Herschel Walker says his greatest accomplishment is being a good father, but he was petitioned over child support for his estranged second son

• Herschel Walker said in a 2019 interview that his most impressive accomplishment is being a good father.
• The former NFL player turned politician was petitioned for paternity and child support in 2013.

Herschel Walker said in a 2019 interview that his most impressive accomplishment is being a good father, despite being petitioned several years earlier to prove his paternity and pay financial support for his estranged child.

"The child's mother is a graduate student at Columbia University struggling to make ends meet. Unfortunately, Mr. Walker has thus far decided not to take full financial responsibility for the care of his alleged son," read the 2013 petition by Andres Alonso, partner with the law firm Alonso Krangle. "We hope that with the filing of the petition Mr. Walker will finally acknowledge the true extent of his support obligations."

According to the petition, Walker and the unnamed mother of his child had a relationship between 2008 and 2011. They separated just eight months before the child was born.

The Georgian GOP candidate for Senate has regularly appeared with and spoken publicly about his son, 22-year-old internet personality Christian, but makes no mention of his other child in campaign events or on his official website, spurring rumors the former NFL player turned politician was hiding their relationship.

"Herschel had a child years ago when he wasn't married. He's supported the child and continues to do so. He's proud of his children. To suggest that Herschel is 'hiding' the child because he hasn't used him in his political campaign is offensive and absurd," Walker's campaign manager, Scott Paradise, told The Daily Beast.

Walker has celebrated his status as a parent on the campaign trail and in interviews, emphasizing the importance of being present during a discussion with YouTube personalities Diamond and Silk, saying if you have "a child with a woman, even if you have to leave that woman… you don't leave the child."

The Daily Beast reported that, although Walker sends holiday and birthday presents to his second son, he has not otherwise been involved in parenting and that the child has not met, or spoken with, his half-brother, Christian.

"I want to apologize to the African-American community," Walker said in a 2020 interview, "because the fatherless home is a major, major problem."

Walker's campaign did not return Insider's request for comment.