On Oct. 12, 1989, the Vikings acquired Herschel Walker in a trade with the Dallas Cowboys that to this day might be one of the many jinxes – in fact maybe the biggest one, if you believe in that stuff – on the Minnesota franchise, and possibly derailed Walker’s NFL career.
Walker, who ended up finishing his career in Dallas and now lives there, gave a rather candid interview to the Pioneer Press in anticipation of Sunday’s Vikings-Cowboy match-up.
But back to that trade: It is historically considered the most lopsided trade in the history of all sports, involving 18 players and draft picks, and is so notorious that it has its own Wiki page as “The Great Trade Robbery.”
In short, it helped Dallas build a Super Bowl dynasty in the 1990s, and Walker never quite fit in to the Vikings system, and went on to flame out with the Eagles, Giants and Cowboys.
However, Walker was already a veteran, having racked up stats in the USFL, then a competitor league to the NFL. Because of that, Walker has yet to be enshrined into Canton.
“Without a doubt in my mind, I should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” Walker told the PiPress. “You look at my stats without my USFL stats, and I don’t know how you can argue with that. Look at my combined yards. I’m not one to make excuses, so I’ll play by their rules and not even count the USFL stats.”
The quote is now attracting some attention. NBC’s Pro Football Talk emphatically backs up Walker’s contention, with or without Walker’s USFL numbers. In fact, PFT says, his NFL numbers alone should get him in, but points out it is the Pro Football Hall of Fame, not the NFL Hall of Fame.
How big of a deal back in the day was Walker, who won the Heisman Trophy with the Georgia Bulldogs? Check out this catalog of his magazine covers alone.
