Herschel Walker Back in the NFL? Mike Flynt Is a Believer

Mike Flynt smiled when he heard Herschel Walker wants back into the National Football League. Walker, now 48 years old, says he's 100 percent certain he can help a team. As in right now. Preferably for his home state Atlanta Falcons.

Sure, this might be as different as apples and oranges, night and day, white and gray brain matter. Yet, Flynt, of course, knows about comebacks and physical fitness.

Flynt returned for his senior football season at Division III Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, in 2007 -- at the age of 59.

Flynt, an accomplished college strength and conditioning coach, stepped back in time to become the oldest player in college football history. Flynt played in five games and proved that age is only a number. He's in great health and spirits at age 63 in his hometown of Franklin, Tenn. He's been married for 38 years to Eileen with three children and three grandchildren.

Flynt's a big fan of Walker, too.

"Like everything else Herschel has accomplished athletically and taken on throughout his life, he has pretty much excelled at it," Flynt told FanHouse Tuesday.

Walker, the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Georgia who last played in the NFL in 1997, has always had, well, an unorthodox streak about him. Ballet dancing. Olympic bobsledding. Track and field. A black belt in tae kwon do. And, most recently, MMA.

Flynt has memories of watching Walker rip through Texas A&M's defense for 142 rushing yards and three touchdowns during Walker's freshman season at Georgia in 1980. Flynt was the Aggies' strength and conditioning coach at the time.

"We couldn't stop him," Flynt said.

Flynt, creator of Powerbase Fitness, author and motivational speaker, has his own theory how Walker sips from the fountain of youth.

"If you look at his training regiment, his diet, the things he does on a daily basis, you think the body can't recover from that. There's no way but he continues to excel," said Flynt, who appeared primarily on special teams at Sul Ross before he played linebacker for the final three minutes and 39 seconds in the regular-season finale against Mississippi College.

"Personally -- I don't know this because I have never spoken to Herschel -- I just think Herschel has enabled himself through his training to tap in to that meditation concept, the area of the brain that controls to the nth degree every thing we do physically.

"That allow him to have the recovery time, allows him to train as hard as he does on a daily basis. It really defies science as we know it concerning psychology and recovery time required to perform. He has done it for decades."

Is Walker serious, however? That's the question. He made his comments Monday during a conference call to promote an upcoming MMA event.

Flynt believes.

"Anyone who has followed Herschel's career and followed his physical performance, it won't take long to see if he could do this," said Flynt, a member of the 1965 Permian Panthers state championship team that started the program's winning ways and later inspired the movie "Friday Night Lights." Flynt was the featured speaker at the team's recent banquet.

"But gosh, you have to give Herschel a shot," Flynt added.

Jim Henry co-authored "Tarnished Heisman" and was a contributing writer on five other books, including the New York Times bestseller on Duke lacrosse, the Rex Ryan autobiography, scheduled for release in 2011, and the Mike Flynt autobiography, titled "The Senior." Here's Mike's website: www.mikeflynt.com. Contact Jim at jim.henry@teamaol.com.