Herschel Walker strikes a Heisman pose during his long-delayed UGA graduation

Herschel Walker strikes a Heisman pose during his long-delayed UGA graduation

ATHENS — Before the convocation ceremony began Thursday at the University of Georgia, two graduates realized that a legendary athlete was one of their colleagues.

“Did you see that Herschel Walker is graduating from us?” one asked.

“Wait, what?” was the startled reply.

More than four decades after the greatest football player in UGA history — and arguably the greatest college football player of all time — left school early to play professionally, he returned to finish what he started .

Walker was called to the stage Thursday to receive his bachelor’s degree alongside others in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. He is expected to attend the university-wide commencement ceremony on Friday.

“I’m going to do the Heisman pose,” Walker said to a group of his classmates who laughed with him as they waited in line for their names to be called.

Walker struck the pose on stage in front of a baying and cheering crowd.

1982 Heisman Trophy winner and former Georgia running back Herschel Walker attends with Anisa Zvonkovic, dean of the University of Georgia’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences, during the college’s fall graduation ceremony on Thursday, December 12, 2024. striking the Heisman pose in Athens. Ga. (Jason Getz / AJC) (Jason Getz / [email protected]/AJC Freelancer)

The 1982 Heisman Trophy winner took five semesters to graduate. He graduated with a major in housing economics and policy.

“He came with a desire to learn,” said Cory Kopaniasz, UGA assistant athletic director. “He lives by feeding his brain.”

Kopaniasz said Walker welcomes the work in the classroom. Some of his classes were in person. But in many courses, Kopaniasz said, “texts and assignments are available on various online platforms, so he had to familiarize himself with the technology that professors use in the classroom today.”

The Georgia Bulldogs won a national championship while Walker was at Georgia. He led the team to a 33-3 record and three Southeastern Conference titles in his three seasons. During this time his mythical status increased as he also appeared in athletics. He played in the USFL and NFL for 15 years. In the latter part of his soccer career, he competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics as a member of the U.S. bobsled team. He later competed in sanctioned mixed martial arts bouts.

In 2022, he ran for a U.S. Senate seat but was unsuccessful, losing to incumbent Raphael Warnock. Walker has been accused of expressing falsehoods during his campaign, including claiming that he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from UGA. He was forced to delete the claim from his website.

“He’s a role model and a lot of people really love Herschel, so he just had some unfinished business that he needed to take care of,” said Daryll Jones, Walker’s teammate at Georgia who is still a close friend.

During his first time at UGA, Walker couldn’t escape the attention.

“He wasn’t a normal student,” Jones said. “He wasn’t your average student-athlete. He wasn’t a normal person. There’s no other way to put it other than he was a rock star.”

Kopaniasz said his department often works with athletes seeking a degree during or after their professional careers. He said Asher Allen, who played for the Bulldogs from 2006 to 2008, recently graduated, and former stars Brock Bowers and Nakobe Dean, both currently in the NFL, also spoke to him about graduating.

Still, Walker’s case was unique because of the number of years that had passed. UGA had to convert his transcript from the quarter hours used when he was a student to semester hours.

Initially, Walker took two online courses during a summer semester. He then moved back to Athens and attended classes on campus. Jones said Walker wanted to be “a normal student” as much as possible.

Kopaniasz said his classmates often asked him to drink with them at bars downtown on weekends.

“Herschel doesn’t drink, but he said he would like to have pizza with them,” Kopaniasz said. “He has now made a lot of connections with players on the (football) team and regular students.”

Before Thursday’s ceremony, Herschel posed for photos with dozens of his classmates — and some of their parents and grandparents. A student spoke to Herschel about a project they had worked on together in a class. The more than 100 graduates of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences then gathered for a group photo.

“It’s really an eye-opening moment to see an icon like this,” said Noah Reyna, a financial planning student from Canton. “I kept saying, ‘Look at this, I’m graduating from Herschel Walker.'”

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