Marshall Faulk said on a podcast that he has Parkinson’s disease, making public a diagnosis he said he has been dealing with for about a year and a half. The 53-year-old said he is still coaching at Southern and managing the condition with medication.
Faulk made the disclosure on an episode of Caring Neurologist with Dr. Sandeep Thakkar, giving a rare on-the-record account of how the disease has affected him while he remains in the game. He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2011, won an MVP with the then-St. Louis Rams and later coached Colorado’s running backs under Deion Sanders, so his remarks land with unusual weight for a figure many still associate with the field more than the sideline.
He said the first sign came while he was playing golf, when he noticed rigidity in one hand and was told by his doctor to get checked. That led to a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, a progressive disorder of the central nervous system that affects movement and balance. Faulk said medication has helped enough that he does not have “a lot of issues,” but he also said the symptoms have not disappeared.
“It’s still where it is,” he said of the rigidity, adding that he pays attention to his gait when he walks and to his balance when he works out. He said, “I’m functioning. I’m good. You know, I just I think I caught it early. I’m in a good place.”
That is the part of Faulk’s disclosure that makes it more than a celebrity health note. He says he caught the disease early and is functioning well, yet he is still living with physical reminders of it and no public treatment plan has been laid out beyond medication. For now, the story is less about a setback than about a Hall of Famer trying to keep moving while watching every step.
