Herschel just wants to win a Super BowlAUSTIN - Herschel Walker no longer talks of dancing with the ballet or
of his desire to one day work for the FBI.
Instead his focus is on winning a Super Bowl, the one thing that's eluded
him in his 13-year professional football career.
And that's why he's back with the Dallas Cowboys.
"Getting a ring was the important reason I decided to come back to
Dallas," Walker said after the Cowboys had gone through their paces
Thursday morning at training camp. "I want to win, and all the coaches
have to do is tell me what to do and I'll go get it done."
Walker returned to the Cowboys on June 11, signing a contract that will
reportedly pay him the league minimum of $275,000, not including incentives.
The signing reunited the running back with the team that traded him seven
seasons ago in the biggest blockbuster in NFL history. The Cowboys traded
Walker, who had led the NFC in rushing in 1988 with 1,514 yards, to Minnesota
for five players, six conditional draft picks and a first-round pick in
1992.
Dallas eventually got all the players and all the draft picks and set about
building a dynasty. Former coach Jimmy Johnson wheeled and dealed and used
those picks to take Emmitt Smith, Kevin Smith, Darren Woodson and ex-Cowboy
Russell Maryland.
The Cowboys went on to great glory by winning three of the last four Super
Bowls with those players. Walker, meanwhile, floundered with the Vikings
before the club released him prior to the 1992 season.
He enjoyed a rebirth of sorts in Philadelphia where he played for three
seasons. He rushed for 1,070 yards in 1992, and he had a combined 1,358
yards rushing and receiving in 1993. But his production fell off in 1994,
and he signed with the New York Giants as an unrestricted free agent before
the 1995 season.
But that partnership quickly fell apart as Walker became lost in a New York
backfield that include Rodney Hampton, Tyrone Wheatley and Jarod Bunch.
"I had a frustrating season in New York," Walker said. "I
didn't know what was going on, and the Giants didn't either. That hurt us
at the start of the season."
Walker, in fact, didn't earn a single rushing yard in the Giants' final
five games as he was relegated to special teams duties.
But Walker is back where his NFL career started after two years with the
New Jersey Generals of the USFL, and he's happy about it. He carries no
bitterness with him over the trade that created a dynasty for a team that
once heralded him as its only truly great player.
"The Dallas Cowboys put me in a situation, financially, where I could
come back here and not worry about money," Walker said. "I can
play for a ring and not worry about anything else. I've accomplished a lot
in my career, but I haven't had a chance to win a Super Bowl, and that's
what I'm playing for now."
And his six-plus seasons away from the Cowboys have allowed Walker the chance
to mature as both player and person.
"When I first started playing, I always said I would just play five
years," he said. "But every year I changed my mind because I liked
playing so much.
"But I was doing so many different things that I didn't concentrate
totally on football," Walker said.
"But I've really become a student of the game over the last few years.
I know what everybody on the field is supposed to be doing on a certain
play. I know what I'm supposed to do, what the receiver is supposed to do,
and I know what the linebacker is supposed to do. I really know the game,
and that's the biggest change."
Another change for Walker will be his role on this club as opposed to his
role the last time he was with the Cowboys.
From 1986-1989, Walker carried the ball 802 times for 3,388 yards and 26
touchdowns. But, barring an injury to Emmitt Smith, Walker - who will back
up both Smith at tailback and Daryl Johnston at fullback - won't get many
more carries than the 25 Johnston got last years.
But, with Michael Irvin out for an undetermined amount of time, Walker could
get more than a few passes thrown his way. Walker led the Cowboys in receiving
in 1986 with 76 catches for 837 yards and a couple of touchdowns. In 49
games with the Cowboys, Walker caught 211 passes for 2,318 yards and six
touchdowns.
"I hope I'm at wide receiver a little more," Walker said of the
possibility of taking up some of the slack at the wideout spot. "I
want to get out there on a defensive back and see what I can do. I've told
many running backs who have come into this league that they won't stay here
unless they can catch the ball. Teams aren't drafting one-dimensional backs
anymore. They have to be able to catch the ball."
But Walker isn't just an offensive player anymore.
During his time away from Dallas he's developed into a premier special teams
player, and that's a role he hopes to continue to play in Dallas.
"I love special teams," Walker said. "Deion (Sanders) and
I are in the same situation because we both love to do it. He wants to play
offense, defense and special teams and I want to play offense and special
teams.
"I just want to play football," he said. "I can't play the
whole game, but I want to play a lot of it."
Even at 34 years of age, Walker still has the rock-hard body he had when
he came to the Cowboys from the USFL. And, he said, he still has the speed.
He proved it by running a 4.3 in the 40-yard dash a couple of weeks ago.
"I can still run pretty well," he said with a smile. "I still
have a lot of young guys who want to challenge me. But this old man can
still run."
Now he's out to prove he can still play.