Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley
We just spent a few minutes with former NFL running back Herschel Walker on 103.3 ESPN in Dallas. Walker has caused a national stir with his recent appearance on ABC's "Nightline" and with his new book, "Breaking Free: My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorder." In the book, Walker describes a series of bizarre incidents that almost led to him taking his own life.
He said he originally wrote his story as part of his therapy for DID, but someone read it and suggested he turn it into a book. It sounds like he's been surprised by how much backlash he's received over his admission. Walker's stories of having to manage more than 12 personalities is hard to buy -- especially since his coaches and father didn't see any of the signs.
"What is so weird is that I've taken responsibility for all the events I've been involved in," Walker said. "I always take responsibility if I do something wrong."
Some critics have suggested that he was using the relatively rare disorder to explain away events in his past and perhaps cash in on its sensational nature.
"I don't need money," he told us. "I have a company that's very successful."
He said he wrote the book because he thinks others might be suffering from similar issues and could be embarrassed to seek professional help. Walker said that he played Russian Roulette several times.
"To me, it's the ultimate game," he said. "You win or lose."
He then launched into comparing Russian Roulette to his approach to winning or losing football games. In recent interviews, his ex-wife Cindy talked about how Walker once pointed a gun at her temple. Walker gave her a lot of credit for staying with him through the worst times, and took complete responsibility for their divorce, indicating that she was willing to stay with him.
Walker also brought up a story that's in the book about how a minor disagreement over a business deal almost caused him to shoot a man.
"I was gonna hurt this guy," Walker said. "If I had not prayed to my Lord Jesus, I would be in jail."
He suggested that Herschel Walker the football player was actually an alternate character. And that's still incredibly confusing to me. My radio co-host Brian Estridge also asked Walker about an incident a few years ago when he was discovered passed out in his garage while sitting in a running car. He dismissed that incident as a misunderstanding, and said he simply fell asleep. "I'm almost like a giraffe," Walker said. "I sleep three minutes and then I'm ready to go."
Would one of my animal experts please let me know if giraffes actually sleep in three-minute increments? This was news to me.
Herschel had to run at this point, but I might drop by one of his book signings later this week. I'm fascinated by this story, although I'm not completely sure what to make of it.
