December 21, 2024 • 34 mins
On this live episode of Rams Iconic, Rams legend running back Marshall Faulk discusses the start of his NFL career, time playing with quarterback Kurt Warner, and winning Super Bowl XXXIV.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to Rams Iconic Live, presented by eighteen hundred Kila,
the best taste in tequila.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Please don't responsibly.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
I am DeMarco Farr, and we are so excited for
you guys to be here with us to help us
celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary of the nineteen ninety nine
greatest show on turf, RAMS Super Bowl Championship Football team. Yes, sir, My,
next guest played twelve seasons in the NFL, seven with
the Rams, his last seven with the Rams. He's a
(00:35):
seven time Pro Bowler, three time NFL Offensive Player of
the Year. Marshall, this is incredible, three time three time
NFL First Team All Pro, and two thousand NFL MVP,
and a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Please welcome, Marshall Faulk.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Thank you, I mean thanks for that introduction.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
You're welcome.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
I mean that where do you keep all the hardware
in your house? I mean, this is amazing.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
You know what's funny, it's nin even in my house.
It's not even in your house, it's in stories. Does
this stuff resonate with you? Does everything that you've done
in this football Yeah? Well, the the personal stuff is
one thing. It's to you know, it's it's the team stuff.
Like when when we get to get together and we
can talk about the team stuff, the personal things, it's
you know, it is what it is. I know for
(01:19):
the linemen that blocked for me and the guys that
I played with, it means a lot to them. But
for me, it's all about what we did together. The
things that as we we get further away from our
playing days, the things that matter are what we did
as a as a team.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
This is true as we get older, right playing days, playing.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Day from playing I want to say older.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Okay, so let's go back to high school and you
were a running back and a corner.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
In high school running back Yeah, well I played every
position on offense but offensive line, and I played corner.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Okay, So the story is you wanted to play running
back in college. Yes, and there there was only one
school that would let you play running back in college.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
They were the first school who said I could play
running back, the first school. Yes. So I was going
through the this this was before you had stars and
all the stuff that you have now with being recruited
at this point in time, like you had the campaign
and based on how big your school was and how
good your school was. You got notarized and you got offers.
(02:26):
And I went to like the worst public school in
the state of Louisiana. It was the last public high
school in the city of New Orleans. That if you
got kicked out of public schools, well they sent you
to my high school to give you one more chance.
That was my high school.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
So so so we didn't have like the best talent
and we weren't that good. So they didn't see me
in the light that the guy who recruited me, so
he watched me play and kind of watched me as
an athlete. Came and watched me play basketball, saw my track,
my track and field accolades, and he saw me more
(03:06):
as an athlete than just a football player.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
So you could have played corner at any other school
or easy, Yes, anyplace else.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yes, I mean I got, I got, I got offered.
I'm my high school All Star game. I played corner.
You played corner. I won MVP of my high school
All Star game because I picked off two passes and
I went I ran one back for a touchdown.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
See it's making sense now.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
When we talk about how smart you are as a player,
it's because you can play every position.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
I wouldn't say every position, well, just.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
About every position. I knew what to do, and okay,
all right, playing it is another thing. Well, let's go
to your freshman year at San Diego State. Yes, and
you're playing UOP University of Pacific, and I still can't
believe these numbers. Thirty seven carries, three hundred and eighty
six yards and seven touchdowns. Yes, did they have eleven
people on the field?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
They did. Okay, here's the you know what and when? When?
When this story? Like when people hear about this. What
they don't show is I didn't start the game because
I wasn't the starter. I only came in after the
first quarter when the starter got hurt. So I played
the first series of the second quarter, and I didn't
(04:10):
play the end of the fourth.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Three hundred and eighty six yards and you didn't play
the fourth.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah, did they stink?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I mean they was, well, they stunk after that.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Okay, that's that. Yes, unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I don't know about beforehand, but after.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
That, unreal.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
You led the nation and rushing in ninety one and
ninety two, right, So I remember I was in college
at the same time, and I remember watching you go
up and down the field, and I said, ah, he's
doing it down there.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Let's be honest. You were like, if we played him,
he would do that against us.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Everybody said that, you know where I'm leading up to.
So so we turned pro.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Nineteen ninety four, you were, what the third pick, second
pick in the draft.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
And you go to cheat me.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
My bad.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Second, you go to Indianapolis and we're about to do
about Rams and the cults are about to battle, and
we're both undefeated. Yes, we figured this out in the back.
This is nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Nineteen ninety seven, we're both under feed it. The Rams.
They literally bust about five busloads of people to two
Indianapolis for that game. And in that game, it's a
home game. I'm playing for the Coats. I come out.
Their fans are at the game early and they're booing.
(05:21):
I'm like, you're booing me in my stadium. Yes, oh
my god, it like it sparks something in me. Now.
There was a couple of other things that was going
on at that time. I knew of Isaac. We were
the same draft class, and I was like, man, I
want to see if this guy can play. Literally, they
open up Bomb to Isaac, like, first play of the game, Bomb,
(05:44):
I was like, oh boy, it's going to be a
long one. I figured we'd have a shootout. But then
we start playing and they had they had a like
an issue with a particular play, and we ran the
crap out of this play. Literally, it was like we
had a sprint draw play that they could not stop.
They could not figure it out. It did not matter.
(06:07):
We disguise it and then you know, just a little
walk to the sign like I'm going to help the
end and got them every time that that play really
really broke, broke their defense down. You know who he's
talking about, right me? Yeah, he was just one of
the guys. There was ten other guys out there.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
So I played some good backs and I just been
run over physically.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Guys run away from you. But this was the first
time and running back had made me feel stupid. This
one right here, he was so smart and so crafty
and so fast. I thought those were your fans booing you.
I thought they had fired you up. I think you
finished that game with one hundred and seventy seven yards
and three touchdowns.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Two hundred and twenty yards and four touchdowns, don't cheat me.
He trying to cheat me.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Just going off the sheet man, That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
It is okay, Yes, so I left that game with
a healthy respect for Marshall Flock. As a matter of fact,
there's my brother. I called him and said, everything you
thought about Marshall is wrong. He can really play absolutely Okay.
So let's jump to let's see ninety seven, ninety eight.
I remember, this is the other memory have of you.
We're watching tape on the forty nine ers and I'm
(07:20):
watching you go up and down the field on them
in San fran I think. So I'm like, wow, this
dude is really bawling. And then jumped to ninety nine.
I see you on a treadmill talking about you're coming
to play for us.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Now, how did you know about that trade?
