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Bert Bell Award
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Marshall Faulk, St. Louis Rams
"How could you not vote for
Marshall?" Warner asked. "His heart, his character, and the way he
plays. I don't think you can find words to describe it. He's the essence of
this team. The heart of this team. All of us feed off of him." That sentiment was reflected in the voting
for the Maxwell Football Club's Professional Player of the Year, which saw Faulk receive
350 first place votes compared to 190 votes for runner-up Warner, who won this award in
1999. Tonight, Faulk will accept the Bert Bell Trophy as the Maxwell Football Club's
43rd recipient of the Pro Player of the Year honors. Faulk and Warner combined to lead the Rams
to a 14-2 regular season, the best record in the league. Faulk made history by
rushing for 1,382 yards and adding 765 yards receiving, making him the first player to
gain more than 2,000 total yards from scrimmage in four consecutive seasons. Walter
Payton was the only previous player to accomplish that feat three straight years. "I've been around some great players
and Marshall is better, he's an elite player," said Dick Vermeil, who brought Faulk
to St. Louis in a trade with Indianapolis in 1999, a trade that helped propel Vermeil's
Rams to a Super Bowl victory that season. Despite missing two games in the 2001
season, Faulk led the league in scoring with 21 touchdowns, five more than anyone else,
and he topped all running backs with 83 pass receptions. He is only the second
player in NFL history, joining Emmitt Smith of Dallas, to score more than 20 touchdowns in
back-to-back seasons. "He has incredible focus" head
coach Mike Martz said of Faulk. "It's even more than you can appreciate unless
you see him in practice or in person how focused he is. If he makes a mistake in
practice, he's very, very upset. He just doesn't make mistakes." Faulk is blessed with great natural talent,
but it is his work ethic and his willingness to spend hours studying tapes and preparing
for each opponent that sets him apart. When he cuts back across the field and leaves
the tackler grasping at air, chances are Faulk is taking advantage of something he saw in
the film room and thought out long before he took the handoff. "The guy studies like no one
else," wide receiver Torry Holt said. "He knows what the linebacker's
responsibility is. He knows what a safety's responsibility is. He knows what
the D-tackle's responsibility is. So he's able to set those guys up." Example: In the final regular season game,
Faulk scored a touchdown against Atlanta, using a 360-degree spin move to elude two
would-be tacklers. The broadcasters gushed about Faulk's peerless instincts, but in
truth, he told his teammates in the huddle exactly what he intended to do. "I'll have nightmares all off-season
about the cuts he made on me," Atlanta linebacker Keith Brooking said.
"I've never played against anyone like him." |
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Rams quarterback Kurt