Former running back Herschel Walker signs up for MMA
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former Heisman trophy winner and twice NFL Pro Bowl running back Herschel Walker has signed a multi-fight contract to compete in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), promoter Strikeforce said on Monday.
A fifth degree black belt in Taekwondo, the 47-year-old Walker begins a 12-week training camp in California next month, Strikeforce said on its website (www.strikeforce.com).
“I will go in there and test myself against any 20-year-old,” Walker said in a statement.
“I want to prove to people who sit on a couch and don’t do anything but criticize other people that, if you’re a true athlete or martial artist, you’re not old until you can’t get up and walk around anymore.
“I’ve been training for several years,” Walker added.
“I would play college football games on Saturday and then compete in martial arts tournaments on Sunday after church I’m now looking forward to opening up another chapter in my life and to competing in MMA.”
After winning the 1982 Heisman trophy as U.S. college football’s outstanding player, Walker played 12 seasons in the NFL with four teams including the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings.
Walker also completed in the 1992 Winter Olympics for the United States in the bobsled and more recently appeared on Donald Trump’s reality show “The Celebrity Apprentice.”
(Writing by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Ed Osmond)
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Fran Tarkenton Criticism Continues
Hall of Fame QB Fran Tarkenton continued his criticism of Brett Favre after the signal caller signed with the Vikings on Tuesday.
Tarkenton, who played 13 years for the Vikings, said that the Favre saga has been a major distraction to the other Vikings and that Packers fans should be “outraged” to see their former QB playing for their division rivals.
“I really think the whole Brett Favre saga of retiring, un-retiring, three weeks ago (saying) ‘I can’t play,’ the Vikings said, ‘We’re moving on,’ it’s a circus,” Tarkenton told Sirius XM satellite radio. “It’s an absolute circus, and it takes away from all the other things that are going on with the Vikings, with the NFL. We’re getting ready for a football season and this is a circus and I just have no interest in it.”
Tarkenton said in May that Favre was being selfish and called the QB’s flirtation with the Vikings “despicable.”
He said at dinner last night, he brought up the topic of Favre in a group of about 10. “You know who cared? Nobody,” Tarkenton said. “It’s good news for you guys. It’s good news for television and so forth but the last time I heard, football was a team sport, isn’t it? It’s not just about the quarterback.”
Tarkenton, who played five years for the Giants before returning to the Vikings for his final seven seasons, said Packers fans should be very angry that Favre crossed over to Minnesota. Favre played 16 seasons in Green Bay, and said Tuesday his move to the Vikings was not about revenge.
“Wouldn’t you be upset if you’re a Packer fan?” he said. “I think you’re going to have Packer fans burning the No. 4 Favre Green Bay jersey. I think the Packer fans have every right to be outraged.”
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Brett Favre Will Be a Viking After All
Brett Favre, who only three weeks ago said he planned to remain retired, changed his mind yet again Tuesday, agreeing to join the Minnesota Vikings after all. It’s the second time in two years that Favre announced he was retired, only to reverse course soon after.
The Vikings, who had courted Favre throughout the off-season only to be left empty-handed on the eve of training camp, planned to address the media later Tuesday. When Favre initially said he would not come back, Coach Brad Childress said the team would move forward with the quarterbacks on its roster and had no interest in Favre.
But now, Favre is en route to the Vikings training camp. He and his wife Deanna were spotted boarding a team plane at the Hattiesburg, Miss. airport.
The U-turn in Favre’s future wasn’t a complete surprise. He had left the door slightly open for a return – likely only to the Vikings – back in July, but almost everyone expected that he wouldn’t make a move until the regular season. Instead, Favre becomes the Vikings starter ahead of Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson with three preseason games remaining. He is already familiar with the offense run by his friend, the Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. The Vikings have viewed Favre, 39, as the final piece needed to make them the N.F.C. favorite to reach the Super Bowl.
Favre too had viewed the Vikings as a perfect fit for him, because of his familiarity with the N.F.C. North. Favre also said earlier this year that he was motivated to come back last season in part to get back at Packers General Manager Ted Thompson, who shipped Favre to the Jets.
Favre’s play with the Jets dropped off precipitously late last season and the team missed the playoffs, leading to the firing of Coach Eric Mangini. Favre asked the Jets for his release and they granted it, in part because they did not want to endure Favre’s drawn-out retirement deliberations.
Favre had arthroscopic surgery during the off-season on a partially torn right biceps muscle, but then, with the Vikings urging him on, he began throwing again and preparing for a comeback.
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