Orlando Predators | |||||||||||
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Position: | Head coach | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born: | Garland, Texas, U.S. | July 18, 1961||||||||||
Height: | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||||||||||
Weight: | 159 lb (72 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school: | Garland (Garland, Texas) | ||||||||||
College: | Texas | ||||||||||
NFL draft: | 1983 / Round: 7 / Pick: 170 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||||
As a coach: | |||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Career Arena statistics | |||||||||||
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Player stats at PFR · ArenaFan.com |
McCurey Hercules "Herkie" Walls (born July 18, 1961) is a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and Arena Football League (AFL). Walls also served as the head coach for the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League (NAL) for one season.
At the 1980 Southwest Texas Indoor Track and Field Championship, Walls finished first ahead of Curtis Dickey and Carl Lewis in the 60-yard dash (55 meters). [1]
Herkie Walls was a consensus choice as All-Southwest Conference split end as a senior in 1982, when he set all-time University of Texas records by averaging 28.08 yards on 25 catches for 702 yards and by scoring 10 touchdowns on pass receptions. His college career average of 25.8 yards per catch also was a Longhorn record. Herkie in 1982, also carried the ball on nine rushes for 146 yards, an average of 16.2 yards per carry, and returned six kickoffs for 154 yards, an average of 25.7 yards per return, for the SWC runner-up Longhorns, who posted a 9–2 record. He was drafted in 1983 by the Houston Oilers and played three seasons for the NFL team. As an Oiler, he caught 31 passes for 567 yards and two touchdowns and returned 36 kicks for 633 yards. While at Garland High School, Herkie was an option quarterback and as a senior led the Owls through an undefeated regular season to a bi-district championship, gaining 1,346 yards rushing in 12 games. Also an outstanding sprinter, Herkie as a sophomore ran on the Garland sprint relay team which won the State championship with a 41.0 time. As a junior he won the district 100-yard dash in 9.6 and the 220 in 22.1. In the District 10-AAAA meet as a senior, he repeated his three victories, winning the 100 in 9.45, the 220 in 21.76, and anchoring the winning sprint relay, plus he added the long jump title. Herkie also won the high school 100 meters in a record time of 10.42 at the Texas Relays as a senior. Competing later in track for the Longhorns, Herkie won third place in the SWC meet 200 meters in both 1981 and 1982 and was sixth in the 100 meters in 1982.
Walls was a 7th round pick in the 1983 NFL draft out of the University of Texas by the Houston Oilers. He played in the 1983–1985 seasons for the Oilers. He then played in two games in the 1985 season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
On September 16, 2022, Walls was hired as the head coach for the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League (NAL). [2]
Walls now resides in Orlando, Florida. In addition to his coaching, he is a substitute bible teacher and preacher for The Master's Academy, where he has previously served as head football coach. He is hoping to become a teacher there in 2023-2024. [3]
Robert Lee Hayes, nicknamed "Bullet Bob", was an American sprinter and professional football player. After winning gold medals at the 1964 Summer Olympics, he played as a split end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. Hayes is the only athlete to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring. He was a two-sport standout in college in both track and field and football at Florida A&M University. Hayes was enshrined in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2001 and was selected for induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in January 2009. Hayes is the second Olympic gold medalist to be inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, after Jim Thorpe. He once held the world record for the 70-yard dash. He also is tied for the world's second-fastest time in the 60-yard dash. He was once considered the "world's fastest human" by virtue of his multiple world records in the 60-yard, 100-yard, 220-yard, and Olympic 100-meter dashes. He was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.
John Wesley "Lam" Jones was an American athlete who won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter relay at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) as a wide receiver for the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys. Prior to that, he played college football and ran track at the University of Texas.
Ahmad Raheem Carroll is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 2004 NFL draft.