Speaker 4 (07:35):
How did you find out about being traded to Saint
Louis from Indianapolis?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Eric Dickerson?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Eric Dickerson told you.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yeah, yeah, So Eric, this is the first time this
story has been told. Eric Dickerson was the orchestrator of
what happened. The Rams did not know what was going
on at the coats with myself and Eric. Eric is
a mentor of mine. He's a guy that I've always
talked to me being here growing up in southern California,
(08:03):
playing at San Diego State. Eric was the big dog
up here. I'd come up and see him, and we
developed a relationship, and we were at the Pro Bowl
the end of the ninety eight season. Ninety nine, Eric
went into the Hall of Fame. Ninety nine. We're at
the Pro Bowl and I'm talking to Eric and we
just found out from the Coats that, like, we're not
(08:25):
on the same page. And so my agent is talking
to my agent in Eric. Are friends too, Yes, Rocky
Rocky Arsenal, And so they're talking and so Eric just
here's the information, and literally a couple of days later
he says to John Shawn them, Hey, are you guys
(08:46):
interested in Marshall Falk And the story goes, I don't
know the other side, but this is what I heard.
John then was like, Eric, what are you talking about?
He's not available? I think he is. Wow, And that's
literally that's how it started. Wow. From that. From from that,
the relationship between Jim Moore and Dick Vermill, from when
they coached here at u c l A was storied
(09:09):
and and coach Vermil made the call and said is
this true? And that's that's how it all started. That's
that's how the conversation started.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
What did you know about us then, about the Rams
then before you got there? I mean we played you
a couple of years before. What did you know about
us then? Well, let's let's just say this. When the
coach decided like, hey, we're going to trade you, like,
find a team. My demands where I want to play
on grass. I want to play with the winning team
(09:39):
who has a good quarterback.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Okay, they met none of my demands when they traded
me to the Ram.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
We were on the hardest turf ever, we weren't winning.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
They literally met none of my demands none. Oh boy,
that was like perfect.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I think you are a response for making coach for
mel back down a little bit, because, like Isaac said,
we were doing three and a half hour practices twice
a day in training camp, in pads. We were banging,
and then we got you, and all of a sudden,
everything kind of back down to a normal practice.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Did you have some kind of conversation with him.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Well, not with him, but to the powers to be.
I said, here's the deal, all right, I'm gonna come
and I'm gonna work as hard as I can, but
I will not get hurt in practice. I will not
like I practice hard. I understand how to work, but
I am not. My contract was done. They said, we're
gonna hold up, wait, we gotta get coach Formil. Yeah,
(10:39):
and how we're going to have practice at training camps
because they were having three three hour practices banging. I'm like, dude,
you ain't got nothing left for the game nothing. I
didn't want no parts of that.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Did you hear about the mutiny?
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Did you hear about Yeah, yes, we had heard about
that team mutiny in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Yes, yeah, yeah, that lasted all of thirty seconds.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
But but what they said was, we're gonna talk to
coach and we're gonna we're gonna get things to where,
you know, it's more player friendly in a sense. You
just gotta allow guys to rest as we get late
in the week, especially for the veteran guys. And we
had some Rey Agnew. We have some guys who you know,
(11:17):
right around week eight, week nine, you need they need
to be resting. Man and coach Ramil just being in
practice with you guys watching how intense he was. It
was like, I want no parts of that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Yeah, I mean, he only knew one way to do it.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
That's it. He only knew one way. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
And once we finally got him to back off slightly,
I mean, and it was almost this thing like, Okay, guys,
I'm gonna back off, and if we lose or we
start going backwards, we're going right back to those three hours.
So that's kind of what motivated us, at least on defense.
Do you guys feel the same way.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Well, we we knew that that we needed to show him,
not not just that in the winning, but the brand
of football that that Mike Martz and what we were
doing that you could not just win but sustain it
because coach Vermill had a different idea of how to
win football games. You know, it was coach Vermill. And
I'm gonna say this, Coach Vermill was from the John
(12:10):
that the Jim Harball methodology. If you watch it's all
hart nos, like he only wants tough guys, like if
you if you're a skilled guy, and none of that.
It's all blue collar and that's all he knew. And
there's some finesse around the game and how you play it,
and it took him a while to adapt to how
we played and how we practiced. And I mean it, like, guys,
(12:34):
we were so fresh going into games where you'll be
cut back on the practice house.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
When did you know we were gonna be good?
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Actually, And the only reason I came back to the
Rams after Mini camp was because of what I saw
in Mini Camp. So I literally I was like, nope, nope,
I ain't going. I'm not going to the Rams. I
don't want to play on turf. And I literally he said,
(13:03):
just go to Mini camp. And I don't know if
he had a conversation with them, with the organization, and
you know, Mike talked to me. Mike said, just hear
me out, see the offense, look at how I'm gonna
use you, and if you if this doesn't fit you,
then make your decision. So I came. I kind of
(13:23):
I didn't take first team reps when I first got there.
I kind of stepped back and I watched and and
then I kind of got into practices, but I watched.
I watched how how hard Isaac Bruce worked. I was like,
this guy working like we got a game tomorrow, Like
he's just like this is just we don't play so
like like like in the fall, but he worked like
(13:46):
like he was like a game was was he was
getting ready to play. And then I saw a young
Tory Hot and Oz and Tony and and then in
the backfield with with with Hokum and Amply I mean
we we we had some some pieces rolling Ernie uh
and then the offensive line like I had never seen
(14:08):
a human being like Orlando Pace. I was like, oh,
look at this, look at this. Wow, Like I just
never seen a human being look like that. And then
then just a little bit smaller than him was Fred Miller.
I was like, God, this is like And then we
(14:30):
had some some lunch pail guys in the middle that
was just ready to go get grimy and dirty and
do all the inside dirty work. And after Mini camp
I went to Rocky. He was like, all right, so
what are we doing? I said, try to try to
get me signed? I said, I I like, I like
I literally I like the chemistry. And here's what happened.
(14:51):
After the last day of mini camp, we were laying
around and me, uh, keith Lyle, I almost called him
trade neke me keith Lyle Todd light we're sitting down
and we were literally somebody said, I don't know, like
why not us? Man? Why can't we be good? Why
can't Why why not us? And then people, you know,
(15:11):
the conversation of like why not and and just just
asking that question brings the focus to the attention to
detail that need to be had from that mini camp
to when we come to camp what you need to
come back like And it was that that question. Hearing
guys question, it was like because I was I was
(15:34):
just like you guys in the sense that although you know,
I had done some good things. We've been to the
playoffs in Indie, you know, in football, I had I
had never won anything. I've been champion in every other sport,
football I never won. And I always felt like I
played with the some part group of guys growing up
that I couldn't accomplish what I should have accomplished early
(15:56):
on in life. And hearing some guys commit it. Now,
when you looked at the roster, the roster was stacked.
It was a bunch of first round picks, like high picks,
guys that was just like ready to come into their
own from from from from Grant to Kevin, you know,
it was just a todd It was a lot of guys,
(16:18):
and then some early second round picks who was like,
guys that was just ready And I was in some
rookie free agency. Yeah, because you listen now you need them.
You need those undrafted guys because they complete the team.
Like they they complete the team. And and and with
with that and hearing the message, and I was like,
(16:41):
I like, I like this group of guys.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
You fit in with us from day one. Yeah, from
day one, you were just one of us. It's like
you've been there the whole time. But I do remember
that Frank Ganz would walk by, he was our special
teams coach, guys rest of Soul. He would saying, why
not the Rams, why not us? Why not now? Yep,
like every day and it'd be like, you're right, why
not us?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
We got him? We got this, we got that.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
So going back to that preseason San Diego, when Trent
goes down, Isaac just talked about it. When you saw
Trent go down and Kurt have to step in, what
was your mindset then?
