Herschel Walker Interview (page: 3 / 3) All-American Football Player	Print Interview

Clearly, sports, football, is not the only thing you're interested in.

Herschel Walker: No. I'd love to be in the FBI. The FBI has always been a dream. Even though I don't think I'll get a chance to do it. I've spent two weeks in Quantico, Virginia at the FBI training center, and while I'm in Dallas, Texas now, I may go out with the FBI there and do a few things. I really enjoy that. You know, that's a lot of fun, and I love that. I'm on the U.S. Bobsledding team, I'm very big on martial arts. I say I want to get into a movie with Chuck Norris, and do martial arts movies. And I've danced with the ballet. So I do a lot of things, because I think that's what you've got to do.

Life is almost like a tree for a 15 year-old. Where he don't know where he's going to branch off to, but if you try to stay at this one thing, you know, he's never going to blossom. And the reason why is because you don't know your talents. I never thought I was going to be a football player, but now I'm a football player. Being a football player I was able to go into the business world and do well. I was able to do this, I was able to do that. But I think if I had said, "Okay Herschel, you're a basketball player. Stay with basketball," I never would have done anything. Because I'm not. I can play, but I'm not a professional basketball player. So I think when you're young, sometimes you've got to have an open mind to take on other challenges. You may get into it, and you may like it a little bit more than you think.
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Did you have any heroes?

Herschel Walker: God and my parents. I didn't watch sports, so I didn't know anything about sports heroes.

Have you learned anything as an athlete that helps you in the non-athletic world? Were there lessons there for you?

Herschel Walker: I learned to be patient. In business, when you're trying to get a loan, or if you are trying to get something to work out, you'd better be patient. Or have an open mind. In football and, I think, in business, you'd better have an open mind. I learned to really have a strong back bone. Sometimes things are not going to work out, you've got to keep at it. I think there is a big crossover there.

What do you say to a 15 or 16 year-old who comes to you seeking advice?

What I would say to them is believe in yourself. Strive to be the very best you can be. Run the race against yourself and not the guy in the other lane. The reason I say that is, as long as you give it 110 percent, you are going to succeed. But as long as you're trying to beat the guy over there, you are worried about him, you're not worrying about how you've got to perform. Believe in yourself, because I think that's the very big key, and to work hard. To dream, it takes work. To have a nightmare takes nothing. I think if you are going to dream, you've got to be willing to work, because then it can be possible. If you are going to have a nightmare, you don't have to do anything but just hide in the closet. And I say dreams are possible through a lot of hard work. People pray sometimes, and yet they're going to sit there with their hands out hoping God is going to drop money in their hands. It doesn't work like that. If you're going to pray, you've got to get out and do something, you can't just sit in the bed. That's what is so strange. If you're going to pray, you got to make an effort. That's the way it is. If you're going to dream, you've got to make an effort to get out and do something.
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What did it mean to you, at that moment, when you found out that you had been awarded the Heisman trophy as the best college football player in America?

I never knew what the Heisman trophy was. I was one of the first freshman ever to be nominated for the Heisman. My sophomore year they said I should have won, and in my junior year I ended up winning. I never knew what the Heisman trophy was. I knew it meant something big, but I never really knew. And when I won it, it meant that I was the best college athlete. But I was ashamed because there are so many good athletes out there and, for me to be singled out, I was sort of ashamed. But yet, after I won the award, I said now this is going to be an inspiration for me, to stand out, for all the guys that didn't get a chance to win it. Continue to go out there and work hard so they can say, you know, that's the guy that won it.
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He took it from me, and he deserved it. I don't want them saying okay, he won it, but I should have got it, because look what I'm doing now. I think it's an inspiration for me.

What was it like going from college to the pros?

Herschel Walker: That was exciting, because I got better. I learned more. That's the reason it's exciting for me. As long as I can mature mentally, it's really more exciting for me. I want to learn more, and going to professional football, it helped me to play guys that had been there a little bit longer. Whereas, Herschel, you can be the fastest guy, you can be one of the strongest guys, but you're not going to be better until you are a little bit wiser. I learned that. I learned different ways to do things that was a lot easier, didn't take as much strength and as much speed, just took knowledge. And I had that open mind to listen.

