Jan. 27, 2017 NFL football hero visits Guardian Angels, shares personal journey with mental illness If you ever followed American football in the 1980s, the name Herschel Walker of the Dallas Cowboys was legendary. At six-foot-one, his granite-like physique was built not by lifting weights but through bodyweight exercises — lots of them. On the order of 2,000-3,000 push-ups and sit-ups every day.