Faulk-The Greatest Ram ever to wear the horns!

Hello all, i just wanted to take a moment to recognize Marshall, Marshall, Marshall, who i believe to be the greatest ram ever to wear the horns.

Can anyone else name a rams player who was widely considered at any given time to be the very best football player in the league, regardless of his position?

While i acknowledge that injuries and age have slown marshall down and he is no longer at the supreme peak of his game, his talent is still remarkable. I am amazed at the number of fans that consider him finished as a major force in the nfl. I wish those people would watch a tape of the carolina playoff game before they draw any gloom and doom conclusions about faulk's current abilities.

One of the critical areas in which bulger needs to improve this year is checking off to faulk when his downfield options are not available. If you look at the rams losses since 1999, i think you will find one common element in almost every case- failure to get the ball into faulks hands enough. The loss of hodgins has clearly hurt faulk on the running side, as well as the deterioration in the blocking at the tight end spot. Both are areas that we hope to improve on this year.

While i am sad over the departure this week of captain kurt, i will repeat my mantra regarding the championship season. Taking nothing away from warner who i will always love, if trent green doesnt get hurt in preseason, we might have won it all anyway. We will never know. But if the front office doesnt make one of the most one sided trades in the history of the nfl by trading a #2 and a #5 for faulk, we never win that title.

Kudos to Marshall Faulk, the most talented and skilled player in the history of the organization. Not necessarily the most loveable (although he is my personal favorite), but simply the best. Lets hope that the presence of stephen jackson will prolong faulks career as a ram and allow him, health permitting, to give us another three good years, with appropriately adjusted cap numbers to reflect his changing role. Faulk HAS to go into the Hall as a ram, and his number has to go into the Ring of Fame.

ramming speed to all,

general counsel

[Dr MartinVonNostrand]

Good post.

I agree he has been the best -but-

I will put forward this thought.

maybe he will be hindered because he started his career with the Colts.

I believe that and would like to put forward, my personall hero, Big Dick

Eric Dickerson is was and always will be a Ram


"Why would I be a leg man? I don't need legs. I have legs."

[Ferter]

Nice post GC!


At one time I considered Faulk to be the greatest football player on God's green earth. While I still consider that to be true, for the most part, I think he has slowed some in the past two seasons. He is definately a future Hall of Famer. He has the one MVP season, but I think he could have easily been named the outright or co-MVP, with Warner, after the '01 season. I am anxious to see him in action this coming season, I really hope he still has something left to show Rams fans.

:ramlogo:

[28rulz]

How does starting with the Colts hinder a man? I love the Colts. Not Like the Rams but I like them. A Player is great no matter where he plays, sometimes you just dont get to see them at tops because of surrounding circumstances..you know..? But they are still awesome. Maybe I am not getting it but could you explain?

GC, like the post. Be prejudiced all you want when it comes to Faulk. I still think of him as the best!

[Nick]

Great post, general.

[AvengerRam]

An argument can be made that Faulk's run from 1999-2001 was as good as any three year run by any player ever.

[28rulz]

That arguement can be made and there are many many great players! I think each of us have our pick though..lol..and that pick is the best in our mind..

:tongue: Faulk is mine!

I know there are hundreds of players old and new that will be forever a hero in someones mind. As long as they are football players its all good!

[ForeveRams]

No doubt Marshall Faulk is one of the greatest Rams ever, I put him dead even with only one other lofty player, Kurt Warner. Those two guys put the shine on the Lombardi and I don't think we would have gotten one without either of them playing at the level they did. What a show! The Greatest Show on Turf!! I wish it could have gone on ForeveR!

[jjsram]

Great post, GC. Although I think Faulk is probably the best all-around back ever, I don't think the Rams win SB XXXIV without KW (don't think T. Green has what it takes to win big one, IMO). To me, Warner is the greatest RAM.

[txramsfan]

Greatest Ram? Our most recent greatest Ram? Most recent greatest Ram sure. Jackie Slater played 20 years on the O line. 20. And was considered one of the best at his position.