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Well, first, when Trent went down, I was thinking to myself.
I was like I literally I was I was like,
damn and I was first, like, damn, because Rodney Harrison
was my guy to block, and I kind of half assed.
I kind of half ass blocked and like it was preseason,
you know, just a little push, and Rodney was a
(17:37):
guy who played through the whistle, and he like as
I pushed him down, he pushed the ground and dove
and that's and that's literally how Trent's leg went. How
how Trent got hit. And I'm sitting there and I'm like,
I'm thinking to myself like wow, like and like I
kind of took it as if it was my fault.
(17:58):
And I'm thinking to myself at that point in time,
this is so selfish of me. But I'll share it
with you guys. I was saying to myself, God, I
left Peyton Manning.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Wow, that's a fair thought though, right, Okay, I mean what,
I didn't know you were supposed to block him on that.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
I did not know that. Wow, he was my guy.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
They had to take him out of the stadium under
police escort. I mean that, Yeah, we were we were
mad about that.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
That was preseason.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
So in walks Kurt Warner and I remember Coach for
Meal he said it to us before he told the world,
we're gonna play We're gonna rally around Kurt Warner and
play good football. What he didn't mention in that press
conference was we're gonna run Marshall, play defense and win
football games. So we didn't know Kurt was gonna be Kurt.
When did you know Kurt was gonna take off and
be this special guy that wound up in the Hall
(18:52):
of Fame with you?
Speaker 3 (18:53):
I want to say maybe, like I think Week four,
I think the Cincinnati game, I turned to team over
to Kirk because the team has to be led by
the quarterback. Up until the Cincinnati game, you know, I
kind of took it up on myself to make sure
that things went right that uh, that guys were mentally
(19:20):
like prepared for whatever it was to come. And I
just I allow Kurt just to find himself because it
was a it was a unique situation to have the
components around him, and you know, it's like you know, preparation,
meeting an opportunity and making the most of it. And
(19:40):
you know, I didn't know as much about Kurt's story,
you know, I just knew he was a guy who's
backing groceries at a high ve and all of a sudden,
now he was going to be my quarterback instead of
Payton Manning or Trent Green, you know, and it just
didn't sound good. It just it just listen, it just
didn't sound The pedigree wasn't there. But I'm gonna tell you.
(20:06):
We went to Detroit and a nervous Kurt Warner literally
went ten for ten and I was like, I was like,
you know, the Moji wich Ey's going. I was looking
at Mike like like, is this for Like, is this
a setup? I noticed this the Detroit Lions, but those
guys are getting paid too. Yeah. And I was like, wow,
(20:30):
that was pretty special. And then we come out and
you know, and we get ready for the regular season
and I think we opened up against Baltimore. Yeah, And
I mean, you couldn't have it better. It's like, Okay,
we're gonna find out now. We're gonna find out now.
And this was like, this was the precursor for raising
him defense finding their identity before the next year when
(20:52):
they won the Super Bowl coming in playing against US,
and I mean they had they had the people everywhere,
whether it was Ray and and and and uh Sarahcusa
and and Adam Sam Adams and uh Sharper and they
had McAllister and it was I was like, man, they
(21:12):
were stacked. And what they did was they were like
they knew me. Like I played against Baltimore a couple
of times when I was in the in the AFC
playing with the Coats, and they literally Ray showed up.
First play, he walked up to the line of scrimmage.
I was lining up. He said, you ain't winning the
game today. Oh, we're gonna find out who he is.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
And literally, I think like my first five carries was
for like a negative five yards, like they like if
if if the ball looked like a playfake, they run
blitzed this and and Mike, you know, Mike. We came
like second quarter, we came to the sideline and Mike
was like he's talking. I don't know who he's talking about. Yeah,
(21:57):
we got to open it up. We got to open
it up. And literally Kurt started dropping back, like started
throwing them all. I was like, okay, all right, like
this and we ended up winning. This came it. It
was a pretty close game. I think it was like
twenty seven seventeen or something like that. And you know, defense,
defense played very good. I think we had the advantage
(22:20):
in special teams as well. But it was it was
watching the next week at practice, just his attention to
detail Kurt with the like he just wanted to get
better and he was a sponge and watching him work
and just kind of remain humble about what was going
(22:41):
on around him. And that Cincinnati game, I mean, this
was the first time in the game that I had.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We played them there, right, Yeah, we were Scinnati.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
We were in Cincinnati, and I we were we were
up like, I don't know, twenty twenty eight to like
three in the second half. And this was the first
time in the game of football that I was on
a on a team, a part of an offense. I
had only touched the ball like four times and a
half and we were up by twenty eight points. Crazy.
(23:12):
I was like, I was like, I have a tea.
Oh my god, I got help. Because there's nothing like
standing on the sidelines and you look at your team
and you look at the other team and you're singing
the national anthem and you're like, this is not gonna
be fun, this is gonna be ugly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Is that the same game that we got the playing malfunction, right, yeah,
the playing malfunction. So they let us off and we
took over an airport bar and just stayed there for hours.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah, it was until they fixed the plane.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
It was.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
It was one of the best bonding moments we ever
had as a football team.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
I think that's when that whole why not us? Why not?
Why not? Why not?
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Now?
Speaker 4 (23:53):
I think that that's when that all kind of gelled together.
It it got loose in. Yes, it started in mini
camp obviously, Gan said it beforehand, kind of started a
mini camp, and then every once in a while he'd
sprinkle it in his special teams meeting, and then it
started making it to the team meetings, and you know,
(24:13):
I think we were four and oh, then it's like
why not because the belief, it wasn't just belief, we
actually had tangible wins. The Rams being four and oh that.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Was crazy, just nuts. Okay, so let's jump to Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
I remember being announced here come the Saint Louis Rams
and we run out the tunnel and I was about
to hyperventilate because it was weird. Ryan Tucker, our backup
offensive tackle, and I'm standing by him just randomly, and
I'm getting ready to play in this normal. And then
I look over and I see he's about six to seven,
so I see his shoulder and it says super Bowl
thirty four, and I realized the gravity of the situation.
(24:53):
We're going out in the Super Bowl. I mean, this
is this is it. This is the biggest game of
our life. How did you feel taking the field in
Atlanta of that day?
Speaker 3 (25:01):
So what I did was, you know, things that I do.
I called guys that played. I reached out to Emit,
reached out to Thurman. I was like, talk to me like,
I've never been here, but what what what am I missing?
I'm like, this feels like another game to me, and
(25:21):
an Emmott said it is. But until you win one
is the biggest game of your life.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
And I was like, okay, that's cool.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Until you win one. This is the biggest game of
your life. Yep, Wow, okay, yep.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
And then Thurman said, of all the games you're going
to play, this is the game you don't want to lose.
