Herschel Walker, MMA Superstar?

By Lee Russakoff
Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:24:24 GMT

For years we have heard rumors about Herschel Walker crossing over into mixed martial arts. It looks like Herschel is finally ready to set a date.

In Peter King's MMQB, King reports that Walker will make his MMA debut this fall.

Herschel Walker said the other day on our radio gig that he's making his MMA fighting debut in November. "I told them I don't want to fight a bum. I want to fight a contender," he said.

Walker announced a possible dip into MMA waters back in November 2007. Apparently, Herschel has been practicing some form of MMA for thirty-plus years now, incorporating it into his football conditioning.

Let's hope Walker, who turned 47 this past March, fares better than some other pro athletes that recently "bursted" onto the MMA scene. Johnnie Morton and Jose Canseco immediately come to mind.

Though, no matter what happens, this still has to be a better decision than playing Russian roulette ... Right? Anyone?

Figured i'd post it!

Jags risk big with new feature back Jones-Drew

May 6, 2009 By Pete Prisco CBSSports.com Senior Writer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- For a little man, there are lot of big things about Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew these days.

He has a big new contract, one that makes him one of the highest-paid running backs in the game.

He has big expectations, taking over as the team's full-time starter after the release of longtime Jaguars running back Fred Taylor. And then there are those big guns, arms that look almost as big as his trademark thick legs.

Sitting down on a bench for an interview last week during a break from the team's minicamp, Drew's arms looked Popeye-ish, bulging out of his jersey. When I mentioned he looked bigger, Drew looked down, first to the right and then to the left holding up his arms. "They are bigger," he said. "I'm 215 now. This is the time I tend to get a little bigger." Don't think it's because he's now the feature back on a team that loves to run the football. Jones-Drew is bigger because of the intense training he's undergone, as he always does, at this time of the year.

The burden of being the man for the first time in his career won't cause him to change a thing. "I can play at this weight, but I will play at 205 or so like I always have," he said. "This has nothing to do with taking over as the starter. I'm not changing what I do because of that." When the Jaguars decided in February to release Taylor, the longest-tenured Jaguars player, it meant it was time to hand over the starting job to Jones-Drew, who is entering his fourth season. That's a risk for two reasons. Taylor was a popular player in the community and in the locker room and he also still had pop in his legs. Taylor and Jones-Drew were a nice 1-2 punch. Without Taylor, it's all on Jones-Drew, who is listed at 5-7 but is probably an inch smaller. That led to questions about whether Jones-Drew could handle a heavy load of carries. He has never carried more than 200 times in any of his three seasons.

In 47 career games, he has carried the ball 20 or more times in a game just five times. Two of those games came late last year when Taylor was out with an injury. Against the Indianapolis Colts he ran 20 times for 91 yards and against the Baltimore Ravens he ran 23 times for 78 yards. He also fumbled three times in those games, leading to speculation that the heavier load took a toll on his smaller body.

"That's because a lot of people don't think I can do it because I'm smaller than the other backs," Jones-Drew said. "But I'm also heavier than a lot of the other guys who are taller than me. But that's OK. People can say what they want. It gets old after a while, but you can't please everybody. I've done it at every level. Why can't I do it here? Plus, this isn't the same game it used to be where guys are just carrying it 30 times up the middle. It's not about the load you carry. It's about the touches. Brian Westbrook succeeds without getting those power carries. Even Adrian Peterson gets the ball a lot of different ways. The game has changed."

via images.cbssports.com

Stats don't lie, though. Jones-Drew had 137 carries that came on his first 10 carries in games. He averaged 4.5 yards on those carries. On carries 11 through 20, he averaged 3.5 per rush on those 55 rushes. He also averaged 4.4 per carry in the first half to 4.0 in the second. Meaningful? We'll see.

Counting his 62 receptions last season and 20 returns, Jones-Drew touched it 279 times and seemed to do just fine from a handle-the-load standpoint. But the fumbles late -- five in the last five games with two lost -- are concerning. "In the Colts game I was going along just fine and then I sprained my knee in that game," Jones-Drew said. "And I played the next week. Nobody said a thing about that. It's not about the carries. It's about getting touches and staying on the field."

