HERSHAL WALKER

They were a wild three years for the pro football New Jersey Generals.

No. 1, after an uphill battle for a lease in the United States Football League, at then Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, and owned by young 37-year-old real estate dynamite Donald J. Trump, they finally took the field in 1983 with the agreement of naming if for the Garden State. Since then, it’s been the New York Jets and New York Giants with a mixture of supporters from both near-by states.

But let’s start in 1983, the year after star running back Hershal Junior Walker was awarded the Heisman Trophy while playing for the University of Georgia, the state he was born in and where he failed to graduate to instead of coming out for the college draft.

I was busy, busy, busy as a sports writer for the Paterson Nteews/Hudson Dispatch. I attended all press conference, wrote on incoming Walker, quarterback Doug Flute and fullback Larry Czonka, with Flute out of Boston College and Czonka from Syracuse University.

That’s when I first met Walker, at 6-foot-1, 225 pounds a swift ball carrier with breakaway speed and a super attitude. He was new to these parts and anxious to excel after meeting Trumph and head coach Chuck Fairbanks.

We hit it off right away. He soon got a passion to find excellent restaurants on both sides of the Hudson Tunnel. He was friendly with his new fans and got a kick out of playing at the five-star 76,891 stadium just outside of Secaucus. At Georgia, he had records along the ground and through the air. He carried for 8,225 yards and made 4,859 receptions, and was drafted in the fifth round of the NFL college draft, the 114th overall.

But he instead decided to sign on with the Generals. As for the site, it was named after a large number of Revolutionary War generals, which mattered little to Walker.

I recall him informing me that it was nice historic news. So for three seasons, he, Flute and Czonka made the headlines before huge turnouts. Twice, they made the USFL playoffs, losing first to the Philadelphia Stars and then to the Baltimore Stars after it remained the same franchise just in a new location.

Walker totaled 13,787 yards on 3,097 attempts, 6,421 along the ground and with 642 receptions that brought 28 touchdowns. These were all Generals’ records. He and Flute made for a stellar combination and Czonka did the blocking and the heavy running as well as adding leadership.

The Generals’ colors were quite a combination — scarlet white, royal blue and sunflower. Their logo decal was on both sides and white masks on the helmets. They went 31-25 overall and were 0-2 in the playoffs.

On Walker, there was always praise, especially from Flute, Czonka, and rivals Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Emmett Smith, Earl Campbell, Tony Dorsett, and even the elite Bo Jackson. Walker was paid well, but short, flashy and talented Flute signed on the dotted line for a six-year, 8.3 million contract that lasted only these three seasons.

Meanwhile, the patriotic Trump did his part regarding the national anthem by having his team and home fans respect it. Walker was ecstatic about this, always stood and sang along to the Star Spangled Banner and became Trump’s main man in the times when other teams knelt instead and some even remained in the clubhouse until the opening kickoff.a

And that’s all history now for a player who starred from 1983-1997 for the Cowboys, the Giants, and Philadelphia Eagles.

Now at the age of 60, his time is in politics where he’s a Conservative on the Republican ticket for United States senator in Georgia against regaining Democrat senator Raphel Warnock, who just hands out negative comments that regard Walker, who enforced Republican Brian Kemp in the 2018 gubernatorial election, and in 2020 has endorsed U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler as honorary chairman of her campaign.

Says Warnock, well-dressed and ultra confident: “Yes, Hershal Walker was an outstanding athlete but not much of a politician. He tosses words around like he has no idea of, recently getting is words that simply don’t connect, and just laughs them off and then apologizes.”

After the vacant Nov. 7 elections, Warnock held only a slim lead over Walker and that brought a Dec. 8 runoff between the two. Warnock is still in front while Walker seeks heavy voting by the young folks. A win for Warnock will give the Democrats a 51-50 advantage, a win for Walker will tie things at 50-50 and then give vice president Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote.

I take no part in this, but remain in Walker’s corner, for he’s someone I could never find fault with from his days with the New Jersey Generals, the NFL, and his Heisman Trophy times at Georgia. And along with these accomplishments, he is now a businessman and a philanthropist.