Still learning?

Herschel Walker: I'm learning every day. I think when it gets to the point where I'm not learning, or where I'm just pushing myself, I'm giving it up. Because then I think I'm not going to perform well, I'm just going to be there. I don't want to just show up. If you are not going to show up and dance at the party, don't go. It's called a party, so you've got to have fun. And because I don't drink, I reckon I've got to dance.

Like it or not, people look to you. I won't use the word role model, but what kind of responsibility do you feel, as an athlete, as a very well known and admired person?

Herschel Walker: I don't feel a big responsibility. I think, as an adult, we all are role models. Because if little kids see an adult doing something, they think that it's okay. For myself, I don't feel responsibility. No matter what, I'm going to do the very best I can do, I am going to be the very best I can be, because I think if a kid can see me doing that, he is going to be the best he can be. But that's the way I am. I think we all should be like that. A role model? What is that? Something that inspires you to do better? I think if we all do better it will make this world better. So I don't think it's a responsibility, because I think if I didn't do that, I'm cheating myself. If I can be the best I can be, I'm helping someone else out anyway.

Have you ever gone back in that huddle and said, give me the ball, I want it?

No, I never really ask, because I hope that the quarterback knows that I want the ball. I think when he look in my eyes he can see that I want the ball. I'm not being selfish, but I want to play. If the clock is winding out and we are behind, then I want the ball. I think he can look in my eyes and say, "Hey, Herschel wants the ball. Let me see if I can get it to him." And you know, all of them want the ball. If you are a professional, you want the ball. That's the type of team I want to be with. I want to be with guys that're not afraid to take that last shot. You have a lot of guys that are afraid to lose it. But if you are afraid to lose, you never going to win.
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Even in the fourth quarter, when you've carried the ball 30 times, you are beat up, you are dog tired, do you still want the ball?

Herschel Walker: Yes. That's a part of the game to go out and carry the ball. That's a part of the game to go out and catch the ball. You become mentally weak when you say, "I'm too tired to go on." I've trained all week, how can I be tired? So I say you can't get tired. There is not time to get tired. We don't have enough time for you to get tired. You can get tired tomorrow.

What about team work? What about working with others?

Herschel Walker: That's important. Team work is very important in football, basketball, baseball, very important. Because you are as strong as your weakest link. There are 45 guys on the team, and I made this statement to my teammates that if there is one guy that doesn't believe that we can win, I don't want to play with you. Because I don't want your negative influence over the other 44. I don't want a negative atmosphere around me. I want something positive. I don't care if we are losing, but I want something positive. I want you to believe we can win. Because once it happens, it's going to happen big. I don't want no one that you have to carry, because sooner or later you're going to get heavy. I can carry you a little ways, but sooner or later you've got to stand up and say, "I've got to carry myself the rest of the way.'

Does that work in business as well?

Herschel Walker: Oh, there is no doubt. If you are running a business, and you've got employees and you've got one that doesn't want to do anything but goof off -- the other ones are working hard and they are carrying him -- sooner or later he's going to get heavy. And he's got to stand up or she's got to stand up and be accounted for. And if they can't do that you don't need them around. You hate to say you'll fire them, but you've got to make a change. They may not understand it, but that's the way life is. This is a business, this is a football team. If you want it to be something else, you are in the wrong line of business.

What do you say to a kid who's in high school, and all he can think about is being an athlete? He doesn't study, that's all he thinks about.

Being an athlete is being a competitor. Not on the football field, but in life. And you've got to be able to compete in the classroom. Because you can always be president when you are 60. But when you turn 30 they're going to say you're too old for football. So knowledge can take you a long way; being an athlete can only take you a short little sprint. You want to study hard because then you've always got something. Like I say, it is so great to be able to understand something. To sit down with the President and understand what's happening, and then to go sit out there on the street with anyone, and still understand, that is beautiful to do that. Just to go out and run a touchdown is only great for that time. The next week, if you don't do it, they don't want you around no more.
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We'll be rooting for you. Hope you get that Super Bowl ring.

Thank you.

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