Marshall Faulk

football player

Personal Information

Born Marshall William Faulk, February 26, 1973, in New Orleans, LA; son of Roosevelt and Cecile Faulk; three children.
Education: Attended San Diego State University, 1991-93.
Memberships: Founder, Marshall Faulk Foundation, 1994.

Career

Professional football player. Indianapolis Colts, running back, 1994-98, St. Louis Rams, running back, 1999-.

Life's Work

Known for his speed, power, and unstoppability, Marshall Faulk has become one of the most respected football players in the game. He broke records throughout high school and college to become one of the most sought-after National Football League (NFL) draft picks of 1994. As a professional running back he has continued to break records and score awards, including being named Most Valuable Player many times and playing in several Pro Bowls. He has been widely credited with helping to turn around the poorly ranked St. Louis Rams and propel them to the Super Bowl twice, bringing home the ring in 1999. "To talk about the great backs and not include him is a mistake," Dick Vermeil, former coach of the Rams, told Sports Illustrated. "I've been around some great players, and he's better--he's an elite player."

However, Faulk has also been admired for more than his glory and prowess on the gridiron. One of the most generous professional athletes in any sport, he has established several programs to help inner-city youth, including the Marshall Faulk Foundation. He donates $2,000 for each touchdown he scores--and he is one of the highest scoring players in the game--and has committed himself to donate $500,000 overall. With simple modesty he explained his generosity on the website PigskinPlanet: "I help inner-city youth because I am inner-city youth. I know how tough it is. I know the blinders these kids have on. They can't see beyond the corner and the people within the neighborhood who seem like they're 'making it.'"

Found Early Refuge in Football

The youngest of six boys, Marshall William Faulk was born on February 26, 1973, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Cecile and Roosevelt Faulk. The couple divorced when Faulk was just four and he was raised by his mother in the Desire Housing Projects, one of the most crime-ravaged, oppressed projects in the United States. His neighborhood was riddled with gunfire, garbage, and despair. Many of Faulk's childhood friends fell into crime and drugs and some died early violent deaths. Though much has been made of Faulk's rise from the projects to the height of football fame, it is not something Faulk dwelled on. He brushed off his background, saying to Rob Rains in the biography Marshall Faulk: Rushing to Glory, "All I knew was that I had clothes on my back, shoes on my feet, food to eat and a roof over my head."

This stability was due in large part to his family, especially his mother. Though she worked at odd jobs to support her sons, Faulk told Sports Illustrated, "My mom didn't have a profession. Her profession was her kids." Though he spent some summers with his father who worked as a truck driver, Faulk wasn't very close to him. In fact, his father never once saw him play football, the sport Faulk had begun playing at age seven.

Whether due to neighborhood influences or just being a boy, Faulk ran into some early trouble and was kicked out of three elementary schools. He could easily have continued on that path and gotten into more serious trouble with drugs and crime. However, football increasingly drew his attention. He played in Little League and middle school and by the time he was ready for high school he realized he loved the sport. To continue playing meant he had to focus on school. When he entered George Washington Carver High School, he met a man who would help him do both.

Football coach Wayne Reese took his duties far beyond the field and became a mentor to the young Faulk. "Coach Reese had a lot to do with teaching me the game. He taught me that if I was going to play the game I had to love it. He taught me to understand the game, to know the game, not just to play it," Faulk told Rains. Reese let the eighth-grade Faulk work out with the varsity team and encouraged him to play in several positions, including running back, quarterback, wide receiver, and defensive back. The coach also required Faulk to run track, both to keep him busy during the off-season and to teach him speed. Reese also taught Faulk a lesson he remembers to this day. He told Rains, "[Reese] taught me about how you have to make sacrifices to get where you want to go. I had to sacrifice my summers practicing for football and my springs running track."