The 2008 season was to be the final year of his rookie contract. But the Jaguars opted to give him a long-term extension last month. Jones-Drew signed a four-year, $31-million extension with $17.5 million in guaranteed money. That's big money for a back that has never been the primary starter.

"We believe he's the feature guy and it's his time," said Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio.

I would have waited. Why not see what he can do as the feature back for half a season and then pay him?

The Jaguars rushed to pay quarterback David Garrard last year after his impressive 2007 season and he fell off last season. Not learning their lesson, they did it again with Jones-Drew. Even people close to Jones-Drew were surprised the Jaguars didn't wait, although Jones-Drew was staying away from the team's offseason work because he didn't have a new deal. "People were questioning my love when I was staying away," he said. "They didn't care what I was doing. 

The media tried to portray it that I was bad for that. I put my life on the line every time I step on the field and I should get compensated fairly for that. You want what you're worth. If you're the best postman, you want to be paid like the best postman. It's a business." Which is why I told him I would have waited. "They waited last year and it cost them," Jones-Drew said. "And it could have again." If he plays the way the Jaguars think he will, and the way he thinks he can, that contract could prove to be a major bargain. The little man with the big guns seems poised for a big season.

I would like to tip my hat to RCR, Tkopa and FSBlue on the great job this weekend getting the threads and stories up, excellent job guys!

And to every1 that posted this weekend I applaud as well. This was a GREAT thing to be a part of, 3000+, who's site's the shiznit now! I only made like 200 comments and others where double me i'm sure, that's dedication, passion and alot of damn typing lol!

It's been fun!

-Chris

My last Jaguar home game experienced was against the Minn. Vikings, who beat us 30-12, although the team( some of them) didn't play @ 100% it was an embarrassing event to your lay your eyes upon. Comeback drive after comeback drive that Garrard and Drew would magically put together, only to be held back by penalties or a classic o-line collapse on 3rd and 4. The o-line gave up 4 sacks and only blocked for like 35 yards that day.

The silver lining was MJD had like 8/9 catches for 100+ yards and Garrard threw for like 285 yards but had 2 ints. and Reggie Williams caught a TD. As bad as it was, the fans in my section cheered and high-fived, talked amongst themselves and just had a good time. It was great to be a part of something like that, although we didnt know that Fred was going to be no longer playing for the Jags at the end of this season, we were celebrating what we saw as the future for this organization. And that was 2 guys that NEVER gave up, played to the absolute best of their abilities 100% of the time, hell Garrard even tackles when he has to. Those 2 guys are our future and i've seen the future with my own 2 eyes. Trust me, with the right pieces put in place we will be a force to reckon with.

being shot about the Cubs last year? i havent heard anything about it since the beginning of last season, just wondering... even though they didnt go as far as we all had hoped, but they did repeat in the division. If it is out on dvd, i definitely will be ordering it. Living here in Fl., Cubs merch. is had to come by if you are looking for a variety of things, all the standard shirts and hats and pennants are around but no dvd videos or anything like that... 

a qb in the 5th round or later with the following stats would you be enthused:?

qb rating: 178.69(2nd highest in the country)     pass yrds: 4,059    TDs:46  

didnt play in a big conference(confUSA), but threw for 322 yards 1 TD against Ark. he threw for 264 yrds, 1 TD pass 2 TD rush against UCF.. in his bowl game he threw for 193 yrds 3TD in a slaughter against  #22 Ball State in which they ran the ball 64 times.oh yeah and 434 yrds 5 TD vs. UTEP.

His name is David Johnson and would be a steal in the late rounds. 

Watch this, he's in Blue!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElTVY_N5r5w

Hello, i’m new here and this will be my first post….

I’ve been looking at alot of mocks the past few days and it seems that after picking up Tra, everyone thinks the Jags will jump on Crabtree, what do you guys think?

Personaly i’d rather see them draft him over Sanchez, Garrard will be fine behind a solid line; we witnessed that 2 years ago. Maybe taking William Beatty who blocked for Donald Brown, who was the nation's leading rusher.