Herschel: Dawgs the team to beat

ATHENS – Georgia’s greatest player ever says the Bulldogs are going to be the team to beat this fall.

“I want them to go out and know that everyone is shooting at them,” Walker said in a phone interview earlier this week with Dawg Post’s Dean Legge. “I want them to know that they are better than anybody, and that they have to believe – and don’t let anyone tell them that they can not do it.”

Walker was the star player in the Bulldogs’ most recent national championship. The former Georgia star has been in the news of late after the release of his book “Breaking Free” which is published by Simon & Schuster. In the book Walker talks about his life and diagnosis with describing dissociative identity disorder. He also talks about his childhood, as well as his prep, college and professional football days.

In the interview Walker said that he admires current Georgia head coach Mark Richt. Both men are men of faith, which Walker points towards in describing why Richt has been so successful between the hedges.

“Georgia has a fine team,” Walker said. “They have a great coach. I have said that Coach Richt is a great man. He is dedicated to his belief. He is dedicated to who he is. Even though I never played on his team I respect him so much. The team Coach Richt has built – the young guys he’s built up – I think that they have so much to be proud of.”

The former Heisman Trophy winner recalls his days at Georgia in the book – pointing out how proud he is of his ties to Georgia. He also details events which took place in Athens, including meeting 1980 team captain Frank Ros, who Walker called “a true brother of mine”, for the first time as well as getting his wisdom teeth removed without any anesthesia or pain killers during the procedure.

During the interview Walker was asked he would have a problem with another player in the future wearing his old #34 jersey, which the University retired to honor the Johnson County native. He said he would have no problem with it.

“I was blessed to play at Georgia and do the things I did,” Walker said. “But my time has come and gone and there’s other people coming in. If there was someone that really wanted to wear the #34 that the coaches could get with then you never know – he could be better than I am.”

While replacing Walker in Georgia folklore would be near impossible, the Dawgs’ current running back is quite the sensation – even Walker says so.

“Knowshon is very good, and I tell you what, he is going to go a long way,” Walker said. “He is going to go a long way in college and a long way in pro ball.”

Walker is making several apperances this weekend. Friday at 12:30 PM he will be at the UGA Bookstore in Athens. He will give a speech at the Carter Library in Atlanta at 7:00 PM Firday night. On Saturday, Walker will be at the Wal-Mart in Statesboro at 1:00 PM.