When word emerged earlier this week that retired NFL running back Herschel Walker was musing about a return to football, his motives were more transparent than store-brand cellophane.
Walker has an upcoming MMA event to promote.
“I’ve told everyone that at 50 I might try football again to show people I can do that,” Walker said during a conference call conducted in connection with the Saturday night event about which we, and likely many of you, would not have otherwise known. “I want to be the George Foreman of football, come back and do that one more time.”
Mission accomplished.
Appearing Wednesday on The Dan Patrick Show, it quickly became obvious that Walker has zero intention of returning to football. He dramatically downplayed his remarks, making it sound as if he was cajoled into saying that he could play if he wanted to -- but not that he actually wants to.
“That was never a thing that I was coming back to the NFL, or getting ready to go play football again. It was a question asked if I thought I could play today,” Walker said.
Look, if the guy is going to be engaged in a sport that depends in large part on hype, he needs to see the hype through to its logical conclusion. He said he wants to play in the NFL on Monday in the hopes of attracting attention. Now that he has attracted attention (as evidenced by a segment on The Dan Patrick Show), Walker has opted to become coy. He shouldn’t have abandoned his exaggerations; he should have continued to own them, at least through Saturday.
Meanwhile, Walker took a shot at football, opining that it’s more violent than MMA.
Really?
“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.”
Walker also expressed disappointment regarding the fact that he’s not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, making a passionate case for inclusion in Canton.
Maybe, in the end, that’s why he chose not to make a comeback. If he returns to the NFL, he’d have to wait five more years after he was done to have a shot at an honor he likely will never receive anyway.
