Monday, March 26, 2012

Today in Sports History: Marshall and Iron Mike

Marshall Faulk celebrates a birthday
Iron Mike is sent to the big house

Has there ever been anyone better at running and catching the ball out of the backfield than Marshall Faulk?  I’m not talking about the runner like a Jim Brown, the speed of Marcus Allen, the power of Bo Jackson, or the agility of Walter Payton.  I’m talking about the duplicity of being someone who could run for a hundred yards, receive a hundred yards in a game, or both in the same game.  He is the only person in NFL history to have 12,000 yards rushing and 6,000 yards receiving.  In fact, he nearly had 7,000 receiving yards.  1999 was Faulk’s best year.  He ran for nearly 1,400 and he had over a 1,000 yards receiving.  That was also the year that the St. Louis Rams became the Greatest Show on Turf.  In Marshall’s first year with the Rams, they went 13-3 on the way to winning a Super Bowl.

Before the NFL, Faulk was a household name for college football fans.  Attending San Diego State University, Faulk was an instant success.  September 15, 1991, Faulk was playing in just his second college game.  That day, he shredded the University of Pacific for 386 yards and 7 touchdowns.  That was in just one game!  He would finish his freshmen season with over 1,400 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground and 2 more in the air.  His college success would lead him to be selected by the Indianapolis Colts as the 2nd overall pick in the 1994 draft. 

Marshall Faulk was born on the day, March 26th, 1973 in New Orleans.


It was also on this day 20 years ago, March 26th, 1992, that Mike Tyson was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the rape of beauty contestant Desiree Washington.  The last 4 years of the sentence were suspended, and he would be released March 25, 1995.

The judge who handed down the sentence was Patricia J. Gifford.  She denied a motion by the defense that would allow Tyson to remain free until an appeal.  With that, Tyson hugged Camille Ewald, the woman who helped raise him, and he was taken out of the court by sheriff’s deputies.

The story started the previous July.  Well, I guess the story begins long before that, but this episode began when Tyson invited Washington to his Indianapolis hotel room the night of July 19th, 1991.  Washington testified that Tyson pinned her down on his bed and raped her.  In addition, she claimed that she wept after the ordeal, while Tyson laughed about it.

Tyson’s chauffer testified to Washington’s emotional state after leaving the hotel room, and a doctor, who examined her, said her condition was consistent with rape. 

On the stand, Tyson claimed that the encounter was consensual. 

It took a jury almost 10 hours to convict Tyson of the crime, but did so on February 10th, 1992.   Officially, he was convicted of rape and two counts of criminal deviate conduct.

The following is a link to an article that appeared the following day in the New York Times.

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