This is one of those "fantasy" posts, the kind where you close your eyes and fantasize about what Kentucky would have been like with a great Heisman-winning football player on your roster. This fantasy is all about which Heisman-winning football player from another school would I like to have seen suit up for the Kentucky Wildcats.
For me, this took all of about ten seconds to come up with. I would pick the mighty Herschel Walker, former Georgia Bulldog and 1983 Heisman Trophy winner who played for 3 years in the then-new USFL, and for 13 seasons in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, and New York Giants. Herschel finished his career in the NFL with the same team he started with -- Dallas.
As a college player, Walker was perhaps the most bruising running back since Earl Campbell of the Texas Longhorns. He ran around, over and through whoever he had to in order to get to the end zone. His power and explosiveness were feared each of the three years between 1980 and 1983 that he played for the Dawgs.
Walker's coming-out party was against the Tennessee Volunteers, when he did this to All-SEC safety Bill Bates as a true freshman:
That, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation is a football player. And yes, that was the voice of the late, great Larry Munson, Georgia announcer from 1966-2008 in one of his classic calls.
Can you imagine Walker in the Blue and White? Back in 1980-1983, Kentucky had a loathsome team that managed only 6 victories in three years (and one tie). Kentucky's leading rusher, Randy Brooks, had total of 578 yards on 166 carries for the season. In 1980, Walker had 1812 yards on 412 carries -- as a true freshman. The other two years were similar, or worse.
Now, it's fair to say that Walker at UK wouldn't have had Georgia's quality line in front of him, but I have no doubt that on his own talent he could have amassed at least 1500 yards, and his durability is absolutely legend. Think that would have made a difference in those three years?
Seeing Walker run over some of the great players of the day would have been something to remember, and nobody ran with more authority, perhaps ever, in college football. If God granted me the ability to pick any player from any school other than Kentucky to suit up for the Wildcats at any time in history, it would be the great Herschel Walker.
So what about you? Who would you pick if you could?
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EA SPORTS NCAA Football 13 TV: "Son" (via EASPORTS)