Herschel Walker: 'Tell the World My Truth'

[WVUforREDSKINS]

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=4643971&page=1

click link for video and full story

Herschel Walker has always been something of a puzzle. As difficult as the star running back was to bring down on the field, it was harder, still, to figure out what made him tick.

"I told somebody once, 'You don't want the Herschel that plays football ... babysitting your child," Walker told ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff. "When I am competing, I am a totally different person.'"

He means it literally.

For the first time, the 46-year-old former professional football player reveals in a book published this week, "Breaking Free," that he has a rare and controversial mental illness called dissociative identity disorder — or D.I.D. — formerly known as multiple personality disorder.

"I had it the whole time, I just didn't know what it was," Walker said.

Watch Bob Woodruff's interview with Herschel Walker tonight on "Nightline" at 11:35 p.m.ET.

The athlete who played 15 seasons of professional football in the NFL and USFL and pushed a bobsled for the 1992 U.S. Olympic team in Albertville, France; the family man who married his college sweetheart; the man who once danced with the Fort Worth Ballet; the business man — Walker says none of those guys were him. Not really. Those were his "alters," he says -- alternate personalities.

Walker's family, former teammates and fans reacted to the revelation with shock.

"I know him better than anybody 'cause I raised him," Walker's father, Willis Walker Sr. told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in January. "This is my first knowing about that."

The disorder usually has its roots in childhood trauma.

"I was a fat little kid with a speech impediment," Walker told Woodruff. "I used to get beat up, not just picked on."

Walker's therapist Jerry Mungadze, said he met Walker's alternate personalities, or alters, in therapy. "They will come out and say, I am so-and-so. I'm here to tell you Herschel is not doing too good ... When he finishes, it would just disappear back in him, and Herschel comes out."

Walker and Mungadze believe the disorder actually helped Walker — who started for a number of NFL teams, including the Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys — succeed on the gridiron.

Mungadze offered a theory about the subconscious logic in Walker's head. "Since people are laughing at you, we're going to make you so strong, so fast, so talented, that you're going to be above everyone. And that is what went into building this super athlete."

[Bang]

Ah HA!

See, the Vikings thought they were trading all that away for Herschel Walker,,,and instead they got his "Sally" personality.

It all makes sense now!

~Bang

[33]

I'm really impressed that Herschel is telling this story. Can't be easy to talk about this sort of thing normally, but coming from the football world can't make it any easier.

[BigMike619]

that was such a sad story. That poor guy is all messed up in the head to the point where he almost killed himself.

On Bang's take though...wouldnt the Cowboys trade be pretty much even now if you count for all 12 personalities? almost like player for player..

[Bang]

that was such a sad story. That poor guy is all messed up in the head to the point where he almost killed himself.

On Bang's take though...wouldnt the Cowboys trade be pretty much even now if you count for all 12 personalities? almost like player for player..

:laugh: :laugh:

Good point

It is a credit to him to come forward and discuss it so frankly, but then again, Herschel has never been anything short of remarkable.

As a player we all saw his talent at Georgia, as a pro I was never really all that impressed (NFL pro I mean.) He was good, but not spectacular.

He rescued a kid from drowning once.. he used to do a thousand sit-ups a day, he was an Olympic athlete,, and he danced in the Houston Ballet. (I THINK it was Houston,, it's been a long time, I might not remember the city right.)

I have always had great respect for him.

~Bang

[WVUforREDSKINS]

I missed it...did anyone watch it?

[TimmySmith]

I remember meeting Walker in the lockerroom following a Redskin-Cowboy game. I was struck at how nice and polite the guy was. It later dawned on me that his gentile demeanor was probably the reason the he never performed up to his potential.

[McMetal]

Color me skeptical. His wife and family and the people closest to him had NO CLUE about this?

If your alters are so developed that they have individual names and identities, that would be pretty much impossible to conceal.

