Ric Swats/River Cities Business Journal Herschel Walker chats with fans during a visit to the Boiler Room at the Colorado Belle in Laughlin on Oct. 8.

Herschel's Famous 34; Ex-Cowboy

helps his home town

By Ric Swats

River Cities Business Journal

LAUGHLIN, Nev. - There isn't room in the television trade for all the former NFL stars to be commentators, but Herschel Walker is happier being in business for himself and finding ways to help other people.

Walker, who gained fame as the star running back for the Dallas Cowboys, visited the Colorado Belle on Oct. 8 to meet fans, help host the Monday Night Football game in the Boiler Room and promote his company - Herchel's Famous 34.

When he started the company he was simply hoping to supply friends and family in his hometown of Wrightsville, Ga., with jobs.

“All the young people were moving away,” Walker said. “If they didn't go to college they were moving to cities to get work and if they went to college there weren't any jobs for them back home.

“When we started this food business about 10 years ago I wanted it to be just a family company, but it really has grown.”

When the company first opened it was just going to supply some local restaurants with tasty treats.

“My parents have a lot of old family recipes and we started from there,” Walker said.

But the idea of just supplying a few jobs in his home town mushroomed.

“When I started this I was all naive,” Walker said. “I just wanted to break even.”

That concept fell by the wayside years ago.

“It was going to be a little business and it just grew and grew,” Walker said. “We sell all over the U.S. and Canada to all our armed forces all over the world.”

Most of what the company produces are the kind of meat snack treats one would expect to find served in a bar or as appetizers at a restaurant.

“We do chicken, beef and pork,” Walker said.

The company offers three kinds of wings, about a half dozen types of chicken strips or poppers, sausages and his signature Herschel's Famous 34 barbecue ribs.

His little company now has about 400 employees and is distributed through SYSCO.

Walker's original intent of simply supplying a few jobs in his hometown even outgrew that concept.

“What's wild is we had to open up an office in Savannah to take care of customers,” Walker said.

Walker, who won the Heisman Trophy at the University of Georgia in 1982 and played in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys, the Minnesota Vikings, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants, didn't stop with his food business.

“I have a medical supply company,” Walker said. “We have close to 800, maybe 900 people working.”

He gives back to the community in other ways as well.

“We give 20 percent of everything we make to charity,” Walker said.

He even included in his corporate charter that at least 15 percent of revenue must be donated to non-profit organizations.

He also donated his time at the Colorado Belle.

“When I came here a few months ago everybody was so nice to me,” Walker said. “They said ‘Come back and do a game sometime.' So I came back.”

Things have come a long way from his original goal of “I just wanted to give a man a job.”