Herschel Walker guaranteed he’d repay $600k in pizza franchise loans. So far, he hasn’t

U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker and a business partner have failed to repay $625,000 in loans used to fund a pizza franchise, court records reviewed by the Ledger-Enquirer and McClatchy News show.



The former NFL star and Brandon Scrushy, president of Zoner’s Pizza, Waffles and Wings, personally guaranteed the repayment of two loans issued by a Texas bank.

Two Georgia counties used a Texas court judgment to place a lien of more than half a million dollars against Walker, Scrushy and the business to try to get them to pay. Fulton County Superior Court filed the lien in December, and Johnson County, where Walker’s hometown of Wrightsville is located, recorded the lien later that month.

The lien will remain in the counties’ records until the loans are paid off, and the Texas bank could seek further action to collect the debt.

The ruling is the latest in a series of issues for Walker, who hopes to unseat incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, in this year’s midterm election. Recent polling from Quinnipiac University shows him leading Warnock, 49% to 48%.

Attempts to reach D. Woodard Glenn P.C, the Dallas attorneys who handled the Texas loans lawsuits, were unsuccessful. An Atlanta attorney who handled proceedings in Fulton and Johnson counties said he was not permitted to comment on the matter.

In a statement to the Ledger-Enquirer and McClatchy News, Walker’s communications director Mallory Blount did not say if Walker would pay off the debt.

“Herschel is a minor investor and supplier for Zoners Pizza who allowed his likeness to be used in marketing materials. Like many other small businesses across America, Zoners was hit hard by the pandemic. Herschel is not a decision-maker in the company, but trusts that they are resolving this issue.”

Walker’s legal issues with Zoner’s were first reported by the Associated Press as part of an investigation into the Republican’s business dealings and personal life. The AP found that Walker exaggerated his business success and alarmed business partners with unpredictable behavior. Walker also threatened the life of his ex-wife, Cindy Grossman, AP reported.

The lawsuits and court rulings

Both Walker and Scrushy agreed to repay the loans, which were issued in 2018 and amended in 2019 by Veritex Community Bank, according to two lawsuits filed in the 14th District Court in Dallas County.

Veritex filed the first lawsuit over a roughly $500,000 loan in September 2020. A second suit over a roughly $100,000 loan was filed in June 2021.

Vertex accused Zoner’s of defaulting on both loans and said Walker, Scrushy and Zoner’s declined to repay despite agreeing to do so.

Walker avoided involvement in the Texas lawsuits. Security guards would not allow legal documents to be personally delivered to Walker, who lives in a gated community in Westlake, a town northwest of Fort Worth. Attempts to contact Walker by phone were unsuccessful, court records show.

Court documents state Walker and his co-defendants failed to appear in court to answer the charges in the lawsuits.

The courts ruled in favor of the bank in both cases, and ordered Walker, Scrushy and Zoner’s Restaurant Group LLC to pay back the loans as well as attorney fees and other related costs.

Atlanta attorney Michael F. Hanson filed a civil case in Fulton County Superior Court in November 2021 to enforce the judgment on the $500,000 loan case. Judge Rachelle Carnesale enacted a lien against Walker, Scrushy and Zoner’s Restaurant Group.



The same lien was filed in Johnson County in late December. Veritex has not asked Fulton or Johnson County courts to enforce the second Texas ruling.

Walker’s other business troubles

Zoner’s Restaurant Group also owes just over $6,000 in unpaid taxes in Montgomery County, Texas, north of Houston. Other Zoner’s franchise groups haven’t paid taxes in other Texas and Georgia counties. The largest owed amount is just over $10,000 in Gwinnett County. Walker’s name is not mentioned in those documents.

Walker’s exact role in the business was not outlined in the Texas lawsuits, though documents and Walker’s previous public statements suggest the relationship is close.

A December 2021 financial disclosures report Walker filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission states that he owns non-public Zoner’s stock worth an “unascertainable” amount. He earns less than $201 a year in income from the stock, according to the report.



Zoner’s has 15 locations in four states, more than half of them in Georgia. Each location serves Walker’s chicken and waffles, according to the company’s website. Walker owns a chicken business that distributes its products nationwide.



Walker is referred to as an owner and majority stockholder in several news stories about various Zoner’s locations. He identified himself as an owner of more than “two dozen restaurants across the country, including Zoner’s Pizza, Wings and Waffles” during a speaking event in Fort Irwin, Calif., in 2019.



The statement from Walker’s campaign about his arrangement with Zoner’s mirrors the relationship business associates described to the Associated Press in July about Walker and his chicken processing plants. The associates claimed that Walker is just a licensing partner who lends his name to the enterprise — much like former President Donald Trump did with many products.

Walker and the former president maintain a close relationship, dating back to the short-lived United States Football League of the 1980s. Walker, a 1980 College Football National Champion and 1982 Heisman Trophy Winner as the star running back for the University of Georgia, played for the New Jersey Generals. The team came under Trump’s ownership after the 1983 season.

Trump endorsed Walker’s Senate bid in September 2021.