Southern University Coach Marshall Faulk Reveals Parkinson’s Diagnosis

Marshall Faulk, the Pro Football Hall of Famer now leading Southern University’s football program in Baton Rouge, revealed Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Faulk, 53, shared the news during an appearance on “The Caring Neurologist” podcast, telling host Dr. Sandeep Thakkar that medication has kept his symptoms largely in check. He said the disease has mostly affected him through hand rigidity, which he believes has not worsened over the roughly year and a half since his diagnosis thanks to treatment. He also described experiencing “little tremors.”

“I want to help as many people as I can,” Faulk said, explaining his decision to speak publicly about his condition.

Faulk said he first brushed off the hand rigidity as nerves while golfing, but grew concerned when it persisted outside of competitive rounds.

“I just thought it was normal nerves when putting and stuff like that,” Faulk said. “But it started to be times where … I was playing, but I wasn’t in a match, and it would still do that. And I was like, ‘Wow, is that something — is that normal?’ And the doctor was — he literally was like, ‘You need to go get checked.'”

Faulk credited part of his perspective on the diagnosis to a dinner he once shared with Muhammad Ali, who also lived with Parkinson’s. He came away from that encounter believing Ali was fully present and engaged, which shaped how he processed his own diagnosis.

“So, knowing that, I didn’t look at it like if I got a diagnosis, life was going to end,” Faulk said. “I treat it like — I’ve had a bunch of surgeries on my right knee. There’s some parts in it that aren’t mine, that aren’t original. My back, you know, it hurts every once in a while.”

Faulk was the No. 2 overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1994 NFL Draft. He played his first five seasons in Indianapolis before moving to the St. Louis Rams, where he helped lead the team to a Super Bowl title during the 1999 season and was named NFL MVP the following year. He last played in 2005 and is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Faulk took over as Southern University’s head coach in November 2025 after a stint coaching running backs at Colorado under Deion Sanders. Southern is 3-4 in his first season leading the program.