The Ninth Ward's Gift to the NFL
Marshall William Faulk was born on February 26, 1973, in New Orleans and grew up in the Desire housing project in the Upper Ninth Ward — one of the most impoverished and dangerous neighborhoods in the city. The Desire project was a place where opportunity was scarce, violence was common, and the odds of making it out were stacked against everyone who lived there. Marshall Faulk didn't just make it out. He became one of the greatest running backs in the history of professional football.
Carver High School
Faulk attended George Washington Carver High School in the Ninth Ward, where he became a local legend. He rushed for over 1,500 yards in his senior season and was named one of the top high school football players in the country. But what set Faulk apart wasn't just his speed or his power — it was his intelligence. He read defenses instinctively, found holes that other runners couldn't see, and had a vision for the field that coaches said was almost supernatural.
San Diego State University offered him a scholarship, and Faulk left New Orleans for the West Coast. In his freshman year, he rushed for 1,429 yards and scored 21 touchdowns — breaking the NCAA freshman rushing record. The kid from the Desire project was on his way.
The NFL
The Indianapolis Colts drafted Faulk second overall in 1994, and he was immediately one of the best players in the league. But it was his trade to the St. Louis Rams in 1999 that transformed him from great to legendary. In St. Louis, Faulk became the centerpiece of "The Greatest Show on Turf" — the Rams' record-breaking offense that combined a devastating passing attack with Faulk's dual-threat ability as both a runner and a receiver.
Faulk won the NFL MVP award in 2000, was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year three consecutive times (1999-2001), and helped lead the Rams to a Super Bowl XXXIV victory in 2000. His statistics are staggering — he's one of only three players in NFL history with over 12,000 rushing yards and 6,000 receiving yards. He could beat you running between the tackles or catching passes out of the backfield, and defensive coordinators across the league lost sleep trying to figure out which Faulk to prepare for.
The Hall of Fame
Faulk was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011, cementing his place among the greatest players in NFL history. His induction speech acknowledged the Desire project, the New Orleans streets that shaped him, and the people who believed in him when the world around him offered every reason not to believe in anything.
The Desire Kid
Marshall Faulk's story is a New Orleans story in its purest form — a story about talent emerging from impossible circumstances, about a kid from a housing project who had every reason to fail and chose to be extraordinary instead. The Desire project has been demolished now, replaced by mixed-income housing. But the neighborhood produced one of the greatest athletes New Orleans has ever given to the world, and that's a legacy that no demolition crew can touch.
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