I mean, there's two sides to every coin.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
You know, it's like and and you get you get
And I'm like, what do I what do I need
to Emmitt? EMMITTT told me and this is he said.
Listen if the offense gets called out, he said, And
I noticed that you go last. That's what I did,
he said. Make sure when you run through the tunnel,
after you do what you do, whatever you're gonna be,
(26:07):
you're gonna be more like hype than you normally are.
Go straight to the oxygen, replenish yourself and be ready
to play, because you literally the adrenaline will take away
your stamina. And that's exactly what I did. Like I
felt I ran through. I was like, we felt like
(26:30):
I just we just had a ten play drive. Yeah,
so you felt it too, oh yeah. And then I
went over, I got the oxygen. I sat there, okay,
all right, cool, and then I got up. I was ready.
I did all the things that he that told me. Yeah,
Darmann said, like those first couple of series is things
(26:51):
are going to be moving very fast. He says, it's
gonna be you're gonna see more people around the field.
The field's gonna feel smaller, he said, but it's the
same feel. Don't pay attention to the people around the
field and just do what you're doing between the White Lions,
and that's it.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
I wish you would have told me about the oxygen thing.
Maybe I would have played better.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Yeah, it was rough, five catches ninety yards. Where were
you for Isaac's big touchdown? They put us ahead.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
I had the Daunteine responsibility of being the checkdown, but
in that play I had to make sure that whomever
was rushing outside of Fred I did what was called
skim block right tackle. Yeah, I did what's called skim block.
So I checked to see if they blitz, and if
they don't blitz inside, don't blitz outside. I did. I
(27:40):
release outside of him, and I get as close to
his pants as possible, and any defensive end knows that
means your ribs are exposed, and he don't try to
turn the corner. He then straightens up and gets square
onto the tackle and makes it easier for the tackle
to block. So I had a skim block to a
what was called what's a balloon route? Just get open
(28:01):
for me?
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Who was it? Who were you blocking?
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Was that the freak? No?
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Remember John Curse?
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Imagine if he played today in today's game with that athleticism.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
So that defense, so he scores, We're ahead, they're driving.
Where were you for the final play?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
I'm on the opposite forty. I'm on my hands and
knees literally like like like this not wanting to watch.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
What were you thinking? What was going through your mind there?
Speaker 3 (28:34):
And then I think I was the only one thinking
of this. I was like serious, this, this this was
my thought. Is Jeff Fisher going to go for two?
Speaker 2 (28:45):
So you thought they were gonna score?
Speaker 3 (28:46):
I was like yeah, I mean I'm watching Steve like
so so like I'm I'm from the South. I watch
HBCUs I understand who Steve McNair is, Like you give
him one drive this dude, I don't care who it's against,
Like just through sheer Will, it does not matter who's
on his team. Steve mcneher won these games like he
(29:08):
scored the touchdown to give his team a chance and
just out of respect. I was like, man, because if
you if you looked at our team that year and
most of those games, if if if that was a
situation we were out there as the offense to win
the game, and this was like our defense was out
(29:29):
there to win the game. And I and I and
I was just like it's it's an unusual feeling. You're
used to being in control and now that's all we
could do is watch and support and and I was
just like man, getting myself in the frame of mind
of if they score or they kicking, we go into overtime.
I gotta be ready, like I'm thinking about what's next.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Hell of a play by Mike Jones.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Oh Man, did you knew the Oh yeah, I could see.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
It, Marshall. I was ten yards away and I thought
he scored. Noah, how did you know?
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Not? Because I saw hisne tap saw I saw his
knee tap down.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Yeah, super smart. Every time I watched that that highlight
from that season, even though I'm wearing this thing here,
I still think we're gonna lose that game. Yeah, I
still think he's God. It's crazy. And I'm with you
about Steve McNair. I just said this with Isaac. Toughest
assignment in my life. Yeah, I mean toughest the signmon
first time and only time Todd light cussed me out
(30:27):
for letting him break contain because he had to tackle him.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
How big was McNair.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
I'm gonna say two forty. Let's say six three two
forty and a solid, like a solid linebacker type two forty,
like a guy you you if if he was if
he wasn't in quarterback mode. Joey was protecting himself. You
had your hands full. It looked like his helmet was
too small. That's how big he was. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
It just big dude, big neck, big everything.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, So I mean, so we get to win. It's
so much fun. I told Isaac about that when they
put the podium up. How fast they put that up,
ticker tape everywhere, it's it's great. I mean, where are
you thinking now when Dick Vermill is going around saying
you're a world champion.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
You were a world champion. I mean I never won
in the sport of football, like I was just like
I was in disbelief that I waited all his time
playing football to win at this level. Like there's not
a better like waiting process to go through, Like oh
my god, if I like all the times I wanted
(31:27):
to win in high school or little league or or
in college and like this at this time, this moment
was nothing better than that, that feeling that we had,
what we experienced, and the night that we had that
went on into the morning, Yeah and then into the night.
Uh huh, kept going, kept going. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
The ring ceremony was even better. Yeah, three hours after
we got these This is all I had on. But
never mind, some people were there. Never mind though. Uh
so you see how smart he is and how intelligent
and how he never changes his demeanor.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Right, this is who he is.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
And I still think to this day, you could have
been a coach, You could have been a GM you
could you could run a football team.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
You really can't.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
I saw that picture of you, Eric, Stephen Jackson and
Todd Gurley. Have you guys seen that picture yet? Tell
me that doesn't like raise the hair on your skin.
I mean, tell me about that day real quick.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Yeah, man, that's it was just there's just the lineage,
your Rams running backs, you know, like there's a lot
of football history there. But I think more than more
than what that history is in the sense of for
for us and what we did, it's it's what was
done for us by Kenny Washington and what he meant
to the league, and and and and the reintegrating of
(32:45):
allowing us as uh as as African Americans to play
in the in the NFL, Like just bringing that up
and what Kenny afforded us the opportunity to do. Yeah,
doing that piece was special. I know, I'm I'm I'm
from the South. You know, I grew up and you
(33:05):
know I understand racism and all of that stuff and
being suppressed, and you know that was that was a
part of the culture of the South, and and and
the and the to understand what was done for us
to have the opportunity that we have to play this
game today and to make with what the guys are
making today. You know, it was it was on the
(33:25):
backs of guys like like Kenny and and for the
Rams to uh, the Rams and Mitchellins for to to
allow us to do that collection and and uh to
point the attention to to what he meant to football
and and what he did and and to this organization.
It's it's awesome.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
You ever think about what you would make now if
you played.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
I don't think they were to be able to afford you, man.
And I'm so happy that Todd Gurley is in that
picture with you. Yeah, because man, at one point you
guys saw Todd run right. Just truly special belongs amongst
the graves.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Men.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Marshall's good to see you. Thank you so much. That's
a wrap on this episode of Ram's Iconic Live The
greatest fans in the world, presented by eighteen hundred kilo
the best taste in Taqila.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Don't go anywhere, yep I got to take a picture.
