Frank Francis Sinkwich, Sr. (October 10, 1920 – October 22, 1990) won the 1942 Heisman Trophy as a player for the University of Georgia, making him the first recipient from the Southeastern Conference.^[1] In the course of a brief but celebrated career in professional football, Sinkwich was selected for the National Football League Most Valuable Player Award. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.^[2]

Early years[link]

He's of Croat origin.^[3] Sinkwich was born in Croatia to his mother who had traveled back to Croatia to visit family and give birth to him. They relocated to Youngstown, Ohio when he was two years old.

According to an article Sinkwich wrote in 1988, he grew to appreciate the value of competitiveness on the streets of Youngstown's west side. "I learned early in neighborhood pickup games that I had the desire to compete", he wrote. "When people ask why I succeeded in athletics, I always tell them that I didn't want to get beat".^[1]

Football career[link]

Sinkwich gained early recognition as a star athlete at Youngstown's Chaney High School.^[1] He went on to the University of Georgia and played under coach Wally Butts. In 1941 he led the nation in rushing yards with 209 carries for 1,103 yards. He was a two-time All-America selection and led the Bulldogs to an 11-1 season in 1942, capturing the Southeastern Conference Championship and a victory over UCLA in the 1943 Rose Bowl At the Rose Bowl in the team picture he was placed in number 52 instead of 21 because they did not want the press to be all over him. That same year, the Washington D.C. Touchdown Club honored Sinkwich as "back of the year",^[4] and he was overwhelmingly voted the Number 1 athlete for 1942 in the annual poll by the Associated Press over second-place finisher Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox,^[5] a year in which Williams was American League Batting Champion, American League Home Run Champion and hit for baseball's triple crown.

In his three-year college career, Sinkwich rushed for 2,271 yards, passed for 2,331 yards, and accounted for 60 touchdowns–30 rushing and 30 passing.^[1] He was the leading NCAA rusher in his junior season of 1941 with 1,103 yards. During his Senior year of 1942, Sinkwich set the NCAA single-season total offense record of 2,187 yards.^[6] Sinkwich earned his Bachelor of Science in Education (B.S.Ed.) from the University in 1943 and was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.

After his collegiate career, Sinkwich joined the United States Marine Corps; however, due to his flat feet he received a medical discharge and proceeded to play with the Detroit Lions, who had selected him first overall in the 1943 NFL Draft.^[7] In Detroit, he earned All-Pro honors in 1943-1944, as well as being named as NFL MVP in 1944.^[1]

After his two years in Detroit, Sinkwich served in both the United States Merchant Marines and the United States Army Air Forces, but a knee injury received while playing for the 2nd Air Force service team in 1945 hampered his playing career when he returned to professional football in 1946 and 1947.^[1][7] He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.^[1]

Legacy[link]

Sinkwich died after a long illness, in Athens, Georgia. Nowhere did his death elicit more emotion than at his alma mater. "We've lost one of the great legends in football history," said then Georgia athletic director Vince Dooley. "He was not only a great player but a wonderful person and citizen of Athens".^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Frank Sinkwich at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Frank Sinkwich at the Heisman Trophy
• Frank Sinkwich at Find a Grave

Herschel Walker

No. 34
Running back
Personal information
Date of birth: (1962-03-03) March 3, 1962 (age 50)
Place of birth: Wrightsville, Georgia
Height: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Weight: 225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school: Johnson County High School Wrightsville, Georgia
College: Georgia
NFL Draft: 1985 / Round: 5 / Pick: 114
Debuted in 1983 for the New Jersey Generals
Last played in 1997 for the Dallas Cowboys
Career history
New Jersey Generals (1983–1985) Dallas Cowboys (1986–1989) Minnesota Vikings (1989–1991) Philadelphia Eagles (1992–1994) New York Giants (1995) Dallas Cowboys (1996–1997)
Career highlights and awards
2× Pro Bowl (1987, 1988) 2× All-Pro (1987, 1988) Heisman Trophy (1982) Consensus All-American (1980, 1981, 1982) Florida–Georgia Hall of Fame
Career NFL statistics as of 1997
Games played 187 Games started 138 Rushing yards 8,225 Rushing TDs 61 Receiving yards 4,859 Receiving TDs 21 Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
College Football Hall of Fame

Herschel Junior Walker (born March 3, 1962) is a former American college and professional football player and a mixed martial artist. He played college football for the University of Georgia, was a three-time All-American, and won the 1982 Heisman Trophy. Walker began his professional football career with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League (USFL), before joining the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). In the NFL, he also played for the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Walker was born in Wrightsville, Georgia to Willis and Christine Walker. He was raised as one of the 7 children in a blue collar family.^[1] Walker said that as a child he was overweight and had a speech impediment.^[2] Walker's mother taught him not to use these problems as excuses in life.^[3]

High school (1975–1979)[link]

Walker played for the Johnson County High School Trojans in Wrightsville, Georgia from 1975–1979. In 1979, he rushed for 3,167 yards, helping the Trojans to their first state championship.^[4] He was awarded the first Dial Award for the national high school scholar-athlete of the year in 1979.

