Post by Kliquid on Jan 25, 2011 9:59:43 GMT -5
An article I wrote last night. Comments appreciated!
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Herschel Walker and 25 NFL Legends Who Could Have Been Great In MMA
It’s not often that a 47-year-old man is beginning a new career.
But that’s exactly what former NFL and College football star Herschel Walker did just under a year ago when he had his first professional mixed martial arts fight.
Walker is one of the most well-known college football players of all time, as he was selected to three All-American rosters and won the 1982 Heisman Trophy. He remains the only player in NCAA history to have ever finished in the top three in Heisman voting every season he played.
He continued that success in the pros when he joined the United State Football League in 1983 following his junior year in college.
Walker dominated that league for three seasons before being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 1985, where he went on to star for the team and make two Pro Bowl rosters.
Walker was eventually traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 1989 in one of the most monumental trades in football history.
He never really caught on in Minnesota and spent the next handful of seasons bouncing around the league before eventually resigning with the Cowboys in 1996 and retiring in 1997.
Walker spent the next decade out of the spotlight for the most part before taking part in a mixed martial arts reality television show in 2007. Walker began training and was eventually signed by the MMA promotion Strikeforce, where he would fight as a heavyweight.
He defeated Greg Nady in his first professional bout at the Strikeforce: Miami event, ending the fight by TKO due to strikes mid-way through in the third round.
While Walker may be well past his physical prime, he remains an unbelievable physical specimen whose body has stood the test of time.
The transition from NFL to MMA has been a long one for Walker, but helps illustrate the point that the NFL is full of amazing athletes that likely could have been superstars in other sports.
Quite a few former NFL players have tried their hand in mixed martial arts, including four fighters on the most recent season of the UFC’s "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series. On the show, former NFL first-round pick and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Marcus Jones competed with Matt Mitrione, Brendan Schaub and Wes Shivers, who all had short NFL careers themselves.
While Herschel Walker is considered one of the best pure athletes the U.S. has ever produced, he may not be the best former pro football player who could have made the transition into mixed martial arts.
Numerous former and current NFL players also had backgrounds in wrestling, a sport which many consider to be the most important core for mixed martial arts. No matter their background, though, the NFL is full of athletes who could have done practically anything they wanted to in the sports world.
Even given his impressive history and athletic promise in several different sports, Herschel Walker himself was once quoted as saying, “If MMA had been around, I would have went into that instead of football.”
With that in mind, this list of 25 current and former NFL legends is a trip into a hypothetical parallel universe where some of the world’s best athletes have passed on professional football to become professional mixed martial artists.
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Thanks,
Nick
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Herschel Walker and 25 NFL Legends Who Could Have Been Great In MMA
It’s not often that a 47-year-old man is beginning a new career.
But that’s exactly what former NFL and College football star Herschel Walker did just under a year ago when he had his first professional mixed martial arts fight.
Walker is one of the most well-known college football players of all time, as he was selected to three All-American rosters and won the 1982 Heisman Trophy. He remains the only player in NCAA history to have ever finished in the top three in Heisman voting every season he played.
He continued that success in the pros when he joined the United State Football League in 1983 following his junior year in college.
Walker dominated that league for three seasons before being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 1985, where he went on to star for the team and make two Pro Bowl rosters.
Walker was eventually traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 1989 in one of the most monumental trades in football history.
He never really caught on in Minnesota and spent the next handful of seasons bouncing around the league before eventually resigning with the Cowboys in 1996 and retiring in 1997.
Walker spent the next decade out of the spotlight for the most part before taking part in a mixed martial arts reality television show in 2007. Walker began training and was eventually signed by the MMA promotion Strikeforce, where he would fight as a heavyweight.
He defeated Greg Nady in his first professional bout at the Strikeforce: Miami event, ending the fight by TKO due to strikes mid-way through in the third round.
While Walker may be well past his physical prime, he remains an unbelievable physical specimen whose body has stood the test of time.
The transition from NFL to MMA has been a long one for Walker, but helps illustrate the point that the NFL is full of amazing athletes that likely could have been superstars in other sports.
Quite a few former NFL players have tried their hand in mixed martial arts, including four fighters on the most recent season of the UFC’s "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series. On the show, former NFL first-round pick and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Marcus Jones competed with Matt Mitrione, Brendan Schaub and Wes Shivers, who all had short NFL careers themselves.
While Herschel Walker is considered one of the best pure athletes the U.S. has ever produced, he may not be the best former pro football player who could have made the transition into mixed martial arts.
Numerous former and current NFL players also had backgrounds in wrestling, a sport which many consider to be the most important core for mixed martial arts. No matter their background, though, the NFL is full of athletes who could have done practically anything they wanted to in the sports world.
Even given his impressive history and athletic promise in several different sports, Herschel Walker himself was once quoted as saying, “If MMA had been around, I would have went into that instead of football.”
With that in mind, this list of 25 current and former NFL legends is a trip into a hypothetical parallel universe where some of the world’s best athletes have passed on professional football to become professional mixed martial artists.
--------------
Thanks,
Nick
Before clicking on the link and just reading the heading, Ray Lewis and Stephen Neal were the first two that came to mind and they were #1 and 2.
