I recently came across this captivating essay by Joe Posnanski on Herschel Walker. It’s a must read for any Georgia fan and especially entertaining for someone like me who was 6 years old during Walker’s legendary freshman season.

I was aware of his greatness, even fortunate enough to attend a few games that year, but not aware of his mythical recruitment and the uniqueness of his once in a lifetime football prowess.

Posnanski’s essay covers everything from the origins of his legendary commitment to physical fitness…

“What do you like to do?” the father asked.

“Watch TV,” the boy said.

Not much of an answer, is it? But this was a wise father, and he said: “OK, if that’s what you like doing, fine. You can watch as much television as you want. But during the commercials, you must exercise. That’s the deal.”

The boy agreed. He would watch television. But during commercials, he would do pushups, sit-ups, chin-ups, he would go outside and run sprints. After a little while, he could feel his body changing. His arms bulked, his legs moved faster. He did more sit-ups, more pushups, more chin-ups. He would race his older sister, Christine, and she would beat him, and he would get mad, and he would do more sit-ups, more pushups, run more sprints.

… to his less than magical professional career:

The legend ends there. Herschel went pro. It was, looking back, a better pro career than most remember. He went to the USFL for some obscene amount of money (something like $16 million guaranteed), and he rushed for more than 5,000 yards in three years, and one of those seasons he ran for 2,411 yards. Nobody really knew what that meant though — being the USFL and all — and nobody knows now.

If you were around to absorb and appreciate the Herschel experience this might be a nice trip down memory lane, if you’re like me though, this is like reading the book when you’d only read the back cover.