College career (1980–1982)[link]

Walker played running back for the University of Georgia, where he was a 3-time All-American and winner of the 1982 Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award. He is the only player in NCAA history to finish in the top 3 in Heisman voting every season he played football. He is also the only player in the NCAA to be in the top 10 in rushing yards and have only played 3 years. During his freshman season in 1980, Walker set the NCAA freshman rushing record and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting. Also, Walker was the first true freshmen to become a first-team All-American, a feat that has only been done by two other players in history Adrian Peterson and Sammy Watkins.^[5]

He played a major role in helping Georgia go undefeated that year and win the National Championship with a victory over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.^[6] He would go on to win the Heisman in his junior year.^[7] In 1999, Walker was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and is considered one of the greatest players in college football history.^[8]

College football statistics[link]

United States Football League (1983–1985)[link]

With the formation of the United States Football League, Walker saw an opportunity to do something then forbidden by NFL rules—to turn professional after the end of his junior season rather than wait for his collegiate class to graduate the next year. He also sought to choose where he would play professionally, as he felt he could make considerable money from product endorsements, as he was quoted on one occasion: "I don't know if I would want to play in the NFL unless it was for the two New York teams or the Dallas Cowboys." With endorsement considerations in mind, Walker signed with the New Jersey Generals in 1983, owned by Oklahoma oil tycoon J. Walter Duncan, who after the 1983 season sold the team to real-estate mogul Donald Trump. Walker attracted only one major advertising deal, a joint promotion by McDonald's and Adidas.

The USFL had initially followed the lead of the NFL and banned underclassmen from signing. However, league officials concluded the rule would never stand up in court, and allowed the signing. In order to circumvent the league-mandated $1.8-million salary cap, Walker signed a personal services contract with Duncan (later compensated by Trump) to the protest of no one, as the other owners appreciated Walker's name value to the league. Similar arrangements were made later when other big-name college stars signed with the league. Although this move was challenged in court, Walker and the USFL prevailed and Walker began play with the Generals.

He went on to win the USFL rushing title in 1983 and 1985 and in the latter year also gained over 4,000 yards in total offense. He holds the professional football record for single-season rushing yards with 2,411 yards in 1985, averaging 5.50 yards per attempt in 18 games. In his USFL career, Walker had 5,562 yards rushing in 1,143 carries, averaging 4.87 yards per carry, during his three seasons with the Generals. In 1983, he rushed for 1,812 yards in 18 games. In his second pro season, his rushing yardage dropped to 1,339, but he caught passes for more than 800 yards giving him over 2,100 yards in total offense.^[9]

Statistics[link]

National Football League (1986–1997)[link]

Dallas Cowboys (first stint)[link]

The Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League, suspecting that the USFL was not going to last, acquired Walker's NFL rights by drafting him in the fifth round of the 1985 NFL Draft. When the USFL succumbed after its technically successful but financially fruitless antitrust suit against the NFL in 1986, Walker came to the Cowboys as a phenomenal athlete and possessed world class speed in a fullback body. During his first two years with the Cowboys, he shared duties with Tony Dorsett, becoming the first Heisman backfield tandem in NFL history.

During that time he established himself as a premier NFL running back, but when Dorsett was traded to the Denver Broncos in 1988, Walker became a one-man offense, reaching NFL career highs of 1,514 rushing yards and 505 receiving yards, while playing seven different positions: halfback, fullback, tight end, H-back, wide receiver, both in the slot and as a flanker. He became just the 10th player in NFL history to amass more than 2,000 combined yards rushing and receiving in a season. In the process he achieved two consecutive Pro Bowls (1987 and 1988). In 1989, at the height of his NFL career, the Cowboys traded Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for a total of five players (LB Jesse Solomon, DB Issiac Holt, RB Darrin Nelson, LB David Howard, DE Alex Stewart) and six draft picks (which led to Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Kevin Smith, and Darren Woodson). This was judged to be one of the turning points in the rise of the Cowboys to the top echelon of the NFL.

Minnesota Vikings[link]

Nicknamed the "HWT" (Herschel Walker trade), Walker's trade was widely perceived as an exceptionally poor move considering what the Vikings had to give up in order to get him and remains one of the most frequently vilified roster moves of the team's history. The Vikings coaches reluctantly accepted Walker after the trade and never totally used the tool they had been given. From the moment he arrived in Minneapolis there was Herschel Mania everywhere he went. After a 2 ½ hour practice session where he was just taught 12 offensive plays, Walker had an incredible debut against the Green Bay Packers, where he produced the best rushing game by a Viking back since 1983 and the first 100 yards rushing performance by a Viking since 1987, gaining 148 yards on 18 carries.

