Faulk likely could not have asked for much more during his career. Sure, as the leading rusher in Louisiana State history and the second-leading rusher in SEC annals when he finished his career in 1998, he had designs on being the primary ballcarrier for whichever team drafted him; any player in his situation would have felt the same way.
But he has played in 152 games and counting, now the only player who pre-dates the Bill Belichick era. Faulk enters this season fifth in career rushing in New England’s five-plus decades of existence, has more receptions than any other running back and all but three other pass-catchers, and is the franchise leader in kickoff returns and yardage by a wide margin.
And he has three Super Bowl rings.
He did it by accepting and then embracing the role that was presented to him.
“They said, ‘Look, we’re looking for this type of running back, but we will need this. If you can do this, it would be great,’ ’’ Faulk said of the idea of becoming a third-down specialist. “And it happened that way. It doesn’t happen that way for everyone, but it happened.’’
It was tough at first. The consummate team player, Faulk wants to help in every aspect of the game, and when he was on the bench he felt he wasn’t helping the team.
Yet as the seasons passed, Faulk found ways to help the Patriots, becoming the sort of versatile, reliable performer his friend and mentor Troy Brown was in his years with New England.
The luck of finding the right organization came in handy.
“I bet there have been hundreds, maybe thousands of players who have played, been cut, or quit [over the last 12 years] who have more talent than he does,’’ former LSU coach Gerry DiNardo said yesterday.
DiNardo had just taken over the Tigers when Faulk arrived, a local star who had grown up just 40 miles from campus. He was a father already, with his now-wife Latisha, and he was just different. More mature, more aware of his responsibilities on and off the field.
Faulk started for DiNardo as a true freshman, and the qualities that helped him then have carried him in the dozen years since.
