Pro Football Hall of Famer and Southern University head football coach Marshall Faulk shocked the football world when he announced his Parkinson's diagnosis last week, but he's not allowing the diagnosis to stifle his life.
In comments obtained by Brendon Fairbairn, Faulk put the diagnosis into perspective.
“What I wanted to do was bring awareness to my fellow brothers: early detection is the best detection. Go get checked, and then, moving forward, continue to focus on coaching and trying to win football games. Because as these things happen a lot of times, what happens is a light gets shined on it, and life stops. That's not me. I'm always trying to make progress, try to move forward. I'm going to use this to help advocate for other people: hey, man, your life doesn't have to stop. This isn't a death sentence. I take medications, and I'm fine. I probably won't show any symptoms to the naked eye, and I'll live a full life.”
In an appearance on Dr. Sandeep Thakka’s “Caring Neurologist” podcast, Faulk revealed his Parkinson's diagnosis and said he'd been dealing with symptoms for a year and a half and noticed some of them while he was playing golf.
“The rigidity in my hand, just sometimes after I play a lot or I practice a lot,” Faulk said. “I just thought it was normal nerves when putting and stuff like that.”
He spoke to his doctor, who pushed him to get checked, and he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. He described himself as lucky that he was able to catch it early.
Article Continues Below“Since I’ve started on the medication, I don’t really have a lot of issues,” he said. “I don’t look at it as something that’s terminal. There’s far worse things out there.”
He also shared that he hasn't experienced any decline in his cognitive functions and expressed a desire to help people through his diagnosis.
“It’s something you live with,” Faulk said. “I want to help as many people as I can.”