Pro Football Hall of Famer and Southern University head coach Marshall Faulk has revealed that he has been living with Parkinson’s disease for about 18 months.

Faulk, 53, shared the diagnosis on The Caring Neurologist, a podcast hosted by Dr. Sandeep Thakkar, in an episode released last week. “I want to help as many people as I can,” Faulk said, according to the AP.

How He Found Out

Faulk said his first sign came on the golf course, where he noticed stiffness in his hands while putting. “I just thought it was normal nerves when putting and stuff like that,” he said, as reported by Sports Illustrated.

When the rigidity didn’t go away, he raised it during a medical checkup, and his doctor recommended he see a specialist. Today, he describes his symptoms as hand rigidity and occasional small tremors, which he says have not worsened.

“And since I’ve started on the medication, I don’t really have a lot of issues,” Faulk said.

He also urged people not to ignore early symptoms. “The earlier you catch it, the better chance you have at living a better quality of life with medication,” he said.

Faulk pointed to Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox, who both lived publicly with Parkinson’s, as shaping how he viewed his own diagnosis. “It’s something you live with. It’s not to where it’s a detriment to your livelihood,” he said.

Back Home at Southern

Faulk took over the Jaguars after serving as running backs coach at Colorado under Deion Sanders. Southern is 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the SWAC this season, according to Sports Illustrated, after finishing 2-10 in 2025.

Faulk played 12 NFL seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams, won a Super Bowl with the Rams, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.

Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological disorder with no known cure, though treatment can help manage symptoms.

For now, Faulk remains on the Southern sideline, and his message is a simple one: get checked. Coming from one of the most durable running backs the game has seen, that advice could reach men who might otherwise wait too long.