PRESQUE ISLE – Herschel Walker has been a star football player. He’s competed in the Olympics as a bobsledder. And he’s got a black belt in tae kwon do.

But picking up a biathlon rifle was a whole new experience for the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner.

“This is my first time,” said Walker, had a chance to try out the biathlon Sunday afternoon after the final race for the day in the 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championships. “I’m used to shooting a gun, but doing this when you’re skiing and trying to shoot a gun, it is very difficult. And doing it in the cold weather is even more difficult. So this is interesting right here.”

A 12-year NFL veteran, Walker is in the area to visit his girlfriend, Caribou resident Colleen DuPlissie. She owns Maine Dance Academy in Caribou. The two met when Walker judged Junior Miss pageants several years ago and became reacquainted recently.

Walker attended the opening ceremony for the world junior championships Friday night at the University of Maine-Presque Isle. The next day, he was eating dinner at Slopes Restaurant in Presque Isle at about the same time as a group from the biathlon championships was eating in a banquet room. The competition organizers asked Walker if he’d like to try out a rifle Sunday.

The former Dallas Cowboy agreed. Not only did he test a gun – he hit all five shots in the prone position but missed all five in the standing – but he also handed out flowers to the winners of the youth and junior men’s pursuit races and signed autographs.

Walker has also been to several local high school basketball games because DuPlissie’s son, Jarryd Rossignol, plays basketball for Caribou High School. Rossignol is the nephew of former Van Buren schoolboy star Matt Rossignol.

Walker also played for the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, and New York Giants. He’s a fifth-level black belt in tae kwon do, owns racehorses, and finished seventh in bobsledding in the 1992 Olympics.

And of course, football’s never far from his mind. Walker’s pick for the Super Bowl on Feb. 5?

“I picked the Steelers to win because [Steelers running back Jerome Bettis] is going to be home [in Detroit],” he said. “It’s like homecoming for him. So I think he’s going to perform well.”