but I’m guessing he’d call it quits after the first hit he takes from an NFL linebacker
"Baseball is the only major sport that appears backward in a mirror" ~George Carlin
by thewild_viking_twins on Jan 25, 2011 12:24 PM CST reply actions
Big difference in potential energy.
Rarely are MMA hits as violent and as generalized as every play on an NFL field.
An elbow to the head hurts, but it is localized. Repeated hits bruise your body and hurt like hell, but it does not cause nearly as much damage as getting hit by a linebacker full speed.
And that happens 25 times a game to AP.
Football has substantial pads and helmets
I realize you know that, but a big difference than an elbow to the head as hard as you can!
by PurpleJesus on Jan 26, 2011 10:08 AM CST up reply actions
The average rugby hit is much worse than the average football hit.
Due to the considerable reduction in ‘armor.’ Also because rugby players actually form tackle through you instead of ‘bump’ players down like most in the NFL do.
by Shawn Gillogly on Jan 26, 2011 8:10 PM CST up reply actions
Blah blah blah rugby ruby rugby
This argument has been going on since the start of football, and neither side is right.
Just like most long time NFL minds say that the best way to remove helmet to helmet hits in the game is to get rid of the helmets, Rugby is a game where the hits are not as severe due to the lack of pads.
That is not to take anything away from the game, a less severe hit with no pads still hurts. But the lack of pads forces the players to not only protect themselves, but protect the ball carrier by not launching as much and having better form.
You can argue both sides, and still be right.
By all accounts....
he is a freak of nature. Does 1000s of situps/pushups a day, runs 3 miles every morning, eats one meal a day, no meat and sleeps something like 4 hours. He even said that it is not a regimen he would advise anyone else to do, but, it is one that he has done since he was in high school. He also said that he considers himself to be in the best shape of his life, but, that his knee gives him a little trouble, which could be an alarm bell.
He is no doubt a driven individual, so, who knows if he could do it until he gave it a shot? Hell, if the big load McKinnie can take the field, who amongst us couldn’t?
He looks to be in great shape.
The problem is you can’t get back youth. I don’t doubt that he could play football again. I realize the guy is an animal. I think about a half a season would do him in. I don’t care how many sit ups you do your body heals faster at 28 than at 48.
yeah...
isn’t HCG the stuff they’re advertising for weight loss??
I BELIEVE...
by ArizonaVikingsFan on Jan 25, 2011 7:15 PM CST up reply actions
And supposedly turns back time on the body
Sylvester Stallone uses it
by PurpleJesus on Jan 26, 2011 10:03 AM CST up reply actions
The scary part is
About 2% of me wonders “What if he CAN do it?”
by Jepp The Viking on Jan 25, 2011 12:42 PM CST reply actions
We'll never know...
… I’m guessing. But, I say sign him to a vet minimum, put him in on special teams to bust the wedge. Let’s see if he is willing to do that. You can always cut him in the preseason so what the heck?
Jeff George can be our 4th string QB in the preseason too. Maybe have him break a wedge on special teams too, just for fun.
by HammeroftheGods on Jan 25, 2011 12:45 PM CST up reply actions
I don't know about never
I think he could get a tryout somewhere. Whether he could actually get to camp or not, who knows, but I think he could definitely get a tryout. A tryout is all it would take to give us our answer.
For the record, I think Jerry Rice could still play and he’s 48. He only retired because he couldn’t make it into a starting lineup (he was going to be Denver’s 3rd WR) at 42. But if Hank Baskett can make it on an NFL roster, surely Jerry Rice still could.
I don't doubt that...
But, the real question is…
Can he play an entire 16 game season?
And the answer to that is, “No”.
I disagree
Those MMA fights are real. And the injuries sustained about as bad as they come. He is in great shape. probably better than half the Viking team. Stamina is definitely not an issue looking at his pic.
No, sorry.
Completely different.
Never in an MMA fight has there ever been multiple people closing in on and hitting a person simultaneously. Let alone 20+ times a game every week for 16 weeks.
How many MMA fighters do you know that fight more than 10 times a year? We are not talking about sparring here, we are talking actual fights. It does not happen.
I think MMA is more physical
No bads, direct punches to body parts not designed to be punched. Football has pads and sure getting hit 20X a game takes its toll, but not like 250 direct punches and kicks with no pads does.
by PurpleJesus on Jan 26, 2011 10:07 AM CST up reply actions
I just realized I supported your point with my last statement...
But to be honest, there is no way we can prove it one way or another.
True
I guess my point is if he can take that sort of beating in MMA, I have no doubt he can take the 20+ hits a a game he would get in football. Now injuries would be my issue. If he sprains something etc. with his age it is going to take longer to heal, regardless of his conditioning.
Here is a quote from Walker himself:
"I think people consider MMA violent because they see the blood and different things," Walker said. "If you look at an MMA fight, if you get knocked down, a referee is gonna stop it, or you can tap out. But if you look at the injuries you get in the NFL, with the concussions and the different things like that, I think it’s much more violent than MMA."