Seems like a somewhat contrived diagnosis...I am pretty sure there are other anxiety disorders that could fit his spectrum of behaviors.

[pjfootballer]

He also did bobsledding.

[WVUforREDSKINS]

Color me skeptical. His wife and family and the people closest to him had NO CLUE about this?

If your alters are so developed that they have individual names and identities, that would be pretty much impossible to conceal.

Seems like a somewhat contrived diagnosis...I am pretty sure there are other anxiety disorders that could fit his spectrum of behaviors.

I see what you're saying. It is extremely odd that he could be a completely different person who likes one thing (dancing for example) and then at the flip of a switch hates it. Someone would have noticed.

This is apparently a very contorversial diagnosis with many experts saying it doesn't really exsit. Who knows though, just wondering if anyone cought it, as it looked interesting.

Must be very tought to come out and say something like this to the world as well.

[Smoot Point Really]

Maybe Mike Lynn thought he was actually getting multiple players in the "Herschel Walker trade" and not just one guy with multiple personalities... Now it is all making sense.

[JMS]

I thought it was going to say Hershal was gay.

I always liked Hershal, right up until he was drafted by the cowboys. Remember we got Kelvin Bryant from the USFL and Bethard thought he would be better than Hershal. Hershal was a once and a life time RB, he never played behind a great line, but he was a great power back.

Few folks have had the kind of season Hershal had back in college 81. He won the Heisman in 82, but I thought he had a better season in 81. I wish we would have taken him over Bryant. And bryant had a number of good years for us as a third down back, fragile as hell though.

[33]

As I understand it, multiple personality disorders don't make you different people (duh), but give you separate personalities. I've known people that have been diagnosed as such, and you never have the :idea: moment until after you're told. Everything you ever knew and wondered about this person suddenly makes sense.

Such as how they could change attitudes at the drop of a dime. How they can have an interest and suddenly drop it. How they can become so angered with no warning. How someone who is so smart and hard working can also be so incredibly destructive and simple minded.

When you know someone you tend to take them at face value and not theorize why they are the way they are.

[SkinsGuy]

Here come the 'Sybil' jokes.

[WVUforREDSKINS]

As I understand it, multiple personality disorders don't make you different people (duh), but give you separate personalities. I've known people that have been diagnosed as such, and you never have the :idea: moment until after you're told. Everything you ever knew and wondered about this person suddenly makes sense.

Such as how they could change attitudes at the drop of a dime. How they can have an interest and suddenly drop it. How they can become so angered with no warning. How someone who is so smart and hard working can also be so incredibly destructive and simple minded.

When you know someone you tend to take them at face value and not theorize why they are the way they are.

True, but what I find to be the most odd is how they can "blackout" and not remember anything when they go into this other character, much like Herschel said he did when he went into some of his other personalities.

[BigMike619]

True, but what I find to be the most odd is how they can "blackout" and not remember anything when they go into this other character, much like Herschel said he did when he went into some of his other personalities.

from the limited knowledge taht I have on the topic I believe when something happens and puts them in a certain situation that personality will come out and become dominant. The personality that was working will sink down and "sleep" while the needed one comes out and handles things..

[33]

True, but what I find to be the most odd is how they can "blackout" and not remember anything when they go into this other character, much like Herschel said he did when he went into some of his other personalities.

Your use of the word character might not be helping you understand the issues they have. Personalities is very different from characters.

Here is a link that describes the disorder.

http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requestURI=/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/multiple_personality_disorder.jsp

[WVUforREDSKINS]

"The most distinctive feature of DID is the formation and emergence of alternate personality states, or "alters." Patients with DID experience their alters as distinctive individuals possessing different names, histories, and personality traits. It is not unusual for DID patients to have alters of different genders, sexual orientations, ages, or nationalities. Some patients have been reported with alters that are not even human; alters have been animals, or even aliens from outer space. The average DID patient has between two and 10 alters, but some have been reported with over one hundred."

:paranoid: :paranoid:

Wow!