1997 LSU Kevin Faulk interview (by faulkem13)
Stream Kevin Faulk’s retirement ceremony!
Can’t make it to @thehall? Kevin Faulk’s retirement press conference will be steaming live on patriots.com at 10:30am
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 9, 2012
Three plays that defined Kevin Faulk’s Patriots career
When a player like Kevin Faulk retires it’s hard to go through the stats and numbers to sum up what that player meant to the franchise. You can look through Faulk’s career numbers and maybe say his best seasons were:
- 2003 - 1,351 all purpose yards
- 2008 - 1,161 all purpose yards
But there’s so much that those numbers don’t cover. Faulk was the patriarch of the swiss army knife in the Belichick Pats offense. He could run, he could catch, he could return kicks and punts, and he could even throw a bit (2-for-4, 21 yards career, including one to Tom Brady). On that side of the ball he summed up everything the Patriots ask of their players like no one else.
If you want an accurate depiction of what Faulk meant to the Patriots I think the best way to do so is to look at three specific plays that really sum it up.
Congratulations to Kevin Faulk on a great career. He was never the flashiest but in a gotta have it situation there’s no one else you could count on more.
Kevin Faulk - NFL Running Back (by BillySpikes37)
Faulk, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 2 of the 2010 season, began the 2011 season the physically unable to perform list. He played in seven games last season, but did not play in the AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XLVI.
“Stress, not playing as much as I did before last year, not dressing in the Super Bowl, that weighed into [asking] ‘is it time for you to let it go?’” Faulk explained. “But in [my] mind I still knew that I could play the game of football. Coming back last year, I don’t think it was me physically playing the game, I think it was more so mentally.
“If you’ve been playing the game as long as I’ve been playing, at the same speed, for the New England Patriots, everything has to be perfect, you have to be perfect,” Faulk continued. “And last year didn’t feel that way to me at all, until towards the end of the season, but at that point in time, it was too late, because our team was already developed. So in order to sit back and watch your guys perform, and play each and every week, that was a hard thing for me to swallow.”
Kevin Faulk wants to come back to Patriots
Let me start by saying the above photo is a fan-made photoshop mock up of a red Pats alternate. I’ve always thought it looked pretty cool.
Mary Paoletti of CSNNE reports today that Kevin Faulk is training with a return to the Patriots in mind. Doesn’t mean the Patriots want him back, but he’s now two full years removed from his ACL surgery which is when most guys are finally back to 100% and with such a young backfield it makes some sense that Faulk could fit in. He is 35, but there’s no question his leadership would be a positive.
Let’s put it this way, unless he’s totally lost his speed I’ll take Kevin Faulk back on the Pats in any capacity. Make him an offensive assistant for all I care, but the guy is a Patriots legend and one of the final holdovers from the dynasty days. He’ll make the 2012 Patriots better in one way or another.
FOPPer (Friend of PatsProp) @MellyHocking is right, I don’t give Kevin Faulk enough love here so here’s a nice Faulk highlight film that she sent over to me. To me it seems like a no brainer to PUP Faulk. Give him extra time to heal, keep him around the locker room to mentor the young backs in the running back meetings, and if injuries/performance require it you can bring him on the active roster in October.
Like Bruschi, there will always be a place for Faulk in Foxboro, in one capacity or another.
