Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk has announced that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.
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Faulk, a member of the Greatest Show in Turf St. Louis Rams team, shared the diagnosis during an appearance on The Caring Neurologist podcast.
He explained that he has lived with Parkinson's for over a year. He said that he caught the disease early after speaking to other NFL players who had noticed symptoms that they believed to be related to football. Faulk added that he had first noticed his symptoms while playing golf.
"The rigidity in my hand, just sometimes after I play a lot or I practice a lot," Faulk said during the episode. "I just thought it was normal nerves when putting and stuff like that.
"But it started to be times where I was playing, but I wasn't in a match, and it would still do that. I was like, 'Wow, is that normal?' And the doctor was like, 'You need to go get checked. You need to go have X, Y, and Z done. You're at an age, it's possible; it's likely that it's not, but you need to go get checked.'"
Faulk said that he did not treat this disease as a situation where his life was ending. Instead, he viewed like the numerous surgeries he had throughout his career. This is something that he would just live with and take care to ensure that it doesn't become a "detriment" to his livelihood.
He has also continued in his role as coach of the Southern University Jaguars after taking the medication to help with the Parkinson's diagnosis. He has led the team to a 3-4 record this season thus far.
"I'm functioning, I'm good," Faulk said during his podcast appearance. "I think I caught it early. I'm in a good place."
A three-year player for San Diego State University, Faulk entered the NFL as the second overall pick in the 1994 Draft.
He started his career with the Indianapolis Colts and posted four seasons with at least 1,000 rushing yards and at least 400 rushing yards. He earned three trips to the Pro Bowl.
Once Faulk joined the Rams in 1999, he became part of a record-setting offense also featuring quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt.
The former San Diego State star led the NFL with 2,429 yards from scrimmage in 1999. One year later, he led the NFL with 18 rushing touchdowns. He led the NFL in combined touchdowns in both 2000 and 2001.
Faulk spent his 12-year career split between the Colts and Rams. He earned seven trips to the Pro Bowl and three First-Team All-Pro selections. He ultimately became a Hall of Fame inductee after retiring from the NFL and becoming an analyst on TV.
