Hall of Fame running back and Southern football coach Marshall Faulk revealed this week that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Faulk played for the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams during his NFL career, racking up 12,279 yards on the ground and 6,875 yards through the air. Not only did he win a Super Bowl during his run with the Rams, he was named MVP of the league in 2000.
After spending the 2025 season as Colorado’s running backs coach, Faulk agreed to become the head coach at Southern. He’s currently 2-4 through his first six games of the 2026 season.
During this week’s episode of the “Caring Neurologist” podcast, Faulk revealed that he’s been dealing with Parkinson’s disease for a year and half. He underwent an evaluation after noticing issues while playing golf.
“I get a physical twice a year,” Faulk said, via Yahoo Sports. “I literally asked my doctor because I noticed it as I was playing golf. I noticed the rigidity in my hand after I play a lot or practice a lot, I thought it was just normal nerves when putting and stuff like that. But it started to be times where I wasn’t playing — I mean, where I was playing, but I wasn’t in a match, and it would still do that.”
Freeman Ramsey / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.
As for his current condition, Faulk said that he’s still trying to live his life to the fullset.
“Since I’ve started on the medication, I don’t really have a lot of issues. I might sleep a little more … Other than that, the rigidity in my hands, I still have that. Can’t say that it’s gotten worse. The little tremors that I get, they are what they are. I just pay attention to my gait, how I walk, when I’m working out, my ability to balance. It’s still where it is. I don’t look at it as something that’s terminal.”
This has been an unfortunate trend in the NFL community.
Green Bay Packers legend Brett Favre was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2024.
“I get from time to time, ‘Oh you must not be too bad because you don’t shake.’ I have very little shaking. I have some, but it’s pretty rare,” Favre said. “But as I’ve learned, the Parkinson’s that I have has three different characteristics. One of those three you’ll have as the dominant side effect. It’s cognitive and memory is one. Shaking and tremors is two. And rigidity and stiffness is three. I major in the rigidity and stiffness.”
Earlier this year, former Packers running back Ahman Green revealed that he’s also dealing with Parkinson’s disease.
“Last year, I got diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s. I had a little bit of the feet twitching when I’m in my sleep and stuff like that,” Green told Dunne. “I knew something was going on long before that. I just got a hold of some doctors that I was able to get in contact with. Get the diagnostics, get the testing. And finally got it tested last — it was January of 2025.”
We’re keeping all these NFL legends in our thoughts.
