ESPN.com - Page2 - <br>You've got to hand it,<br>and MVP, to Faulk

You've got to hand it,
and MVP, to Faulk
By Steve Hirdt
Special to Page 2

Every rock musician would love to play with Carlos Santana. Every actor wants to work with Scorcese.

And if you're someone who tries to make an honest living by carrying, throwing or catching a football, you should be drawn to Mike Martz.

Martz is finishing his first year as head coach of the St. Louis Rams, the team that won the Super Bowl a year ago in Martz's first year as the offensive coordinator. In 32 regular-season games since Martz signed on, the Rams have scored 1,066 points and gained 13,487 yards. Those are large numbers -- more points and more yards than any team has produced in any two-year span in NFL history. He has helped make household names out of Kurt Warner and Az-Zahir Hakim. And he has taken a star player -- Marshall Faulk -- and raised him to Hall-of-Fame material.

If it's possible for anyone to be underrated in today's 24-hours-per-day, nonstop-news-cycle, scores-when-you-want-them-highlights-on-demand, streaming-video-compressed-screen sports world, Faulk fits the bill.

Think of it this way. We all agree that before he got hurt and missed the last six games of the regular season, Ricky Williams was having a pretty good year for the New Orleans Saints. He had five straight 100-yard games in Saints' wins, and amassed 1,000 yards over the first 10 games of the season before going down.

Well, put aside Faulk's contributions as a pass receiver -- certainly a big part of his game. Just consider his numbers when carrying the ball, compared with Williams' numbers for this season:

Faulk vs. Williams rushing comparison
Player	Att.	Yards	Avg.	TD
Marshall Faulk	253	1,359	5.4	18
Ricky Williams	248	1,000	4.0	8

Faulk carried five more times this season than did Williams. With those five extra carries, Faulk produced an additional 359 yards! And that's before you consider what he produced as a receiver!

Faulk has now played 30 regular-season games in Martz's offense. (He missed two games this season, and played on a limited basis in each of his first two games back in the lineup.) In those 30 games, Faulk has gained 2,740 rushing yards and 1,878 receiving yards -- an average of 154 yards from scrimmage per game!

Now consider this: Faulk's total of 4,618 yards from scrimmage in his 30 games with the Rams is the highest total by any player in any 30-game segment in the history of the league! And he holds down first place by more than 300 yards over the former record-holder, Eric Dickerson, who gained 4,309 yards over 30 games with the West Coast Rams from 1983 to 1985.

Now, if Faulk put the ball on the ground every other carry, maybe the impact of all those yards would be diluted. Oh, did I mention that Mr. Faulk has handled the ball 337 times without a fumble this season? And that he scored an NFL-record 26 touchdowns?

MVPs come in all shapes and sizes, and debates on the credentials of various players can go on and on. Just leave me out of any of those debates. My MVP is the only player in the NFL who wears No. 28 and calls Mike Martz "Coach."

Steve Hirdt is the executive vice president of the Elias Sports Bureau.