Both efforts paid off. Faulk lettered in track and drew the attention of college recruiters on the football field. By his senior year, college offers were pouring in. Most of them wanted Faulk to play defensive back, but he preferred running back--an offensive position. San Diego State was the only school to offer him a running back position. "The fact the school didn't have a national reputation didn't matter to me. If you're good, you're good. I didn't know how good I was or how good I was going to be," Faulk told Rains.

Became a College Football Star

Debuting as a San Diego Aztec, he scored his first touchdown in his very first game. In his second game, he set an NCAA record rushing for 386 yards and became an instant sports celebrity. Articles about him appeared in newspapers across the nation and he became a hot topic among network sportscasters. He proved to be more than a one-rush wonder and continued to astound fans and players alike during the rest of the season, rushing for 1,429 yards and scoring 23 touchdowns. By the end of the season, he had racked up some impressive achievements. He became the first freshman in history to lead the country in rushing and scoring. He was selected for the Associated Press's All-American team--just the third freshman to receive this honor. He was named the UPI Freshman of the Year. And in that year's vote for the Heisman trophy, Faulk achieved the second highest finish ever for a freshman. The trophy, awarded by New York City's Downtown Athletic Club, is the most prestigious in college football and is given to the best college player.

Faulk repeated his success during his sophomore year and was highly touted as the next Heisman winner. Unexpectedly, he came in second. "I felt like I should have won it," Faulk told Rains years later. "I still do." His junior year was also stellar. He made the All-American team again and caught a career-high 47 passes. The Heisman remained out of his reach, however, when he came in fourth in the voting. Faulk achieved all of this while majoring in public administration and working summers at a local law firm. As his senior year approached, the entire coaching staff at San Diego was replaced. Faulk decided it was time to leave school. "I felt like if I was going to be learning a new system I might as well be doing it in the pros," he told Rains.

Began Pro Career with a Bang

At the 1994 National Football League (NFL) draft, Faulk was the second pick. He was chosen by the Indianapolis Colts, one of the lowest-ranking teams in the league. He signed a seven- year, $17.2 million contract and promptly began to prove he was more than worth it. In his first professional game he rushed for 143 yards and three touchdowns--one of the best debut games by a rookie player in NFL history. He kept it up all season long, rushing for over 1000 yards. He was named Offensive Rookie of the Year and was the only rookie selected to play in the Pro Bowl. Even though Faulk nearly missed that game--he wrecked his rental car on the way to the Pro Bowl stadium and had to hitch a ride--he rushed for a record 180 yards and set four records. His performance earned him the Most Valuable Player (MVP) title for the game.

The Colts also benefited from Faulk's abilities. In his second season with the team, they came within one game of going to the Super Bowl. Faulk again rushed for over 1000 yards and was again named to the Pro Bowl. The following season, 1996, Faulk missed three games due to a dislocated toe. It kept his rushing to less than 600 yards, yet the Colts still made it to the playoffs. That same year the Colts' coach was fired. Faulk had been close to him and was very upset by the change. Still, he came back even stronger the following year and once again had a season total of 1000-plus yards rushing, including four 100-plus yard games, a career-best for him. However, it was a terrible season for the team. They won three games and had 13 losses--the worst ranking in their conference. "It was a frustrating year but when you get rid of a lot of key people you've got to expect that to happen," Faulk explained to Rains.

Faulk's relationship with the new coach was strained, and in one regretful incident Faulk was benched by the coach for supposedly being late to a pre-game meeting. In that particular game Faulk had a chance to make NFL history by becoming only the second player to achieve 1000 yards in rushing and 1000 yards in pass receptions. Though others in the Colts organization stated that Faulk had not been late, the coach's decision was unchanged and Faulk was unable to achieve his 1000/1000 goal. "Just like a drill sergeant, the coach can make his own rules," he told Sports Illustrated years later.

