USFL Contract Makes Walker Top Paid Player
Published 12:00 a.m. CT Feb. 24,
1983
Herschel Walker signed pro football's richest contract ever Wednesday, jumping from his junior year at the University of Georgia to the New Jersey Generals of the fledgling United States Football League. The Heisman Trophy-winning tailback, a three-time All-America, signed a three-year pact worth an estimated $5 million just hours after university officials declared him ineligible to finish his college career.
Just last Friday, reacting to published reports, the 20-year-old star told a news conference here that he planned to return to the Bulldogs for his senior season, and still hoped to run as an amateur in the sprints at the 1984 Olympics. Now, as a professional, the Olympics are out for Walker, and college coaches warned Wednesday that the signing of the talented junior by the USFL could lead to a war between the colleges and the new league. "The USFL has just slammed the door in our face, and it hurts," said Charlie McClendon, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association.
There also were fears in the established National Football League that the rich contract Walker signed could lead to an escalation of salaries through pro football, such as occurred when Joe Namath signed with the New York Jets of the old American Football League in 1965. Walker passed up a chance to become college football's all-time rusher. He gained 5,259 yards in his three seasons at Georgia, only 823 less than Tony Dorsett's four-year NCAA record. He ran for 1,752 yards and scored 17 touchdowns in winning the Heisman last season.
Walker's signing followed five days of controversy which prompted an investigation by the NCAA into the reports that he had signed with the USFL team last Thursday in violation of the NCAA's rules on eligibility. He had and, on Wednesday, was forced to cut his collegiate career to three years.
"He's a millionaire right now," Jack Manton, Walker's agent, said outside Walker's off-campus apartment in Athens. "It's the highest contract ever in pro football history by far."
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