Rams sign Faulk to seven-year extension

MACOMB, Ill. -- Marshall Faulk signed a seven-year contract with the St. Louis Rams on Monday, a deal that will enable the running back to finish his career with the team.

Coach Mike Martz announced the signing after the second of two practices. Earlier this week, he named Faulk team captain.

"We want to make sure Marshall finishes his career as a Ram," Martz said. "The impact he's had not just on this team but this entire organization is pretty extreme."

Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

"I just knew I wanted to be here," Faulk said.

Faulk, 29, became the first player in NFL history with four straight 2,000-yard seasons of rushing and receiving last year, despite missing two games with a bruised knee. He was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year after being selected league MVP after the 2000 season.

He finished with 1,382 yards rushing, a 5.3-yard average, with 12 touchdowns, and had a team-leading 83 receptions, 9.2-yard average, with nine touchdowns.

"Marshall will go from the Rams to Canton," said team president Jay Zygmunt, referring to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Zygmunt negotiated the deal.

Faulk likes hearing that kind of talk, especially a day after fellow St. Louis icon Ozzie Smith was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame.

"I'd lie and say I don't think about it every once in a while, with listening to Ozzie speak and the things that he said," Faulk said. "It would be a great honor. If the next team I join is that team, that would be great."

Zygmunt said he and Faulk's agent, Rocky Arceneaux of St. Louis, had been talking about a new deal since the end of last season.

"It was clear from both sides that we wanted him to be here and he wanted to be here," Zygmunt said. "In all honesty, it just wasn't that difficult."

The Rams' acquisition of Faulk in 1999 at a cheap price -- second- and fifth-round draft picks to the Indianapolis Colts -- propelled them to a Super Bowl victory that year. Faulk helped the team reach the Super Bowl for the second time in three years last season.

In three seasons with the Rams, Faulk has scored a team-record 59 touchdowns in 44 regular-season games, along with 6,767 yards rushing and receiving. Since joining the Rams he has four four-touchdown games and four three-touchdown games.

The 5-foot-10, 211-pound Faulk has missed two games each of the last two seasons due to knee injuries, but Martz said he's looked better than ever in training camp. Martz said Faulk can play "as long as he wants."

"Seriously," Martz said. "He knows his body well enough to know how much of a rest he needs and how much work he needs to get himself ready to play."

Faulk said he hasn't thought about retirement. He feels better this year, about 90-95 percent healthy, than in previous seasons.

"If I can play at the level I'm playing, I'm going to play as long as I can," he said.

Martz said Faulk can be team captain for as long as he wants. He said Faulk has been the "unspoken leader" of the team for a while.

"If you can have an overall team captain, really it's someone everybody on that team is going to have great respect and admiration for, and hold in the highest esteem," Martz said. "I think that spells it out for him."