The former running back’s US senate run seems like a flight of fancy but more frivolous candidates have achieved high office
Two weekends ago, as the new college football season dawned, Herschel Walker rendezvoused with the Fox network at the Georgia-Clemson game to discuss his heel turn from gridiron great to Georgia Republican candidate for US Senate, hitting all the familiar notes. He played the victim, (“I have the left and even the right coming at me sometimes,” he said), moaned about not recognizing his country anymore (“I see so many things I disagree with”), and vowed, “I’m going to fight” before making a case for the return of Reggie Bush’s Heisman trophy. Most delicious of all: the receiver on the other end of these underhanded bromides was none other than Clay Travis – a foundational stick-to-sports moralist. In a world where political analysis apes sports commentary and rickety old jocks seem to never run out of bombastic opinions, one could hardly imagine a more worthy kickoff for a late-career pivot into public service than a college football pregame show.
To be sure the American political arena has seen its share of ex-football standouts before. Steve Largent (the hall of fame Seahawks receiver turned US representative), Alan Page (the Purple People Eater turned Minnesota supreme court associate justice) and Gerald Ford (the University of Michigan star turned post-impeachment president) are three of many who have straddled both worlds. The desire to see the 59-year-old Walker run dates to the early-80s, when delirious Georgia football fans waved signs that read: Walker for President.
