Marc Bulger

Marc Bulger

Bulger in November 2008
No. 10     St. Louis Rams
Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: April 5, 1977 (1977-04-05) (age 32)
Place of birth: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Weight: 208 lb (94 kg)
Career information
College: West Virginia
NFL Draft: 2000 / Round: 6 / Pick: 168
Debuted in 2002 for the St. Louis Rams
Career history
As player: New Orleans Saints (2000)* Atlanta Falcons (2000)* St. Louis Rams (2000–present) *Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status: Injured Reserve
Career highlights and awards
Second-team All-Big East (1998) 2× Pro Bowl selection (2004, 2006) Pro Bowl MVP (2004)
Career NFL statistics as of 2009
TD-INT	122-93
Passing yards	22,814
QB Rating	84.4
Stats at NFL.com

Marc Robert Bulger [pronounced /ˈbʊldʒər/] (born April 5, 1977 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American football quarterback for the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football at West Virginia.

Bulger has also been a member of the Atlanta Falcons.

College career

Bulger played college football at West Virginia University where he holds 25 passing records including 8,153 passing yards. He was a sports management major.

Statistics

• 1997: 168/284 (59.2%) for 2128 yards and 12 TD vs. 9 INT. 46 carries for -65 yards and 2 TD.
• 1998: 274/419 (65.4%) for 3607 yards and 31 TD vs. 10 INT. 33 carries for -92 yards and 0 TD.
• 1999: 143/237 (60.3%) for 1709 yards and 11 TD vs. 13 INT. 24 carries for -122 yards and 1 TD.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Bulger was originally drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft and spent training camp with the team before being waived.

Atlanta Falcons

Bulger spent two weeks on the practice squad of the Atlanta Falcons during the 2000 season.

St. Louis Rams

After spending time on the St. Louis Rams practice squad late in the 2000 season, Bulger was re-signed by the Rams on January 12, 2001.

Bulger did not see action in any contests during his first season with the Rams; he was inactive as the third quarterback for 16 regular season games and all three postseason contests. In 2002, after the Rams started 0-5, Bulger filled in for an injured Jamie Martin, who had been filling in for the injured Kurt Warner, and finished the season with a 6-0 record in games that he both started and finished, but Bulger was injured early in a game against the Seattle Seahawks and the Rams ended the season at 7-9. In 2003, Bulger helped lead the Rams to a regular-season record of 12-4 and the division championship; the Rams lost to the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the playoffs after having earned a bye in the first round. In June 2004, Warner was released and Bulger was named the Rams' starting quarterback. The Rams signed Bulger to a four-year $19.1 million contract. Bulger was also MVP of the 2004 Pro Bowl. After the 2006 season, Bulger was selected as a reserve the Pro Bowl, after recording an NFL-best eight games with a quarterback passing rating of more than 100. It marked the second time that he was voted to the NFL's version of an "All-Star" game.

On September 10, 2006, in a game against the Denver Broncos, Bulger reached 1,000 completions faster than any quarterback in NFL history. Bulger achieved this in 45 games, two games less than ex-Rams QB Kurt Warner. Drew Bledsoe and Peyton Manning needed 48 games, and it took Dan Marino 49.^[1]

On July 28, 2007, Bulger signed a six-year, $62.5 million contract extension with the Rams. The contract included $27 million in guaranteed money and put him in a group of six quarterbacks making $10 million a year or more. Bulger had one year remaining on a four-year, $19.1 million contract, which would have paid him $4 million in 2007.^[2] In the 2007 NFL season, Bulger was plagued with injuries through the entire season as was the entire team. Injuries on the offensive line took effect as he threw more interceptions than touchdowns for the first time in his career. He was considered one of the biggest disappointments of the 2007 season, though some argue^[who?] the offensive line was primarily to blame.^{[citation needed]} The St. Louis Rams record was 3-13, far from expectations.

Bulger looks to pass against the San Francisco 49ers on November 16, 2008.

On September 23, 2008, after starting 0–3 in 2008, Bulger lost his starting role to Trent Green^[3]. However, seven days later, new head coach Jim Haslett named Marc Bulger the starting quarterback for the rest of the season^[4].

On November 9, 2008 vs the Jets, Haslett replaced Bulger with Green after halftime after the Jets took a 40–0 lead in the first half, cued by 4 first half Rams turnovers.

A week later he was put back in as starting quarterback. His performances improved slightly as the year went on, but he still turned in another lackluster season with more interceptions than touchdowns and continuously declining completion percentages.

Bulger was placed on season-ending injured reserve on December 26, 2009.

Career statistics

Personal

Bulger comes from an impressive family of collegiate athletes. His father, Jim, was a quarterback for Notre Dame from 1970-73. His brother Jim was on the Notre Dame golf team, sister Kate was drafted into the WNBA, and youngest sister Meg is a standout guard for West Virginia.

References

External links

• St. Louis Rams bio