Super Bowl Victory

By 1998, with the consent of the Colts' organization, Faulk's agent began to shop around for a better deal. Two days before the 1999 draft he was traded to the St. Louis Rams, one of the lowest-ranking teams in the league--by the time they acquired Faulk they had suffered nine straight losing seasons. However, the team was gearing up for some changes. With Kurt Warner, a powerhouse quarterback, a visionary coach named Mike Martz (who was offensive coordinator at the time), and Faulk signed to a seven-year, $45.15 million contract, the Rams were ready to not only halt their losing streak, but give it a complete 180-degree spin.

Faulk's first season with the Rams was spectacular. Wearing number 28, he rushed 253 times for a career-high 1,381 yards. He also achieved his goal of becoming the second player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards and have 1,000 receiving yards in a season. He had a total of 12 touchdowns, and in addition to the $2,000 per touchdown that he donated to his own charity, he also donated $340 per touchdown to the American Liver Foundation in tribute to former Chicago Bears' running back Walter Payton. His success had a major impact on the team. Martz admitted to Sports Illustrated, "Getting him was like taking the handcuffs off." In fact, the team that just the previous season was the worst in the League, found itself in first place, and the Rams went on to win the 24th Super Bowl, 23-6. It was a classic storybook rags-to-riches tale, but this time the riches came in the form of a Super Bowl ring.

In 2000, despite missing two games with a right knee injury, Faulk scored a total of 26 touchdowns, an NFL record. He also become the only player in NFL history to score four touchdowns in three separate games in one season. Again he had over 1000 yards in rushing. His accomplishments gained him the NFL's Most Valuable Player award as well as Offensive Player of the Year. The following year, he and the team were back at the Super Bowl, this time held in Faulk's hometown of New Orleans. "Regardless of what the downside is," Faulk told the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, "to get the opportunity to play where I've played high school football games, you couldn't ask for anything better." Though the Rams lost in a spectacularly close game with the New England Patriots, Faulk still had a great year, again rushing for over 1000 yards, scoring 21 touchdowns, and once again being named the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year.

Despite Faulk's dizzying success and eight years of professional experience, he remained humble. "Most people would say you've got no room for improvement," he told Jet in a 2002 article. "But I know what's really going on, and I know the things I probably need to work on." It is a philosophy that he shares with the kids he helps through the Marshall Faulk Foundation. The programs he has established in New Orleans, St. Louis, and Indianapolis encourage kids to make positive choices in life--at school, home, and in the community. With each improvement they make, they earn points. Enough points scores them a party with Faulk and other players. At a recent party in St. Louis, the kids asked Faulk how it felt to be famous. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported his answer. "To me, famous people should be people who change the world, people who make a difference. When I'm older, you guys will be in the world making a difference."

Awards

NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, 1994; Pro Bowl, Most Valuable Player, 1994; invited to Pro Bowl, 1994; invited to Pro Bowl, 1995; Miller Lite Player of the Week, 1995; second player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards and have 1,000 receiving yards in a season, 1999; invited to Pro Bowl, 1999; Super Bowl Victory, 2000 (1999 season); invited to Pro Bowl, 2000; NFL Most Valuable Player, 2000; NFL Offensive Player of the Year, 2000; NFL record for most touchdowns in a season (26), 2000; NFC Offensive Player of the Week, three times, 2000; NFC Offensive Player of the Month, twice, 2000; NFL Offensive Player of the Year, 2001; NFL Player of the Year, 2001; played in the Super Bowl, 2002 (2001 season).

Further Reading

Books

• Rains, Rob, Marshall Faulk: Rushing to Glory, Sports Publishing Inc., 1999.

• Jet, February 4, 2002, p. 53.
• Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, January 31, 2002.
• Sporting News, December 27, 1999.
• Sports Illustrated, July 24, 1995, September 3, 2001.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 6, 2001, p. 3.

• Marshall Faulk, http://www.marshallfaulk.com
• PigskinPlanet, http://www.pigskinplanet.com/faulk.html
• St. Louis Rams, http://www.stlouisrams.com/Team/13

— Candace LaBalle