He received three standing ovations from the record Metrodome crowd of 62,075, with the Vikings winning the game after previously having lost four successive games and 14 of 18 games to the Packers. His production went downhill from there, with the team questioning his talent and commitment to football, especially after he got involved in the Bobsled program of the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, that eventually led him to participate in the 1992 Winter Olympics. Scout.com says, "Walker was never used properly by the coaching brain trust."^[10] "Herschel the Turkey", a mock honor given out by the Star Tribune newspaper to particularly inept or disgraceful Minnesota sports personalities, is named for him.^[11] Walker played for the Vikings for two and a half years, never amassing 1,000 rushing yards in a season.

Philadelphia Eagles[link]

After three seasons in Minnesota, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Walker in 1992 hoping he would be the final ingredient they needed to reach the Super Bowl. That year he enjoyed his best season as a Pro since 1988 by rushing for 1,070 yards and in 1994 he became the first player in NFL history to have gains of 90 or more yards rushing, receiving and kick-returning in a single season. He spent three season in Philadelphia, leaving after the Eagles signed free agent Ricky Watters.

NY Giants[link]

The New York Giants signed him in 1995 to replace third-down back Dave Meggett, but soon discovered that Walker wasn't elusive enough for the role and couldn't play him at fullback either, because he wasn't that strong of a blocker^{[citation needed]}. While Walker indeed led the Giants with 45 kick returns at 21.5 Y/Ret in 1995, he lasted just one season.

Dallas Cowboys (second stint)[link]

In 1996 he was re-acquired by the Cowboys, where he played his final two seasons as a kickoff return specialist and third-down back. Walker retired at the end of the 1997 season as one of the most versatile players of all time, after gaining over 8,000 yards rushing in the NFL, over 4,000 yards receiving and over 5,000 kickoff return yards.

Statistics[link]

Legacy[link]

Walker rushed for 5,562 yards in his USFL career.^[12] His combined rushing numbers for the USFL and the NFL (13,787 yards) would place him 5th All-Time on the NFL's career rushing list.^[13] In 12 NFL seasons, Walker gained 8,225 rushing yards, 4,859 receiving yards, and 5,084 kickoff-return yards.^[14] This gave him 18,168 total combined net yards, ranking him second among the NFL's all-time leaders in total yardage at the time of his retirement; as of the start of the 2007 NFL season, ten years after his retirement, he still ranks eighth.^[15] He also scored 84 touchdowns: 61 rushing, 21 receiving and two kick off returns for touchdowns.^[14] Walker is the only other player besides Derrick Mason to have 10,000+ yards from scrimmage and 5,000+ return yards (all of which were on kickoff returns).

He is the only player to gain 4,000 yards three different ways: rushing, receiving and kickoff returns. He is one of six players (Jim Brown, Lenny Moore, Marcus Allen, Marshall Faulk, and Thurman Thomas) to exceed 60 touchdowns rushing and 20 touchdowns receiving. Another NFL record is that he is the only player with a 90+ yard reception, 90+ yard run and a 90+ yard kickoff return all in the same season (1994). He is the only player to record an 84+ yard touchdown run and an 84+ yard touchdown reception, in the same game (December 14, 1986). That same day, he had 100 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving. Walker is currently ranked eighth all time in all-purpose yards with 18,168, despite spending his first three seasons in the USFL.

Walker is regarded as one of the top college running backs of all time. In 1999, he was selected to Sports Illustrated's NCAA Football All-Century Team.^[16] On the Fox Sports Net show Sports List, Walker was named the best college football running back of all time and was selected as the third greatest player in college football history by ESPN.^[17] Walker had his jersey number "34" retired from his alma mater, The University of Georgia. While Walker had a successful NFL career, it was also a disappointment that he never played on a championship team. High expectations were placed on him due to his extraordinary college career and the price of his trade to the Minnesota Vikings. Many of those expectations were never realized.

The move to Minnesota was the turning point in his NFL tenure. In 2008, the trade was selected by SI.com as the number one worst sports trade of all time. It was also the subject of an episode of ESPN Classic's The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame.... In 2003 Johnson County High School named its football field in his honor.^[18] Walker was a highly popular and visible personality, even in his college days, as evidenced by the fact that both a thoroughbred and a standardbred race horse were named after him, the former while he was still in college. He also made several appearances in the sports documentary (2004).^[19]

On January 29, 2011 Walker announced that he is considering an attempt at returning to the NFL. "I've told everyone that at 50 I might try football again to show people I can do that," Walker said. "I want to be the George Foreman of football, come back and do that one more time... The two teams I would come back to play for are Minnesota or Atlanta. It would probably be Atlanta because that's home for me." According to Walker, thanks to his MMA training, "I'm a much better-conditioned athlete now than when I was playing football. I'm 48 and in better shape now than I was when I was in my early 20s, playing football." ^[20]

Personal[link]

Walker married his college sweetheart, Cindy DeAngelis Grossman in 1983. After 19 years they divorced in 2002.^[21] They have one son together, Christian. Walker is a born-again Christian. He made a guest appearance on The Hour of Power, hosted by televangelist Robert Schuller. Walker has a fifth-degree black belt in tae kwon do and nearly made the Olympic team in the sprint relay. He competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics in two-man bobsled, finishing seventh.^[22]