Marshall Faulk is going public with his health battle.
The Hall of Fame running back and first-year head coach of Southern University told The Caring Neurologist podcast on Wednesday that he has Parkinson's disease, according to ESPN.
While discussing the illness, Faulk told Dr. Sandeep Thakkar that "I want to help as many people as I can."
Faulk said he has had the illness for 1.5 years. He has "little tremors" and hand rigidity, but says medication has helped him control it.
Faulk played in the NFL from 1994 to 2005 with the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams, winning the Super Bowl in the 1999 season with the Rams and capturing the NFL's MVP award the following year.
The New Orleans native was an assistant for Deion Sanders at Colorado before landing the top job at Southern, located in Baton Rouge, La.
Faulk said he has drawn inspiration from previously being at a dinner with Muhammad Ali, who had Parkinson's.
"So, knowing that, I didn't look at it like if I got a diagnosis, life was going to end," Faulk said. "I treat it like — I've had a bunch of surgeries on my right knee. There's some parts in it that aren't mine, that aren't original. My back, you know, it hurts every once in a while.
"It's something you live with. It's not to where it's a detriment to your livelihood. Now, if you don't take care of it, there's an opportunity for that to be. But you have to take care of it."
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