Please drink responsibly. Hope you enjoyed this conversation with Marshall
Fulk and we'll see you next time for Ram's iconic
Welcome to Rams Iconic Live, presented by eighteen hundred Kila,
the best taste in tequila.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Please don't responsibly.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
I am DeMarco Farr, and we are so excited for
you guys to be here with us to help us
celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary of the nineteen ninety nine
greatest show on turf, RAMS Super Bowl Championship Football team. Yes, sir, My,
next guest played twelve seasons in the NFL, seven with
the Rams, his last seven with the Rams. He's a
(00:35):
seven time Pro Bowler, three time NFL Offensive Player of
the Year. Marshall, this is incredible, three time three time
NFL First Team All Pro, and two thousand NFL MVP,
and a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Please welcome, Marshall Faulk.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Thank you, I mean thanks for that introduction.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
You're welcome.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
I mean that where do you keep all the hardware
in your house? I mean, this is amazing.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
You know what's funny, it's nin even in my house.
It's not even in your house, it's in stories. Does
this stuff resonate with you? Does everything that you've done
in this football Yeah? Well, the the personal stuff is
one thing. It's to you know, it's it's the team stuff.
Like when when we get to get together and we
can talk about the team stuff, the personal things, it's
you know, it is what it is. I know for
(01:19):
the linemen that blocked for me and the guys that
I played with, it means a lot to them. But
for me, it's all about what we did together. The
things that as we we get further away from our
playing days, the things that matter are what we did
as a as a team.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
This is true as we get older, right playing days, playing.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Day from playing I want to say older.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Okay, so let's go back to high school and you
were a running back and a corner.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
In high school running back Yeah, well I played every
position on offense but offensive line, and I played corner.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Okay, So the story is you wanted to play running
back in college. Yes, and there there was only one
school that would let you play running back in college.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
They were the first school who said I could play
running back, the first school. Yes. So I was going
through the this this was before you had stars and
all the stuff that you have now with being recruited
at this point in time, like you had the campaign
and based on how big your school was and how
good your school was. You got notarized and you got offers.
(02:26):
And I went to like the worst public school in
the state of Louisiana. It was the last public high
school in the city of New Orleans. That if you
got kicked out of public schools, well they sent you
to my high school to give you one more chance.
That was my high school.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
So so so we didn't have like the best talent
and we weren't that good. So they didn't see me
in the light that the guy who recruited me, so
he watched me play and kind of watched me as
an athlete. Came and watched me play basketball, saw my track,
my track and field accolades, and he saw me more
(03:06):
as an athlete than just a football player.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
So you could have played corner at any other school
or easy, Yes, anyplace else.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yes, I mean I got, I got, I got offered.
I'm my high school All Star game. I played corner.
You played corner. I won MVP of my high school
All Star game because I picked off two passes and
I went I ran one back for a touchdown.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
See it's making sense now.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
When we talk about how smart you are as a player,
it's because you can play every position.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
I wouldn't say every position, well, just.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
About every position. I knew what to do, and okay,
all right, playing it is another thing. Well, let's go
to your freshman year at San Diego State. Yes, and
you're playing UOP University of Pacific, and I still can't
believe these numbers. Thirty seven carries, three hundred and eighty
six yards and seven touchdowns. Yes, did they have eleven
people on the field?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
They did. Okay, here's the you know what and when? When?
When this story? Like when people hear about this. What
they don't show is I didn't start the game because
I wasn't the starter. I only came in after the
first quarter when the starter got hurt. So I played
the first series of the second quarter, and I didn't
(04:10):
play the end of the fourth.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Three hundred and eighty six yards and you didn't play
the fourth.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah, did they stink?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I mean they was, well, they stunk after that.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Okay, that's that. Yes, unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I don't know about beforehand, but after.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
That, unreal.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
You led the nation and rushing in ninety one and
ninety two, right, So I remember I was in college
at the same time, and I remember watching you go
up and down the field, and I said, ah, he's
doing it down there.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Let's be honest. You were like, if we played him,
he would do that against us.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Everybody said that, you know where I'm leading up to.
So so we turned pro.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Nineteen ninety four, you were, what the third pick, second
pick in the draft.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
And you go to cheat me.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
My bad.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Second, you go to Indianapolis and we're about to do
about Rams and the cults are about to battle, and
we're both undefeated. Yes, we figured this out in the back.
This is nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Nineteen ninety seven, we're both under feed it. The Rams.
They literally bust about five busloads of people to two
Indianapolis for that game. And in that game, it's a
home game. I'm playing for the Coats. I come out.
Their fans are at the game early and they're booing.
(05:21):
I'm like, you're booing me in my stadium. Yes, oh
my god, it like it sparks something in me. Now.
There was a couple of other things that was going
on at that time. I knew of Isaac. We were
the same draft class, and I was like, man, I
want to see if this guy can play. Literally, they
open up Bomb to Isaac, like, first play of the game, Bomb,
(05:44):
I was like, oh boy, it's going to be a
long one. I figured we'd have a shootout. But then
we start playing and they had they had a like
an issue with a particular play, and we ran the
crap out of this play. Literally, it was like we
had a sprint draw play that they could not stop.
They could not figure it out. It did not matter.
(06:07):
We disguise it and then you know, just a little
walk to the sign like I'm going to help the
end and got them every time that that play really
really broke, broke their defense down. You know who he's
talking about, right me? Yeah, he was just one of
the guys. There was ten other guys out there.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
So I played some good backs and I just been
run over physically.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Guys run away from you. But this was the first
time and running back had made me feel stupid. This
one right here, he was so smart and so crafty
and so fast. I thought those were your fans booing you.
I thought they had fired you up. I think you
finished that game with one hundred and seventy seven yards
and three touchdowns.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Two hundred and twenty yards and four touchdowns, don't cheat me.
He trying to cheat me.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Just going off the sheet man, That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
It is okay, Yes, so I left that game with
a healthy respect for Marshall Flock. As a matter of fact,
there's my brother. I called him and said, everything you
thought about Marshall is wrong. He can really play absolutely Okay.
So let's jump to let's see ninety seven, ninety eight.
I remember, this is the other memory have of you.
We're watching tape on the forty nine ers and I'm
(07:20):
watching you go up and down the field on them
in San fran I think. So I'm like, wow, this
dude is really bawling. And then jumped to ninety nine.
I see you on a treadmill talking about you're coming
to play for us.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Now, how did you know about that trade?
Speaker 4 (07:35):
How did you find out about being traded to Saint
Louis from Indianapolis?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Eric Dickerson?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Eric Dickerson told you.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yeah, yeah, So Eric, this is the first time this
story has been told. Eric Dickerson was the orchestrator of
what happened. The Rams did not know what was going
on at the coats with myself and Eric. Eric is
a mentor of mine. He's a guy that I've always
talked to me being here growing up in southern California,
(08:03):
playing at San Diego State. Eric was the big dog
up here. I'd come up and see him, and we
developed a relationship, and we were at the Pro Bowl
the end of the ninety eight season. Ninety nine, Eric
went into the Hall of Fame. Ninety nine. We're at
the Pro Bowl and I'm talking to Eric and we
just found out from the Coats that, like, we're not
(08:25):
on the same page. And so my agent is talking
to my agent in Eric. Are friends too, Yes, Rocky
Rocky Arsenal, And so they're talking and so Eric just
here's the information, and literally a couple of days later
he says to John Shawn them, Hey, are you guys
(08:46):
interested in Marshall Falk And the story goes, I don't
know the other side, but this is what I heard.
