Top Ten List!
Center For Positive Thinking

Blog Homepage - Positive Power
Blog Category: Positive Mind
Blog Entry: #83

Herschel Walker - "Breaking Free"of Dissociative
Identity Disorder!
by Joe DePalma

He's a vegetarian who usually eats only one meal per day with no snaking. He sleeps no more than 4 hours per night. He admits never to have had a sip of alcohol. His average daily workout consists of no weights at all. His workouts are 100% body weight training. This is what he has done nearly everyday or 25-30 years:

Push Ups: 2,000 reps
Sit Ups: 3,000 reps
Pull Ups: 1,500 reps
Dips: 1,000 reps
Squats: 1,000 reps
Plus various sprinting and running programs.

As you can see this isn't your average everyday guy.

He is widely considered the second greatest college football player ever, behind only the legendary Red Grange. He also had an historic professional football career and he even competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics in the two-man bobsled , finishing seventh. Now, at the age of 48 he is completing against fighters half his age in the octagon of professional Mixed Marshall Arts. Yet, to all but devout football or fitness fanatics he is largely unknown.


Herschel Walker - 48 Years Old

His name is Herschel Walker. He played running back for the University of Georgia from 1980-1982. He won the Heisman Trophy in his junior year of 1982 which is the annual award given to the best player in college football. Then, in 1983 Herschel found himself on the bizarre side of professional football history which is something he would repeat a few times throughout his career. Walker saw an opportunity to do something that was forbidden by the NFL (National Football League) at the time. This was to turn professional after the end of his junior season and not wait the full four years for his collegiate class to graduate which was the NFL's rule. However, Herschel wasn't planning to play in the NFL.

In 1983 a new renegade professional football league called the USFL (United Stated Football League) was taking shape and aiming to eventually compete with the NFL. However, the upstart USFL didn't have the same rules for players coming out of college earlier to play professionally and they were in need of a poster boy; an instant superstar. So, who better than the current Heisman Trophy winner and one of the greatest college players of all time?

Herschel quickly signed on to be the running back for the USFL's New Jersey Generals as well as the leagues golden child. He didn't disappoint. From 1983-1985 he was the USFL's standout player. However, the league folded and closed its doors after just three seasons of play. So what happens to the star of the league when there is no league?

Don't forget that Herschel was an incredible talent. Yet, the only other game in town was the NFL and he had just snubbed them three years earlier. But, he was still a thoroughbred known for his near freakish speed, strength, and durability. It was just too much for the NFL to ignore. Herschel was signed and played with the Dallas Cowboys and again he didn't disappoint by becoming one of the premier running backs in the league. However, as Herschel staked his claim as one of the best running backs in the NFL, the Cowboys started a decent into substandard overall play. They finished the 1988 season with a meager 3-13 record.

What followed in the 1988 season was another extremely odd sequence of events that has come to shape Herschel's professional sporting career. In 1989 the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings engaged in an epic trade that would ultimately shape the next decade of the NFL. The Cowboys traded Herschel to the Vikings for 5 current players and 6 future draft picks. That's a total of 11 players for 1! The trade rocked the sports world and transformed the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys proceeded to use those 11 new players to build what would become a football dynasty that would rule the NFL for most of the 1990's.

During the Cowboys success Herschel languished as a dreadfully underused talent in Minnesota . He was nearly a perfect physical specimen in the fact that he was too fast to be as strong as he was and although he played the most punishing position in Football he was almost never injured. Some experts say that he was just so different that it made fitting him into a pre-established football system extremely difficult.

To further express just how special Herschel's abilities are in 1992 he randomly

made the U.S. Olympic two-man bobsled team even though he never practiced it before going to the tryouts and finished seventh. Then, he simply returned to professional football like it was his day job to play out four undervalued seasons in the NFL with three different teams. It seemed no one (including Herschel) could figure out how to optimize his unique abilities.

Finally, after his playing career was over Herschel left football behind for good. He rarely did interviews and he almost never appeared on television like many other ex-athletes do. I was always intrigued by this and could never fully wrap my mind around Herschel and his football career. He had it all, but there always seemed to be something that didn't add up. He was as fast as lightening, stronger than an ox, and he never seemed to be injured. Plus he was always very soft spoke, deeply religious, and never got into any trouble. You'd figure that would be a coach's dream, right?

Well after all these years Herschel has recently written a book titled, “Breaking Free.” In the book he chronicles his lifelong struggle with “Dissociative Identity Disorder” which is better known as Multiple Personality Disorder. In his darkest hours he talks about how he played Russian Roulette pulling the trigger not once, but twice! He also admitted to causing the end of his marriage due in part to holding a gun to his wife's head. These near tragedies along with not remembering a lot of his athletic accomplishments has helped inspired him to seek treatment and to now release his deeply interpersonal book.



Herschel also mentions that he believes many individuals are misdiagnosed with Bipolar or Schizophrenia when they actually have Dissociative Identity Disorder. He states that he has overcome his disorder with the help of therapy and faith and that he does not take any medication.

Some people may consider Herschel's professional football career a mild disappointment considering his potential. However, if you were to add together his stats from both the USFL and the NFL he stands right up there with the all time greats. And he complied all of those numbers while battling a terrifying mental disorder. I think that ranks Herschel Walker in a category beyond football statistics. He's not your average ex-pro superstar.

In fact, I think before all is said and done Herschel will eclipse his on field victories with the invisible trophies he's going to receive for helping all of the people out there who are also suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder. There was a reason that the gun didn't go off when he was playing Russian Roulette. I think his book “Break Free” and the help it will bring just might be that reason.

As is true with all of us we never truly know what we'll be known for because we're always evolving. The dye is never cast so to speak on our lives even after we're gone. For example take all of the famous artists or poets throughout history who were largely misunderstood in their own time, only to be fully appreciated by future generations. Herschel probably thought that he was put on this earth to inspire people through his athletic feats. Yet, those feats may only be the starting point for a much larger and profound influence that he will leave behind.

Take heart and remember that we're all leaving a much deeper impact on this world than we are aware of at this time. Be focused, stay the course, and keep your positive mind sharp as your invisible trophies sparkle all around you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To learn more about author Joe DePalma Click Here

© Copyright, Joseph DePalma and Ready Set Rise, LLC. This material is protected under printed and electronic © Copyright. Any reissuing of this material must be approved by Joseph DePalma and Ready Set Rise, LLC.
To Contact Us Click here.

Go To Positive Power Blog Homepage
Go To Positive Mind Blog Category - Main Page