Marshall Faulk’s sixth year is his best, unusual for a running back. Also unusual is his success as a running back drafted in the top 10.
Since Barry Sanders arrived in 1989 as the third choice of the Detroit Lions, only Sanders, Jerome Bettis (10th in 1993), Faulk (second in 1994) and Edgerrin James of the Indianapolis Colts (fourth in 1999) have met the high expectations.
Faulk’s path crossed all the others this season. He was traded by the Colts to the Rams to make room for James. In effect, he replaced Bettis, prematurely dumped by the Rams, who had not been able to replace him since 1996. With Sanders’ retirement, Faulk became the league’s most dangerous running-receiving weapon.
The Colts have reason to argue, because Faulk is only 130 yards ahead of James in combined rushing and receiving yardage. This is one of the stories of the season, one that Faulk refuses to discuss. Apparently he is saving his opinion on James and the Colts for a possible Super Bowl matchup between the Rams and Colts.
Faulk was traded because his contract was coming up at the end of this season. The Colts decided they would get more for their future buck with the younger and bigger James. It was a move that needs neither explanation nor apology from either team.
But Faulk is playing as if he has something to prove.
At the moment, he doesn’t want to talk about MVP possibilities, running styles, offensive schemes, or much of anything except winning games. Never the friendliest talker in the league, Faulk is letting his work speak for him.
More Top Picks Best Electric Standing Desks With Drawers
“If we win the rest of our ballgames, it’s a great season we’ll have, and we’ll go into the off-season with a really good feeling,” Faulk said. “That’s my main goal.”
There are no more personal goals, he said.
“I hate to say, `Been there, done that,’ but running backs don’t play very long in this league and I’ve been blessed to play as long as I have and taken the pounding and beating that I take,” Faulk said. “And I want to win some Super Bowls.”
He said Super Bowls, plural. One thing Faulk doesn’t mind discussing is the impression Walter Payton had on him. Faulk was a 13-year-old kid in New Orleans when Payton and the Bears went to Super Bowl XX. After Payton died Faulk wanted to switch numbers from 28 to 34 as a tribute, but league rules prevented it.
“I think if you ever watched (Payton) play, he made the most of every play,” Faulk said. “Watching a 2-yard gain for him was just as good as watching a 60-yard gain. He pioneered the position for guys my size. He was a 210-pound (actually 204) running back in a league when they had big backs, 230-235, and he showed we could run and be powerful. We also had the ability to run outside and catch the ball.”
Faulk always knows exactly where the first-down marker is.
“The way he sees the field and understands what teams are trying to do to us, to me he’s like a quarterback,” Rams quarterback Kurt Warner said. “Everything I’m seeing, he’s seeing.”
Among the top-10 running backs who haven’t made it since Sanders arrived are Sammie Smith, Tim Worley, Blair Thomas, Garrison Hearst (except for a breakout 1998), Ki-Jana Carter, Tim Biakabutuka and Lawrence Phillips.
The jury awaits Curtis Enis and Ricky Williams.
Stealing Pro Bowlers: Although it is true the Bears have more No. 1 draft choices starting or playing major roles elsewhere–Mark Carrier, Trace Armstrong, Alonzo Spellman, Jim Harbaugh, John Thierry–than they have playing in Chicago–Walt Harris, Enis, Cade McNown–at least the Bears aren’t the Pittsburgh Steelers.
No Steeler was voted to the Pro Bowl team for the first time in 50 years, since the NFL all-star game’s inception in its current form. Five former Steelers, however, did make it. The ex-Steelers: Jacksonville free safety Carnell Lake and his backup, Baltimore’s Rod Woodson; Seattle linebacker Chad Brown; Jacksonville offensive tackle Leon Searcy; and Tampa Bay linebacker Hardy Nickerson.
Steelers fans and players have worried for years that the team’s failure to re-sign top players would catch up with them in the standings.
Pro Bowl snubs: Nearly every team feels slighted by Pro Bowl snubs. Among the most legitimate complaints:
Arizona’s Simeon Rice has 14 1/2 sacks, second only to St. Louis’ Kevin Carter, yet failed to beat out either the Giants’ Michael Strahan or the Lions’ Robert Porcher. Strahan has only 5 1/2 sacks, way behind last year’s 15.
Rice said: “If I had insecurities, I’d probably be like, `I wonder why?’ But I already know I’m head and (shoulders) above or better than all of them, so it doesn’t matter. Pound for pound I’m better, so I’m just going to keep it real. But I respect the (political) game I’m in and hopefully with time the game will respect mine.”
Strahan said: “I’m amazed. But I’m gratified. My numbers were not what I expected them to be, but sometimes it’s not all about numbers. It’s a matter of respect. Players still know which players they don’t like to play against.”
It’s also a matter of playing against the run, which Carter, Strahan and Porcher do very well.
Seattle cornerback Shawn Springs, New Orleans linebacker Mark Fields, Detroit guard Jeff Hartings, Washington tight end Stephen Alexander, San Diego linebacker Junior Seau and tight end Freddie Jones, and Indianapolis defensive end Chad Bratzke and linebacker Cornelius Bennett are among the players Bears pro scout Rick Spielman thought deserved the Pro Bowl.
Here’s Kansas City coach Gunther Cunningham’s take on the whole Pro Bowl idea: “We make too many heroes out of people in this world. Everybody’s a hero. Everybody’s an individual. It’s never about the team. The Pro Bowl is ridiculous. Who cares about the Pro Bowl?”
Nice ending: Dallas defensive tackle Alonzo Spellman is a candidate for comeback player of the year. He sat out last season after his release by the Bears in the wake of personal problems, then signed on with the Cowboys as a street free agent last summer and has amassed 39 tackles, five sacks and a team-leading 19 quarterback pressures.
Passing the baton: In 13 years and 151 games with three teams, Archie Manning never experienced a winning season in the NFL, let alone a trip to the playoffs. In less than two seasons and 30 games with the Indianapolis, son Peyton has an AFC East title, a first-round bye and a home game in the divisional playoff round assured.
“I told him about three weeks ago when they won their ninth game, `You’re in uncharted waters now. I can’t even think about winning seasons and the playoffs,’ ” Archie said. “He’s going to have to call (Roger) Staubach or somebody for that. I’m done.”
In less than three months, the Colts have won 10 straight, more victories than Archie experienced in any of his NFL seasons.
More Top Picks Best Scalp Massagers
“I don’t know what (winning) was like,” he said, “but I couldn’t have felt any better then than I do now. I thought he was a good pro player but, deep down, I wanted him to see a brighter side of it than I did. And he already has.”