John then was like, Eric, what are you talking about?
He's not available? I think he is. Wow, And that's
literally that's how it started. Wow. From that. From from that,
the relationship between Jim Moore and Dick Vermill, from when
they coached here at u c l A was storied
(09:09):
and and coach Vermil made the call and said is
this true? And that's that's how it all started. That's
that's how the conversation started.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
What did you know about us then, about the Rams
then before you got there? I mean we played you
a couple of years before. What did you know about
us then? Well, let's let's just say this. When the
coach decided like, hey, we're going to trade you, like,
find a team. My demands where I want to play
on grass. I want to play with the winning team
(09:39):
who has a good quarterback.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Okay, they met none of my demands when they traded
me to the Ram.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
We were on the hardest turf ever, we weren't winning.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
They literally met none of my demands none. Oh boy,
that was like perfect.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I think you are a response for making coach for
mel back down a little bit, because, like Isaac said,
we were doing three and a half hour practices twice
a day in training camp, in pads. We were banging,
and then we got you, and all of a sudden,
everything kind of back down to a normal practice.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Did you have some kind of conversation with him.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Well, not with him, but to the powers to be.
I said, here's the deal, all right, I'm gonna come
and I'm gonna work as hard as I can, but
I will not get hurt in practice. I will not
like I practice hard. I understand how to work, but
I am not. My contract was done. They said, we're
gonna hold up, wait, we gotta get coach Formil. Yeah,
(10:39):
and how we're going to have practice at training camps
because they were having three three hour practices banging. I'm like, dude,
you ain't got nothing left for the game nothing. I
didn't want no parts of that.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Did you hear about the mutiny?
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Did you hear about Yeah, yes, we had heard about
that team mutiny in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Yes, yeah, yeah, that lasted all of thirty seconds.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
But but what they said was, we're gonna talk to
coach and we're gonna we're gonna get things to where,
you know, it's more player friendly in a sense. You
just gotta allow guys to rest as we get late
in the week, especially for the veteran guys. And we
had some Rey Agnew. We have some guys who you know,
(11:17):
right around week eight, week nine, you need they need
to be resting. Man and coach Ramil just being in
practice with you guys watching how intense he was. It
was like, I want no parts of that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Yeah, I mean, he only knew one way to do it.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
That's it. He only knew one way. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
And once we finally got him to back off slightly,
I mean, and it was almost this thing like, Okay, guys,
I'm gonna back off, and if we lose or we
start going backwards, we're going right back to those three hours.
So that's kind of what motivated us, at least on defense.
Do you guys feel the same way.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Well, we we knew that that we needed to show him,
not not just that in the winning, but the brand
of football that that Mike Martz and what we were
doing that you could not just win but sustain it
because coach Vermill had a different idea of how to
win football games. You know, it was coach Vermill. And
I'm gonna say this, Coach Vermill was from the John
(12:10):
that the Jim Harball methodology. If you watch it's all
hart nos, like he only wants tough guys, like if
you if you're a skilled guy, and none of that.
It's all blue collar and that's all he knew. And
there's some finesse around the game and how you play it,
and it took him a while to adapt to how
we played and how we practiced. And I mean it, like, guys,
(12:34):
we were so fresh going into games where you'll be
cut back on the practice house.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
When did you know we were gonna be good?
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Actually, And the only reason I came back to the
Rams after Mini camp was because of what I saw
in Mini Camp. So I literally I was like, nope, nope,
I ain't going. I'm not going to the Rams. I
don't want to play on turf. And I literally he said,
(13:03):
just go to Mini camp. And I don't know if
he had a conversation with them, with the organization, and
you know, Mike talked to me. Mike said, just hear
me out, see the offense, look at how I'm gonna
use you, and if you if this doesn't fit you,
then make your decision. So I came. I kind of
(13:23):
I didn't take first team reps when I first got there.
I kind of stepped back and I watched and and
then I kind of got into practices, but I watched.
I watched how how hard Isaac Bruce worked. I was like,
this guy working like we got a game tomorrow, Like
he's just like this is just we don't play so
like like like in the fall, but he worked like
(13:46):
like he was like a game was was he was
getting ready to play. And then I saw a young
Tory Hot and Oz and Tony and and then in
the backfield with with with Hokum and Amply I mean
we we we had some some pieces rolling Ernie uh
and then the offensive line like I had never seen
(14:08):
a human being like Orlando Pace. I was like, oh,
look at this, look at this. Wow, Like I just
never seen a human being look like that. And then
then just a little bit smaller than him was Fred Miller.
I was like, God, this is like And then we
(14:30):
had some some lunch pail guys in the middle that
was just ready to go get grimy and dirty and
do all the inside dirty work. And after Mini camp
I went to Rocky. He was like, all right, so
what are we doing? I said, try to try to
get me signed? I said, I I like, I like
I literally I like the chemistry. And here's what happened.
(14:51):
After the last day of mini camp, we were laying
around and me, uh, keith Lyle, I almost called him
trade neke me keith Lyle Todd light we're sitting down
and we were literally somebody said, I don't know, like
why not us? Man? Why can't we be good? Why
can't Why why not us? And then people, you know,
(15:11):
the conversation of like why not and and just just
asking that question brings the focus to the attention to
detail that need to be had from that mini camp
to when we come to camp what you need to
come back like And it was that that question. Hearing
guys question, it was like because I was I was
(15:34):
just like you guys in the sense that although you know,
I had done some good things. We've been to the
playoffs in Indie, you know, in football, I had I
had never won anything. I've been champion in every other sport,
football I never won. And I always felt like I
played with the some part group of guys growing up
that I couldn't accomplish what I should have accomplished early
(15:56):
on in life. And hearing some guys commit it. Now,
when you looked at the roster, the roster was stacked.
It was a bunch of first round picks, like high picks,
guys that was just like ready to come into their
own from from from from Grant to Kevin, you know,
it was just a todd It was a lot of guys,
(16:18):
and then some early second round picks who was like,
guys that was just ready And I was in some
rookie free agency. Yeah, because you listen now you need them.
You need those undrafted guys because they complete the team.
Like they they complete the team. And and and with
with that and hearing the message, and I was like,
(16:41):
I like, I like this group of guys.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
You fit in with us from day one. Yeah, from
day one, you were just one of us. It's like
you've been there the whole time. But I do remember
that Frank Ganz would walk by, he was our special
teams coach, guys rest of Soul. He would saying, why
not the Rams, why not us? Why not now? Yep,
like every day and it'd be like, you're right, why
not us?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
We got him? We got this, we got that.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
So going back to that preseason San Diego, when Trent
goes down, Isaac just talked about it. When you saw
Trent go down and Kurt have to step in, what
was your mindset then?
