Georgia's football players could get shown up in workouts today by someone more than twice their age.
Former Bulldogs tailback and 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker left his Dallas home for Athens and an opportunity to visit and address the team, which is coming off a losing season for the first time since 1996. Walker, who led the Bulldogs to the 1980 national title with 1,616 rushing yards as a freshman, came at the invitation of former Georgia assistant coach and current athletic department official Mike Cavan.
"When I first came here to Georgia, we were not the best team in college football," Walker said Thursday at a news conference in Athens. "We were not the biggest and we were not the fastest, but I guarantee you there was not one team in America who could play as a unit better than we could. That's one thing I want to stress to this team right here.
"There are days where it is going to be extremely hot, but you've got to go get it."
Walker, 49, ignited Georgia three decades ago to a 33-3 record in three seasons, including an 18-0 mark in Southeastern Conference play. He arrived after the Bulldogs had gone 6-5 in 1979, with home losses to Wake Forest and Virginia, and quickly became one of college football's all-time greats.
Now Georgia fans are hoping for something similar from Isaiah Crowell, who recently enrolled as the nation's top prep tailback according to ESPN.
"It's never fair to compare any running backs or any athletes, because they are so different in generations and different teams," Walker said. "He has got so much talent, and people are looking at a lot from him. The advice I'll give him is do his thing and that you can't worry about what people think about you."
When asked if he felt the accompanying hype when he stepped foot on campus, Walker said, "I was too stupid to know I had any pressure. I just came in here to practice and to play."
The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Walker is 2-0 as a mixed martial arts fighter and hopes to fight again in August.