Louisiana is a breeding ground for football talent, particularly at the skill positions. Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase and CeeDee Lamb all hail from the Bayou State. Peyton and Eli Manning were born in New Orleans, the locale for Super Bowl LIX.
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“The Big Easy” is also Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk’s birthplace. Unlike Peyton and Eli, Faulk didn’t grow up with a father who played in the NFL. He couldn’t simply tag along with his Dad to work if he wanted to attend a football game. Instead, he went to work himself.
Faulk recapped his childhood employment history this week on The Rich Eisen Show. He told his former NFL Network colleague he sold popcorn in the Superdome as a teenager. That was the only way he could watch the Saints in person.
“I was about 13, but I was saying I was 16… I used my brother’s ID… so I was breaking the law… [I’d] pay my 20 bucks to get my rack [of popcorn] and once I made my money… I watched the second half… I couldn’t afford a ticket to the game [to see] ‘Dome Patrol.'”
“Dome Patrol” was the nickname for New Orleans’ linebacking corps throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Rickey Jackson, Vaughan Johnson, Sam Mills, and Pat Swilling combined to make 18 Pro Bowls as Saints. The quartet led New Orleans to its first division title in 1991. Their 1992 Pro Bowl nods represent the only time in NFL history that four linebackers from one team have appeared in an exhibition event.
Faulk is one of the greatest running backs of all time. He had the ninth-most rushing yards (12,279) in NFL history when he retired following the 2005 campaign and still ranks 12th in the category. More impressively, he was the first dominant receiving back to grace the gridiron. Faulk totaled 6,875 receiving yards in his career and posted 80 catches in five consecutive seasons (1998-2002).
His talent in the backfield was undeniable. Despite that, Faulk spent his college days at San Diego State, not LSU. It’s rare for the Tigers to let bonafide superstars leave the state for another college. However, Faulk got away because LSU wanted him to switch positions.
“[LSU] wanted me to play corner… they wanted me to play corner so bad that in my high school All-Star game practices… they made the coach put me at corner… I didn’t even get to play running back in my high school All-Star game.”
Faulk picked off two passes and won MVP of the All-Star game as a corner. In other words, he could have played both sides of the ball in college. This inspired Eisen to say Faulk was “Travis Hunter before Travis Hunter.” However, Faulk didn’t want to be a corner because playing defense “wasn’t fun.” His bronze bust at the Hall of Fame in Canton shows sticking at running back was the right decision.