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Well, first, when Trent went down, I was thinking to myself.
I was like I literally I was I was like,
damn and I was first, like, damn, because Rodney Harrison
was my guy to block, and I kind of half assed.
I kind of half ass blocked and like it was preseason,
you know, just a little push, and Rodney was a
(17:37):
guy who played through the whistle, and he like as
I pushed him down, he pushed the ground and dove
and that's and that's literally how Trent's leg went. How
how Trent got hit. And I'm sitting there and I'm like,
I'm thinking to myself like wow, like and like I
kind of took it as if it was my fault.
(17:58):
And I'm thinking to myself at that point in time,
this is so selfish of me. But I'll share it
with you guys. I was saying to myself, God, I
left Peyton Manning.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Wow, that's a fair thought though, right, Okay, I mean what,
I didn't know you were supposed to block him on that.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
I did not know that. Wow, he was my guy.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
They had to take him out of the stadium under
police escort. I mean that, Yeah, we were we were
mad about that.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
That was preseason.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
So in walks Kurt Warner and I remember Coach for
Meal he said it to us before he told the world,
we're gonna play We're gonna rally around Kurt Warner and
play good football. What he didn't mention in that press
conference was we're gonna run Marshall, play defense and win
football games. So we didn't know Kurt was gonna be Kurt.
When did you know Kurt was gonna take off and
be this special guy that wound up in the Hall
(18:52):
of Fame with you?
Speaker 3 (18:53):
I want to say maybe, like I think Week four,
I think the Cincinnati game, I turned to team over
to Kirk because the team has to be led by
the quarterback. Up until the Cincinnati game, you know, I
kind of took it up on myself to make sure
that things went right that uh, that guys were mentally
(19:20):
like prepared for whatever it was to come. And I
just I allow Kurt just to find himself because it
was a it was a unique situation to have the
components around him, and you know, it's like you know, preparation,
meeting an opportunity and making the most of it. And
(19:40):
you know, I didn't know as much about Kurt's story,
you know, I just knew he was a guy who's
backing groceries at a high ve and all of a sudden,
now he was going to be my quarterback instead of
Payton Manning or Trent Green, you know, and it just
didn't sound good. It just it just listen, it just
didn't sound The pedigree wasn't there. But I'm gonna tell you.
(20:06):
We went to Detroit and a nervous Kurt Warner literally
went ten for ten and I was like, I was like,
you know, the Moji wich Ey's going. I was looking
at Mike like like, is this for Like, is this
a setup? I noticed this the Detroit Lions, but those
guys are getting paid too. Yeah. And I was like, wow,
(20:30):
that was pretty special. And then we come out and
you know, and we get ready for the regular season
and I think we opened up against Baltimore. Yeah, And
I mean, you couldn't have it better. It's like, Okay,
we're gonna find out now. We're gonna find out now.
And this was like, this was the precursor for raising
him defense finding their identity before the next year when
(20:52):
they won the Super Bowl coming in playing against US,
and I mean they had they had the people everywhere,
whether it was Ray and and and and uh Sarahcusa
and and Adam Sam Adams and uh Sharper and they
had McAllister and it was I was like, man, they
(21:12):
were stacked. And what they did was they were like
they knew me. Like I played against Baltimore a couple
of times when I was in the in the AFC
playing with the Coats, and they literally Ray showed up.
First play, he walked up to the line of scrimmage.
I was lining up. He said, you ain't winning the
game today. Oh, we're gonna find out who he is.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
And literally, I think like my first five carries was
for like a negative five yards, like they like if
if if the ball looked like a playfake, they run
blitzed this and and Mike, you know, Mike. We came
like second quarter, we came to the sideline and Mike
was like he's talking. I don't know who he's talking about. Yeah,
(21:57):
we got to open it up. We got to open
it up. And literally Kurt started dropping back, like started
throwing them all. I was like, okay, all right, like
this and we ended up winning. This came it. It
was a pretty close game. I think it was like
twenty seven seventeen or something like that. And you know, defense,
defense played very good. I think we had the advantage
(22:20):
in special teams as well. But it was it was
watching the next week at practice, just his attention to
detail Kurt with the like he just wanted to get
better and he was a sponge and watching him work
and just kind of remain humble about what was going
(22:41):
on around him. And that Cincinnati game, I mean, this
was the first time in the game that I had.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We played them there, right, Yeah, we were Scinnati.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
We were in Cincinnati, and I we were we were
up like, I don't know, twenty twenty eight to like
three in the second half. And this was the first
time in the game of football that I was on
a on a team, a part of an offense. I
had only touched the ball like four times and a
half and we were up by twenty eight points. Crazy.
(23:12):
I was like, I was like, I have a tea.
Oh my god, I got help. Because there's nothing like
standing on the sidelines and you look at your team
and you look at the other team and you're singing
the national anthem and you're like, this is not gonna
be fun, this is gonna be ugly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Is that the same game that we got the playing malfunction, right, yeah,
the playing malfunction. So they let us off and we
took over an airport bar and just stayed there for hours.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah, it was until they fixed the plane.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
It was.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
It was one of the best bonding moments we ever
had as a football team.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
I think that's when that whole why not us? Why not?
Why not? Why not?
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Now?
Speaker 4 (23:53):
I think that that's when that all kind of gelled together.
It it got loose in. Yes, it started in mini
camp obviously, Gan said it beforehand, kind of started a
mini camp, and then every once in a while he'd
sprinkle it in his special teams meeting, and then it
started making it to the team meetings, and you know,
(24:13):
I think we were four and oh, then it's like
why not because the belief, it wasn't just belief, we
actually had tangible wins. The Rams being four and oh that.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Was crazy, just nuts. Okay, so let's jump to Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
I remember being announced here come the Saint Louis Rams
and we run out the tunnel and I was about
to hyperventilate because it was weird. Ryan Tucker, our backup
offensive tackle, and I'm standing by him just randomly, and
I'm getting ready to play in this normal. And then
I look over and I see he's about six to seven,
so I see his shoulder and it says super Bowl
thirty four, and I realized the gravity of the situation.
(24:53):
We're going out in the Super Bowl. I mean, this
is this is it. This is the biggest game of
our life. How did you feel taking the field in
Atlanta of that day?
Speaker 3 (25:01):
So what I did was, you know, things that I do.
I called guys that played. I reached out to Emit,
reached out to Thurman. I was like, talk to me like,
I've never been here, but what what what am I missing?
I'm like, this feels like another game to me, and
(25:21):
an Emmott said it is. But until you win one
is the biggest game of your life.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
And I was like, okay, that's cool.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Until you win one. This is the biggest game of
your life. Yep, Wow, okay, yep.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
And then Thurman said, of all the games you're going
to play, this is the game you don't want to lose.
I mean, there's two sides to every coin.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
You know, it's like and and you get you get
And I'm like, what do I what do I need
to Emmitt? EMMITTT told me and this is he said.