How about Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen?

Both olsen and slater were at or among the tops of their positions, as was deacon jones. Roman Gabriel won an mvp award and captain kurt won two mvp awards. Bob Waterfield and Van Brocklin were also all time greats that wore the horns. However, I dont believe any of those players were considered the best overall player in the nfl.

The context of my post was not to suggest that faulk was the most identifiable ram ever or the most popular. That criteria would be different to me and longevity of service would play a much greater role. In that context, i would look at olsen, deacon jones, gabriel, tom mack and of course Big Jackie. I believe that isaac bruce is already in that category and if all goes well and he finishes his career as a ram, he may go down as the greatest of them all.

If you combine all the different skills faulk brought to the table, blocking, running, catching, leadership on the field, i think his career is as great as walter paytons and faulk is not done yet.

Rather than used the word greatest ram in general terms (to coin a phrase), i probably should have just said most talented IMO.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[WisRamsFan]

This is a very debatable topic. Faulk may well be the greatest offensive player the RAMS ever had, but I cannot forget Eric Dickerson. Dickerson came into the league with Marino and Elway. Marino was shattering the QB record books while Dickerson was shattering the RB record books.

I agree with Tx about the players he listed. Slater played in the trenches for 20 years and he played it at a high level.

As far as the greatest defensive player, Tx led off with some great names, but you must include Jack Youngblood, and Nolan Cromwell, two cornerstones on defense in the RAMS' first ever SB run. Now if Cromwell would have made the INT then the RAMS would be 2-1 in SB IMO.

It's a tough call all the way around, I do see your point GC, but consider what Faulk had around him compared to Dickerson and I give the nod to Number 29 as the greatest offfensive player for the RAMS. Just my opinion.

[Bob L. Head]

Wow, it would be near impossible for me to pick one - just one - but Marshall was the best of the best at all-around offense. Of course, nobobdy could compare to Nolan Cromwell in my book.

[Ferter]

This is turning into an interesting debate. While I agree it is hard to single out one Ram as the greatest ever, certainly, in my mind, Faulk deserves strong consideration. IMO he is the greatest RB, to wear the horns, and besides KW, he is quite possibly the greatest Rams offensive player.

To me, when Warner and Faulk where clicking they made each other better. However, there are certain games that single Faulk out in my mind. The SB victory, the NFC title game vs. philly and the recent playoff game vs. carolina, to mention a few. Faulk knows this highly complex offense as well as any who have played or coached in it.

ED was a great RB in the power I formation of John Robinson's hey day, as head coach. Robinson's scheme was designed to fit ED's abilities. ED also had a great surrounding offensive line. To me, the knock on ED was his bad habit of putting the ball on the ground. Faulk fumbles so little, that I am confident in saying that he never fumbles.

Another thing that must be considered is the all purpose ability of Faulk and his yards in that category. ED could catch a pass now and then, but he was basically a power runner. I think both backs did well in their respective systems and I am not sure either would flourish if their systems were reversed. Having said that, I guess it is just a matter of opinion as to which system was more exciting and complex.

In the end, I suppose it really doesn't matter, but it is fun to discuss.

No disrespect to dickerson, but as ferter points out the fumbling was an issue at times. I also agree that although the systems they played in were different, faulk is a far superior reciever to dickerson.

However, to me, the biggest difference between faulk and dickerson is in the blocking. Thats one of the huge considerations in evaluating a great runner, which dickerson certainly was, versus an all time great all around FOOTBALL player. Dickerson goes down as one of the great running backs in nfl history. Faulk goes down as one of the all time great players.

On the defensive side, i do apologize for my earlier omission of jack youngblood which borders on criminal on my part. We should also fondly remember crazy legs hirsch, who certainly was an all time great ram and a revolutionary player in his era.

Is there anyone on this board that has ever seen either van brocklin, hirsch or waterfield play?

ramming speed to all

general counsel