Marshall Faulk

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Marshall Faulk
Faulk playing Madden.
Date of birth	February 26, 1973 (age 34)
Place of birth	New Orleans, Louisiana
Position(s)	Running back
College	San Diego State
NFL Draft	1994 / Round 1 / Pick 2
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1996, 1995
Awards	NFL Awards 2001 AP Offensive Player of the Year 2001 Bert Bell Award 2001 PFWA MVP 2001 Rams MVP 2000 AP NFL MVP 2000 AP Offensive Player of the Year 2000 PFWA MVP 2000 Rams MVP 1999 AP Offensive Player of the Year 1999 Rams MVP 1994 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year 1994 Pro Bowl MVP 1994 UPI AFC Rookie of Year
Statistics	Pro Football Reference CBS.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1994-1998 1999-2006	Indianapolis Colts St. Louis Rams

Marshall William Faulk (born February 26, 1973 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a former football player in the National Football League. He played football in college for San Diego State University, before being drafted second overall by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1994 NFL Draft. Following the 1998 season Faulk was traded to the St. Louis Rams. Marshall is one of the few players to reach at least 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards in his career. Due to a knee injury, Faulk did not play in the 2006 season. During the season he became an analyst for the NFL Network. Faulk announced on March 26, 2007 that he had officially retired from football at the annual NFL Owners meeting.^[1]

[edit] College career

Marshall Faulk's game ball from the September 14, 1991 game when he ran for a NCAA-record 386 yards and scored 44 points. Faulk did this in his second game as a starter for San Diego State.

Marshall Faulk was a stand-out back at San Diego State University (SDSU), compared to Gale Sayers, Roger Craig and Thurman Thomas with his ability to rush and receive. In one of the most prolific performances of his entire career, he ran all over the University of the Pacific in just his second collegiate start. In 37 carries, he racked up 386 yards and scored seven touchdowns, both NCAA records for freshmen, and built on this performance throughout the year. He compiled one of the greatest freshman seasons in NCAA history, gaining 1,429 yards rushing, with 23 total touchdowns (21 rushing), and 140 points scored. Although in the next two seasons, he would not replicate the success of his freshman year, he showed in his final season at SDSU he was still an all-purpose back, catching 47 passes for 640 yards, which aided him in ranking 3rd in all-purpose yardage that year and 2nd in scoring. Faulk left San Diego State University with many of the school's offensive records, amongst them 62 career touchdowns, which is also 2nd most in NCAA history.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] Indianapolis Colts (1994-1998)

Faulk was drafted 2nd overall in the 1994 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts, who were in desperate need of a running game. Faulk responded by rushing for 1,282 yards, 11 touchdowns, and one receiving touchdown. The Colts improved to 8-8. The next season Faulk rushed for 1,078 yards and 14 total touchdowns. The Colts made the postseason, going 9-7, and narrowly missed the Super Bowl after a close loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game which Faulk missed due to a nagging toe injury.

The next year was a miserable one for Faulk. Because of a toe injury he suffered earlier in the season, he only rushed for 587 yards, with a paltry 3 yards-per-carry average. He recovered from the injury and rushed for 1,000+ yards in each of the next two seasons, setting a new personal high with 1,319 in 1998. He also caught 86 passes for 906 yards that year and was the NFL's leader in total yards from scrimmage with an astounding 2,227, beating out Denver's MVP running back Terrell Davis by 2 yards, while also finishing 4th in the league in receptions. It would also be the first of an NFL-record 4 consecutive 2,000+ total-yard seasons.

[edit] St. Louis Rams (1999-2006)

Faulk was traded to the St. Louis Rams the following season due to problems he referred to as "misunderstandings." Faulk had missed practices and was considered holding out for a new contract. Colts president Bill Polian did not want his young team's chemistry damaged, so he traded Faulk for second- and fifth-round picks in the upcoming draft (used by the Colts to draft LB Mike Peterson and DE Brad Scioli).