Listen if the offense gets called out, he said, And
I noticed that you go last. That's what I did,
he said. Make sure when you run through the tunnel,
after you do what you do, whatever you're gonna be,
(26:07):
you're gonna be more like hype than you normally are.
Go straight to the oxygen, replenish yourself and be ready
to play, because you literally the adrenaline will take away
your stamina. And that's exactly what I did. Like I
felt I ran through. I was like, we felt like
(26:30):
I just we just had a ten play drive. Yeah,
so you felt it too, oh yeah. And then I
went over, I got the oxygen. I sat there, okay,
all right, cool, and then I got up. I was ready.
I did all the things that he that told me. Yeah,
Darmann said, like those first couple of series is things
(26:51):
are going to be moving very fast. He says, it's
gonna be you're gonna see more people around the field.
The field's gonna feel smaller, he said, but it's the
same feel. Don't pay attention to the people around the
field and just do what you're doing between the White Lions,
and that's it.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
I wish you would have told me about the oxygen thing.
Maybe I would have played better.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Yeah, it was rough, five catches ninety yards. Where were
you for Isaac's big touchdown? They put us ahead.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
I had the Daunteine responsibility of being the checkdown, but
in that play I had to make sure that whomever
was rushing outside of Fred I did what was called
skim block right tackle. Yeah, I did what's called skim block.
So I checked to see if they blitz, and if
they don't blitz inside, don't blitz outside. I did. I
(27:40):
release outside of him, and I get as close to
his pants as possible, and any defensive end knows that
means your ribs are exposed, and he don't try to
turn the corner. He then straightens up and gets square
onto the tackle and makes it easier for the tackle
to block. So I had a skim block to a
what was called what's a balloon route? Just get open
(28:01):
for me?
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Who was it? Who were you blocking?
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Was that the freak? No?
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Remember John Curse?
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Imagine if he played today in today's game with that athleticism.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
So that defense, so he scores, We're ahead, they're driving.
Where were you for the final play?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
I'm on the opposite forty. I'm on my hands and
knees literally like like like this not wanting to watch.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
What were you thinking? What was going through your mind there?
Speaker 3 (28:34):
And then I think I was the only one thinking
of this. I was like serious, this, this this was
my thought. Is Jeff Fisher going to go for two?
Speaker 2 (28:45):
So you thought they were gonna score?
Speaker 3 (28:46):
I was like yeah, I mean I'm watching Steve like
so so like I'm I'm from the South. I watch
HBCUs I understand who Steve McNair is, Like you give
him one drive this dude, I don't care who it's against,
Like just through sheer Will, it does not matter who's
on his team. Steve mcneher won these games like he
(29:08):
scored the touchdown to give his team a chance and
just out of respect. I was like, man, because if
you if you looked at our team that year and
most of those games, if if if that was a
situation we were out there as the offense to win
the game, and this was like our defense was out
(29:29):
there to win the game. And I and I and
I was just like it's it's an unusual feeling. You're
used to being in control and now that's all we
could do is watch and support and and I was
just like man, getting myself in the frame of mind
of if they score or they kicking, we go into overtime.
I gotta be ready, like I'm thinking about what's next.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Hell of a play by Mike Jones.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Oh Man, did you knew the Oh yeah, I could see.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
It, Marshall. I was ten yards away and I thought
he scored. Noah, how did you know?
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Not? Because I saw hisne tap saw I saw his
knee tap down.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Yeah, super smart. Every time I watched that that highlight
from that season, even though I'm wearing this thing here,
I still think we're gonna lose that game. Yeah, I
still think he's God. It's crazy. And I'm with you
about Steve McNair. I just said this with Isaac. Toughest
assignment in my life. Yeah, I mean toughest the signmon
first time and only time Todd light cussed me out
(30:27):
for letting him break contain because he had to tackle him.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
How big was McNair.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
I'm gonna say two forty. Let's say six three two
forty and a solid, like a solid linebacker type two forty,
like a guy you you if if he was if
he wasn't in quarterback mode. Joey was protecting himself. You
had your hands full. It looked like his helmet was
too small. That's how big he was. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
It just big dude, big neck, big everything.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, So I mean, so we get to win. It's
so much fun. I told Isaac about that when they
put the podium up. How fast they put that up,
ticker tape everywhere, it's it's great. I mean, where are
you thinking now when Dick Vermill is going around saying
you're a world champion.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
You were a world champion. I mean I never won
in the sport of football, like I was just like
I was in disbelief that I waited all his time
playing football to win at this level. Like there's not
a better like waiting process to go through, Like oh
my god, if I like all the times I wanted
(31:27):
to win in high school or little league or or
in college and like this at this time, this moment
was nothing better than that, that feeling that we had,
what we experienced, and the night that we had that
went on into the morning, Yeah and then into the night.
Uh huh, kept going, kept going. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
The ring ceremony was even better. Yeah, three hours after
we got these This is all I had on. But
never mind, some people were there. Never mind though. Uh
so you see how smart he is and how intelligent
and how he never changes his demeanor.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Right, this is who he is.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
And I still think to this day, you could have
been a coach, You could have been a GM you
could you could run a football team.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
You really can't.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
I saw that picture of you, Eric, Stephen Jackson and
Todd Gurley. Have you guys seen that picture yet? Tell
me that doesn't like raise the hair on your skin.
I mean, tell me about that day real quick.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Yeah, man, that's it was just there's just the lineage,
your Rams running backs, you know, like there's a lot
of football history there. But I think more than more
than what that history is in the sense of for
for us and what we did, it's it's what was
done for us by Kenny Washington and what he meant
to the league, and and and and the reintegrating of
(32:45):
allowing us as uh as as African Americans to play
in the in the NFL, Like just bringing that up
and what Kenny afforded us the opportunity to do. Yeah,
doing that piece was special. I know, I'm I'm I'm
from the South. You know, I grew up and you
(33:05):
know I understand racism and all of that stuff and
being suppressed, and you know that was that was a
part of the culture of the South, and and and
the and the to understand what was done for us
to have the opportunity that we have to play this
game today and to make with what the guys are
making today. You know, it was it was on the
(33:25):
backs of guys like like Kenny and and for the
Rams to uh, the Rams and Mitchellins for to to
allow us to do that collection and and uh to
point the attention to to what he meant to football
and and what he did and and to this organization.
It's it's awesome.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
You ever think about what you would make now if
you played.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
I don't think they were to be able to afford you, man.
And I'm so happy that Todd Gurley is in that
picture with you. Yeah, because man, at one point you
guys saw Todd run right. Just truly special belongs amongst
the graves.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Men.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Marshall's good to see you. Thank you so much. That's
a wrap on this episode of Ram's Iconic Live The
greatest fans in the world, presented by eighteen hundred kilo
the best taste in Taqila.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Don't go anywhere, yep I got to take a picture.
Please drink responsibly. Hope you enjoyed this conversation with Marshall
Fulk and we'll see you next time for Ram's iconic
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