Law Suits This Marshall Just Fine : Aztecs’ Faulk Files Job Under Good Experience

His eyes scanned the pack and then San Diego State running back Marshall Faulk picked his hole. He angled right, cut left, and then moved straight ahead. He was in the clear, he was . . .

Returning from lunch.

Yes. In the autumn, there are halftimes. In the summer, there are lunch breaks.

Six weeks before Faulk will report to the opening of SDSU practice as an honest-to-goodness Heisman Trophy candidate, he is busy with criminal trials and clients’ files.

He is spending his summer working as a paralegal assistant trainee for Latham and Watkins, a law firm in downtown San Diego.

“I like it; it’s a great job,” Faulk said. “When you play football and the way things work around you . . . football players get in trouble a lot with the law. I figure if I know what’s going on, I won’t get in trouble.

“Sometimes, football players don’t know they’re getting in trouble. They think something is right but it’s wrong.”

Faulk works Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. He wears a tie to work each day. He walks into his own office, past the door with the “Mr. Faulk” nameplate and to a desk with a computer.

SDSU Coach Al Luginbill works with the firm at times, and Faulk was hired for the summer after interviewing--along with several other people--with Jim Dow, the firm’s office manager, and one of the firm’s partners.

“This wasn’t a ‘gimme’ by any means,” Dow said. “It wouldn’t have served any purpose for either us or him if he was not a productive member of the staff.

“He has a very strong work ethic. He’s always on time. He seems to be able to manage a whole bunch of tasks at one time, too. He hasn’t missed a deadline or an assignment.”

As a paralegal assistant, Faulk arranges client files, puts them in chronological order, catalogues them, works on the computers, works in the firm’s library and has even taken notes at a couple of criminal trials.

“It’s worked out super,” Dow said. “He’s such a likable guy. He’s quite bright. He’s got a computer and is fairly good at the word processing system we have. He’s learned very quickly. He’s very technically literate.”

Faulk, who arrived in San Diego last year from New Orleans, said he has never had a job such as this. But, while preparing for his sophomore season with the Aztecs, he said he wanted to stay in San Diego for the summer rather than return to New Orleans.

“I had my mind made up that I wanted to stay, get an apartment and get settled in,” he said. “During the season, we travel so much. And (going home at) Christmas break, I’ve only been here for a few months. I felt I needed some time to settle in.”

Of course, with Faulk’s All-American/Heisman Trophy status, he has been traveling even more than his teammates. During the spring he was in Florida for a Playboy All-American function, New Orleans for a Sugar Bowl dinner and Arizona for a Fiesta Bowl gig.

His schedule has been hectic since Sept. 14, when he set a NCAA single-game rushing record by gaining 386 yards against Pacific. Although that record was later broken, it still stands as a NCAA freshman mark. And, with Faulk leading the nation in rushing (158.8 yards per game) and scoring (15.5 points per game) last season, his place for stardom in the college football world is already reserved.

Last week, he had to go to La Jolla Cove for a photo shoot with Sports Illustrated. Next week, he is scheduled to do a telephone interview for a Norman, Okla., radio show.

Still, Faulk said, he hasn’t gotten too much celebrity treatment in San Diego this summer. Although there was that time two Fridays ago when Faulk went to have a radio put into his car . . .

“I was charging it on my American Express,” Faulk said. “The man was giving me a hard time until he found out who I was. Then he said, ‘I’m a San Diego State fan. I’m sorry.’

“I thought he was going to give me a discount. But no discount.”

Faulk was on the road again this weekend, but this time it was with some friends to Magic Mountain. That’s about the only thing that hasn’t been in Faulk’s schedule this summer: fun. Between work and working out, he said this would be one of the few times that he has a chance to get away and just relax.

He works out on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and sometimes on Saturdays and, after one year of college football, there is one distinct difference between his routine this summer from last summer. It’s a difference that may make opponents even more wary of him.

“This summer I’ve worked out,” he said, grinning. “Last summer, I didn’t.

“You figure you’re not going to play (as a freshman).”

But then, you don’t plan on Heisman talk being the soundtrack for your sophomore season, either.

“Once you learn to deal with it and you have somebody helping you like (SDSU sports information director) John Rosenthal, it’s OK,” Faulk said. “It’s nice.

“I haven’t given it any thought, really. If you and your team do whatever it takes for you to win, then whoever is up front is going to win the Heisman.”

Besides, he hasn’t had time to give it much thought while working in his own version of L.A. Law. He punches the telephone numbers to his voice mail as fluidly as he avoids would-be tacklers.

“It’s different,” Faulk said. “Most of the time, you see a law firm as people dressing up in suits and ties every day, but everyone around here is pretty relaxed. They get their work done and still find a way to be courteous and nice.

“Other firms, I think, sometimes get caught up in their work and sometimes forget.”

Soon, though, it will be time to stop thinking nice. Instead of his clients’ letters, he will be dealing with letters such as USC and BYU and UCLA. The quiet of the firm’s library will be shattered by the applause of crowds.

And the lunch breaks will become halftimes.

“The days go by slow,” Faulk said. “The closer it gets, the slower it gets.

“It’s sort of like the end of school. You get down to the last two weeks and it’s the longest two weeks ever.”