Hall of Fame running back and Southern University coach Marshall Faulk revealed he suffers from Parkinson’s disease.
Via Jack Baer of Yahoo Sports, Faulk revealed the diagnosis during an appearance on the Caring neurologist podcast.
“I get a physical twice a year,” Faulk said. “I’m a little anal about my health. I literally asked my doctor because I noticed it while I was playing golf. I noticed the stiffness in my hand after playing a lot or practicing a lot, I thought it was just normal nerves when putting and stuff like that. But there 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 continue.
“I was like, ‘Wow, is this something? Is this normal?” And the doctor said to me: “You need to go get checked. You have to do X, Y and Z.’
Faulk, a former NFL MVP, two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year, three-time first-team All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler, has received treatment and is taking medication.
“Since I started taking medication, I haven’t really had any problems,” Faulk said. “Maybe I’ll sleep a little more… Other than that, the stiffness in my hands, I still have that. I can’t say it’s gotten worse. The little tremors that I have, they are what they are. I just pay attention to my gait, the way I walk, when I work out, my ability to balance. It’s still there.”
“I don’t look at it as something terminal. It’s like, ‘Hey, you have to live with this.’ There are much worse things out there.
There is a known link between Parkinson’s disease and football. This is one of the specific conditions that automatically make a player eligible for payment who retired before the final settlement of the concussion class action lawsuit.
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