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/27/herschel-walker-accomplishes-his-mission-sort-of/
Actually saw it on ESPN I believe
May have been NFL Network but I was surprised by his comments.
by PurpleJesus on Jan 29, 2011 10:03 PM CST up reply actions
People underestimate pads
They think because you wear them it hurts less, but pads are there to protect the wearer and allow them to put far far more force into their hits that you woud get without pads. I’ve played Rugby and Football and honestly I never have seen anyone hit as hard in Rugby as I saw them get hit in football. As well, you get hit all over your body and you have to do things with your body that aren’t entirely natural to begin with. Think about how much force in on AD’s knee when he is running flat out stops on that dime and immediately cuts around that defender.
It's a lot easier to love the Vikings when they win...
Scientifically this has been measured.
You are in error. Rugby hits are more destructive to the body, because padding has another factor you omit: It disperses the force of impact across the entire body. Rugby hits always are concentrated on the area of impact, thus increasing the force per square inch you take.
by Shawn Gillogly on Jan 26, 2011 8:12 PM CST up reply actions
Where's the link to that?
Because what you say sounds like bad physics to me. What pads do is not “spread” the force, but rather lessen the force by increasing the time it takes to go from full speed to stopped. The force is less, not spread over the body.
But because the force is less due to the pads, you can collide at much greater speeds. If football players collided the way they do with no pads, they’d break bones on every play. Someone would crack their skull on every single play.
In rugby, you simply can’t make the same kind of hits a football player does without killing yourself.
So the pads let you make more violent plays.
Which sport does more damage to the body, I don’t really know. The only thing to do would be to look at the physical condition of players after they end their careers.
Do rugby players suffer more lingering physical problems than football players? I’ve never heard one way or the other to judge that.
But the physics in your post is just flat out wrong.
by HammeroftheGods on Jan 26, 2011 11:03 PM CST up reply actions
It is both.
Just like with bullet-proof vests.
The padding does increase the time it takes to go from full speed to stop, but the plastic shell on the pad spreads the force out a bit.
Not across the entire body, mind you, but a percentage of the pad area.
Yeah I agree...
… but the main thing is decreasing the force.
A bullet is a bit different from a tackle. A bullet is very small, so the pressure will be very great.
The contact area in a tackle is already pretty big, generally speaking. By the time the impact is over the both players contact over a wide area… arms, legs, heads, etc.
Now, if two people cracked their skulls together, with no helmets, then the fact the force is localized over a small area would also be important. But the main effect still is that the contact time is bigger with pads.
by HammeroftheGods on Jan 28, 2011 11:14 AM CST up reply actions
Yep...
… I would suspect you are right.
A lot of concussions happen because of the acceleration that happens at impact. The brain bounces off both sides of the skull on either side of the direction of the impact. Just like a squishy ball bouncing around.
The faster guys impact each other, the more damage will be done. When guys have the helmet and the pads, they can hit much harder than without. Rugby is also more of a continuous action game, whereas football players accelerate into each other as fast as possible in a straight line until everyone (more or less) is lying on the ground.
by HammeroftheGods on Jan 26, 2011 10:57 PM CST up reply actions
One thing is certain....
somewhere, Al Davis is screaming, “GET ME HIS NUMBER!!!”
by Mel Allen on Jan 25, 2011 1:33 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
Made my day.
Id Rec if I wasn’t on my phone
"Time for some Percy Harvin Magic Baby!"-Me right before he returned a Kickoff for a Touchdown against Shits, err, Pittsburgh...
by marsexxxy23 on Jan 25, 2011 3:49 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Well we did miss on LT...
Maybe we could bring him into training camp and see if he still knows how to churn those legs. Besides, after this year, we’re going to need something to keep us under the constant eye of the media.
Hartford Colonials
Now that Booker is on the Vikings I hear that the Hartford Colonials have an opening for Running back.
Here’s a fine summary that I like to dig up every now and again: http://min.scout.com/2/11653.html#walkertraderesult
According to his Tweets Jose Canseco is ready for a comeback too.
Who does he think he is ... Jack Lalanne?
The last thing we need is another “experiment.” Let him join the Happy Festivus jubilee and prove his “Feats of Strength” elsewhere.
"Skol Vikings! Let's win this game Skol Vikings!
Why the hate towards Walker?
Don’t blame him. Blame Mike Lynn:
You can’t blame Herschel," said former Vikings receiver Anthony Carter. “The ball was in Mike Lynn’s hands, and it was one of the horrible trades in sports history. All the blame for that goes on one individual, and that’s Mike Lynn. Sorry to say that, but it’s the honest to God truth.”
Walker was a misfit in the type of offense run by Jerry Burns and his staff . . . who, BTW, weren’t consulted beforehand about the trade.
Hate Herschel? Umm, that’s misdirected.
McKinnie should tape Walker's picture to his mirror......
if he is serious about getting in shape. It pisses me off that these professionals, after getting paid bajillions for years, finally decide to get their minds/work ethic right, but, ONLY when someone has put them on notice that their jobs are on the line.
Haha....
for a second I forgot what thread I was in and though to myself:
“Why in the hell would McKinnie need to tape a picture of Frank Walker to his mirror?”
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