In his first year in St. Louis, Faulk was the catalyst for "The Greatest Show on Turf", a nickname given to the Rams' spread offense formation, innovated by Dick Vermeil and Mike Martz. In this offense he put up some of the best all-purpose numbers in the history of the NFL. Faulk's patience and diligence in learning the Rams' offense paid off when he totaled an NFL record 2,429 yards from scrimmage, eclipsing Barry Sanders's record of 2,358 yards set in 1997. With 1,381 yards rushing (5.5 yards-per-carry average), 1,048 receiving yards, and scoring 12 touchdowns, Faulk joined Roger Craig as the only men to total 1,000+ yards in each category in a season. The Rams eventually went on to win Super Bowl XXXIV. In the game, Faulk was contained on the ground by Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher's defensive scheme, limiting him to just 17 rushing yards. This was perhaps due to the Titans' inability to stop the Rams' passing game, which Faulk was a major part of, recording 5 receptions for 90 yards. His 90 recieving yards were the second highest total by a running back in Super Bowl history. At the end of the season, he received the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award and starter for the NFC squad in the 1999 Pro Bowl.

The following year, Faulk became the first running back in NFL history to lead his team in receptions five separate seasons (three in Indianapolis and twice in St. Louis). In addition, he was the NFL MVP and again the Offensive Player of the Year in 2000. He had 1,359 yards rushing in fourteen games and set a new NFL record with 26 total touchdowns (a record that would soon be broken by Priest Holmes, Shaun Alexander, and in 2006 LaDainian Tomlinson), despite missing two games due to injury. He also averaged 5+ yards per carry again, this time with 5.4. The Rams, however were not able to replicate the record they had the year prior. Even with the offense scoring the most points and yards during the "The Greatest Show on Turf" era, the defense gave up 470 points. The Rams slid into the playoffs after finishing 10-6, and were unable to secure home field advantage. They quickly exited as a result, losing to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Wild Card game.

The next season, with Warner healthy, and the defense creating turnovers and putting pressure on opposing QBs, the Rams went 14-2. Faulk finished second in MVP voting to his teammate Kurt Warner, but was named Offensive Player of the Year for the third year in a row. On the strength of their backfield and newly revamped defense, the Rams reached Super Bowl XXXVI, only to lose to the Patriots on a game-winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri. Faulk did however have an impressive performance in the game, rushing for 76 yards and catching 4 passes for 54 yards against Bill Belichick's defense.

Marshall Faulk had what may have been the best consecutive seasons in league history during these years. In that span, he scored 59 total touchdowns, amassed 6,765 yards of total offense (4,122 rushing and 2,643 receiving) and won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and three NFL Offensive Player of the Year Awards. He was also named All-NFC, ALL-NFL, and selected for the Pro Bowl in each of those years. He would never again reach the stratospheric statistical levels that he reached in 1999 to 2001. Entering his 12th season, he served as a reserve tailback on the Rams, behind Oregon State running back Steven Jackson. In the 2004 season, Faulk recorded his 100th rushing touchdown, becoming only the 6th player in NFL history to accomplish this feat. In the 2005 season, Faulk moved up to #17 on the NFL's list of all time leading receivers by recording his 765th reception (retired fullback Larry Centers is the only running back with more receptions then Faulk). He also moved up to #9 on the NFL's list of all time leading rushers by surpassing Marcus Allen's total of 12,243 yards.

On July 21, the Rams announced the Faulk would undergo reconstructive knee surgery and miss the entire 2006 NFL season.[1] During the season Faulk served as an analyst for the NFL Network's NFL Total Access.

During an NBC Sunday Night Football halftime show, Faulk was asked by one of the announcers, "So are you retired or not?" Faulk said that he was still a Ram, and would be a Ram for the rest of his life. He then said that if the Rams would have him back, he would play next year, as he was able to run full speed on his re-built knees, however on March 26, 2007 Faulk announced his retirement from football.

[edit] Video game presence

In 2002, Faulk was featured on the cover of EA Sports' Madden NFL 2003. He was the fifth player to be featured, after Barry Sanders, Dorsey Levens also on the cover of 2000, Eddie George, and Daunte Culpepper. It is believed that there is a "Madden Curse" for the players who are featured on the game's cover, as almost all of them have faced injuries or poor performance during their Madden seasons. After Faulk was featured on the cover, he injured his ankle and missed six games, but still had a 1,000-yard season. In 2000, he appeared in 989 Sports' NFL Gameday 2001.

[edit] See also

• SDSU Aztecs
• Indianapolis Colts
• St. Louis Rams
• Marshall Faulk Career Statistics

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Marshall Faulk at ESPN.com
• Marshall Faulk's Official Site
• Marshall Faulk's Official Stats