MARSHALL FAULK NAMED TO 2017 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

 

 

Faulk becomes third Aztec to make the College Football Hall of Fame

Source: goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

January 9, 2017 (San Diego) - Former San Diego State great Marshall Faulk has been named to the 2017 College Football Hall of Fame Class, the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced Monday morning. Faulk will be the third Aztec in the College Football Hall of Fame, joining Fred Dwyer (inducted in 1997) and head coach Don Coryell (1999).

Faulk earned All-America accolades over each of his three seasons at SDSU from 1991-93, including twice being named a unanimous consensus All-American (1992-93). Faulk led the nation in rushing in both 1991 (1,429) and 1992 (1,630) to become then just the fifth player to record back-to-back rushing titles. Faulk, a three-time Heisman Trophy finalist, still owns NCAA FBS records for points per game (12.1), while ranking among the top 10 in rushing yards per game (148.0) and all-purpose yards per game (180.5).

In 1991, Faulk became the first freshman in history to lead the nation in both scoring (140 points) and rushing (158.8 yards per game) in the same season. The 1991 WAC Freshman of the Year, Faulk rushed for 386 yards in his first career start (second game) against Pacific to set a then-NCAA single-game record. He finished with 1,429 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground in 1991 and 17 catches for 201 yards and two additional scores.

In 1992, Faulk was named the WAC Offensive Player of the Year after rushing 265 times for 1,630 yards and 15 touchdowns in just 10 games, while adding 18 receptions for 128 yards. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1992.

Faulk finished his collegiate career with 1,530 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns on 300 attempts in 1993, while making a remarkable 47 catches for 644 yards and three touchdowns.

A three-time first-team all-WAC selection, Faulk led the conference in scoring in all three seasons at SDSU and twice led the league in rushing. A two-time recipient of the Joe Kearney Award as the WAC Athlete of the Year across all sports, Faulk set numerous conference records, including single-game, career touchdowns and career rushing average. He set nearly every San Diego State rushing record while leading the team in rushing, scoring and all-purpose yards every year of his career.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 1994 NFL Draft, Faulk split his 12-year career between the Indianapolis Colts (1994-98) and the St. Louis Rams (1999-2005). His many accolades in the NFL include the 2000 MVP award, seven Pro Bowl selections and the 1994 Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Leading the Rams to a victory in Super Bowl XXXIV and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXVI, Faulk is 11th in NFL history with 12,280 rushing yards. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Colts Ring of Honor.

Faulk has continuously given back to the community, establishing the Marshall Faulk Foundation for underprivileged youth and providing funding for YMCA youth programs, the Boys to Men mentoring network and 9th Ward Field of Dreams. He also created the Marshall Faulk Scholarship Endowment at San Diego State. Faulk can currently be seen as an analyst on the NFL Network.

Faulk and the other 12 honorees will be inducted at the 60th NFF Annual Award Dinner on Dec. 5, 2017, at the New York Hilton Midtown. The inductees will also be honored at the National Hall of Fame Salute at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 1, 2018, and will be recognized at their respective collegiate institutions with the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, presented by Fidelity Investments, during the fall. Faulk’s accomplishments will be forever immortalized at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

Including the 2017 Hall of Fame class, only 987 players and 214 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.19 million who have played or coached the game during the past 148 years, which comes out to just two ten-thousandths of one percent (.0002).

 


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.