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Harold E. "Butch" Woolfolk is an American former professional football player who was a running back and kick returner in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines (1978–1981) before playing in the NFL for the New York Giants (1982–1984), Houston Oilers (1985–1986) and Detroit Lions (1987–1988). Woolfolk attended Westfield Senior High School in Westfield, New Jersey. Woolfolk led Michigan in rushing three straight years and set the school record with 3,850 rushing yards while playing for the Wolverines from 1978 to 1981. As a sophomore in 1979, he was the Big Ten Conference scoring champion, and he went on to become a three-time first-team All-Big Ten selection. He had his best season as a senior at Michigan, winning the 1981 Big Ten rushing title and falling just 10 yards short of Rob Lytle's single-season rushing yards record. He was also selected in 1981 as the Most Valuable Player of both the Rose Bowl played January 1, 1981, and the Bluebonnet Bowl played December 31, 1981, as well as the Wolverines' team MVP for the season.
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Curtis Raymond Dickey is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, spending most of his career with the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts before finishing his career with the Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Texas A&M University.
Silas Edward Southern was an American sprinter and hurdler who won a silver medal in the 400 metres hurdles at 1956 Olympics. He won another silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 1959 Pan American Games.
James Brown is a former American football quarterback. He was the starting quarterback of the Texas Longhorns from 1994 to 1997. At the time, he was only the second black quarterback to guide Texas through an entire season, and is credited for "opening doors" for future black quarterbacks at Texas, such as Casey Thompson and Vince Young.
Melvin Dean Gray is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) from 1971 to 1982. He attended college at the University of Missouri.
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Edorian McCullough is a former sprinter and American football cornerback and running back. He won the Texas high school championship in the 100 meters in consecutive years as a junior and senior and set district records with 340 rushing yards in a single game and 1,755 yards in a season. Rated as one of the top high school football players in the country, he signed with the University of Texas where he played in all 13 games as a true freshman and was selected as the Longhorns' Outstanding Defensive Newcomer Award. He left the University of Texas after one season due to academic issues and transferred to the City College of San Francisco, where he was selected as a Junior College All-American in 2004. He signed with Oregon State University in 2005, but he failed to meet the school's academic requirements and did not play for the Beavers. In 2006, he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a free agent, but he was released in early September 2006 as part of the final cut before the start of the regular season. He was a member of the 2007 Frankfurt Galaxy team that lost the NFL Europa championship to the Hamburg Sea Devils in World Bowl XV. He signed with the West Texas Roughnecks of the Indoor Football League in 2010.
Michael Ray Garvin is an American former college football player who was a cornerback for the Florida State Seminoles. He earned first-team All-American honors in 2008. He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) as an undrafted free agent in 2009. Garvin has also been a member of the NFL's Detroit Lions and the United Football League's Las Vegas Locomotives.
Johnathan Gray is a former American football running back. He played for the Frisco Fighters of the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2021. He played college football for the University of Texas at Austin. He attended Aledo High School in Aledo, Texas. Gray earned a 2011 USA Today High School All-American nomination, and was also named Gatorade National Player of the Year. After becoming the first junior to win ESPN HS's Mr. Football USA, he became the first two-time winner of the award following the 2011 high school football season.
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Ralph Irving Ellsworth Jr. was a college football player and track athlete. He was an All-Conference back for the Texas Longhorns in 1943 and helped Texas to their first repeat conference championship and its first-ever bowl game in 1944. He transferred to the Naval Academy in 1944, but returned to Texas for the 1945 and 1946 seasons. He was drafted by the New York Giants, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns, but never played professional football. He was also a standout on the track who won a National Championship at Navy in 1945 and at Texas won conference championships in two individual events, three relays, and as part of two teams.
The Orlando Predators are a professional indoor football team based in Orlando, Florida, with home games at the Kia Center and is a member of the revived Arena Football League. They were members of the National Arena League from 2019 to 2023 and marketed as a revival of the original Orlando Predators, who had played 25 seasons in the original AFL from 1991 to 2016. The original owners of this team acquired the Predators' trademarks in late 2018 after the previous owner, David A. Siegel, allowed them to lapse.