When it comes to Marshal Faulk, there are enough heroic moments. In 2003, he finished with 108 rushing yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns in the St. Louis Rams’ dominant 48-17 win against the Minnesota Vikings. His scoring runs covered 18, 5, and 7 yards. It’s the same legend who is now fighting Parkinson’s disease.
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According to Parkinson’s Foundation, an estimated 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with Parkinson’s disease. But no matter how common it has now become, it’s still tough news to deal with. Pro Football Hall of Fame running back and Southern University football head coach at 53 has announced that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, the progressive neurodegenerative disorder of the nervous system. It does not have a cure as such. However, Faulk has accepted his fate and now focuses on the treatment.
“I didn’t look at it like, you know, if I got a diagnosis, it was something bad that I was, you know, life was going to end,” he shared on the Caring Neurologist podcast with Dr. Sandeep Thakkar. “I treat it like I’ve had a bunch of surgeries on my right knee. There’s some parts in it that aren’t mine, that aren’t original. My back, you know, it hurts every once in a while. It’s something you live with. It’s not to where it’s a detriment to your livelihood.
“Now, if you don’t take care of it, there’s an opportunity for that to be, but you have to take care of it.”
For Faulk, the symptoms first showed up while he was playing golf, per Toyloy Brown III of The Advocate.
“The rigidity in my hand, just sometimes after I play a lot or I practice a lot,” he said. “I just thought it was, you know, normal nerves when putting and stuff like that.”
However, he considers himself to be lucky that the symptoms showed up early and he could get himself tested. After the treatment, he is now getting better sleep and, at the same time, it has enhanced his activeness. The treatment and the medication have stopped his condition from getting worse.
“The little tremors that I get, you know, they are what they are,” he said in the podcast. “I just pay attention to my gait, you know, while I walk, when I’m working out, my ability to balance. It’s still where it is.”
Parkinson’s disease is one of the neurodegenerative conditions linked to concerns about the long-term effects of playing football. A study released earlier this year found that NFL players had nearly four times the risk of dying from the disease as the average person.
The first-round, 2nd overall pick of the 1994 NFL Draft started playing for the Indianapolis Colts and was there till 1998. His second stint was with the St. Louis Rams from 1999 to 2005. So, he has spent a decade playing in the NFL.
Research by Jesse Mez, senior coauthor of the latest study and codirector of clinical research at BU’s CTE Center, found that players with more than five NFL seasons had double the neurodegenerative disease mortality risk of those whose careers lasted one to four seasons.
Meanwhile, Faulk now joins a group of legends who are now living with Parkinson’s.
Other Former NFL Stars Have Spoken About Living With Parkinson’s
Faulk’s impact on football has been recognized at both the college and professional levels, with inductions into the College Football Hall of Fame for his San Diego State career and the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his time with the St. Louis Rams and Indianapolis Colts. His statistical legacy is equally remarkable: no other NFL player has surpassed both 12,000 rushing yards and 6,000 receiving yards. He led the St. Louis Rams to win the Super Bowl. Faulk also became the second player to post 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season.
But the Parkinson’s disease diagnosis added him to another group of greats.
The revelation of Faulk’s diagnosis came just months after the Green Bay Packers’ all-time rushing leader, Ahman Green, revealed that he is living with Parkinson’s disease.
“I had a little bit of the feet twitching when I’m in my sleep and stuff like that,” Green said on the Go Long with Tyler Dunne. “I mean, I knew something was going on long before that. I just got a hold of some doctors [and] was able to get in contact with and get the diagnostics, get the testing, and finally got it tested.”
Green remains the Packers’ record holder for career rushing yards, with 8,322, as well as single-season rushing yards, with 1,883 in 2003. Besides Green, among the other legends who are still living with Parkinson’s are Brett Favre and Bernie Kosar.