The Official Web Site of the WVU Varsity Club

Profile: Marc Bulger
By John Antonik

Quarterback Marc Bulger has made a career out of defying the odds.

First as a skinny high school quarterback that few schools wanted out of Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, and then later as a sixth-round draft pick from West Virginia University, Bulger has always been underestimated.

Bulger’s unusual journey to the cusp of professional football stardom began as an afterthought.

Although his dad Jim was a backup quarterback at Notre Dame in the early 70s, Marc wasn’t really interested in the sport until his senior year in high school when he threw for more than 1,600 yards to earn a spot on the all-city team.

There were only a few schools interested in him and he accepted Don Nehlen’s scholarship offer to play at West Virginia University. Even though Nehlen knew Bulger was a good kid from a terrific family, he wasn’t entirely sure what kind of quarterback he was getting.

Was he big enough? Was he tough enough? Could his back hold up?

“I’ve always been sort of looked over,” Bulger once said. “When I came to West Virginia, I had a back injury when I started out and they were always bringing in big-name quarterbacks for the job. But I just stayed focused and concentrated on what I was supposed to do.”

One of those big-name quarterbacks was Florida transfer Bobby Sablehaus, who lasted just a couple weeks before a mutual decision was reached by the WVU coaches and Sablehaus that he wasn’t suited for big-time college football.

Bulger spent his first year at West Virginia in 1995 on the scout team, passing against a first-team defense that would become the nation’s best a year later in 1996.

“We try to go all-out against him to try and make him a better player,” said defensive back Mike Logan (now a Pittsburgh Steeler) at the time. “He sometimes gets frustrated because we get the best of him. But I think that’s only going to make him better and it will prepare him for the situation when he has to go into the game.”

That moment came in the waning minutes of a blowout loss to Syracuse in 1996. Subbing for a battered and bruised Chad Johnston, Bulger came in and completed seven-of-15 passes for 115 yards, including a six-yard touchdown pass to tight end Anthony Becht.

A week later at Rutgers, Bulger saw extended playing time and completed nine-of-19 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns.

That was enough for Nehlen to go on and he gave Bulger the starting job to begin the 1997 season.

Bulger made his first collegiate start against Marshall in the ‘97 opener and performed well. Relying on a strong running game anchored by Amos Zereoue, Bulger slipped in 11-of-22 throws for 114 yards and the game-winning touchdown pass to tight end Chad Wable.

He came of age at Miami, completing 17-of-27 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns to lead West Virginia to a 28-17 victory over the Hurricanes in a rare victory at the Orange Bowl.

By the end of his sophomore year, the coaches had grown confident enough in him to attempt 43 passes in an overtime loss to Pitt and 40 passes in a Carquest Bowl loss to Georgia Tech.

In those final two games, Bulger completed 51-of-83 passes for 701 yards and three touchdowns. His 353-yard passing performance against the Yellow Jackets was the most of any quarterback in a bowl game in 1997 and his back-to-back 300-yard games was the first time that happened in school history.

Bulger finished the season completing 192-of-323 passes for 2,465 yards and 14 touchdowns and set the table for what was to become a record-breaking junior season in 1998.

He began the year by passing for 232 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a loss to No. 1-ranked Ohio State. Bulger rebounded to throw for 293 yards and three touchdowns in a win against Maryland, and also reached the 300-yard mark against Navy, Miami and Boston College.

He treated Pitt to a school-record six touchdown passes while completing 26-of-37 passes for 409 yards in a lopsided 52-14 win over the Panthers. A month later in the Insight.com Bowl, Bulger was the game’s offensive MVP hitting 34-of-50 passes for a WVU-record 429 yards. He had four second-half touchdown passes and threw for 309 yards on 10 completions in the fourth quarter alone.

Bulger finished his junior season completing 274-of-419 passes for 3,607 yards and 31 touchdowns – all West Virginia records. He was a second-team all-Big East pick behind first teamer Donovan McNabb of Syracuse.

Marc was expected to exceed that total during his senior year in 1999, but a sprained knee against East Carolina and a broken finger against Syracuse limited him to just eight games. Bulger came back in his final collegiate game against Pitt to complete 20-of-30 passes for 331 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Mountaineers to a surprising 52-21 upset of the bowl-seeking Panthers.

In three career games against Pitt, Bulger completed 72-of-110 passes for 1,088 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Bulger’s season numbers were limited to just 145-of-239 passing for 1,729 yards and 11 touchdowns. On reputation alone, he earned second team all-Big East honors and finished his career with 25 school passing and total offense records. His 8,153 career passing yards and 59 touchdown passes are school records; Bulger ranks fourth in Big East history in passing yardage and fourth in career touchdown passes. His nine 300-yard passing games are a Big East record, as are his 571 career pass attempts and 61.2 percent completion percentage.

His regular season total of 3,178 passing yards in 1998 (Big East does not count bowl games) is second to Boston College quarterback Glenn Foley’s total of 3,397 yards produced in 1993.

Asked if Bulger was a better quarterback than Major Harris, a Heisman Trophy finalist twice in 1988 and 1989, Nehlen almost gave Bulger the nod: “That’s a tough one,” the former coach admitted. “But I will say this: Marc is smarter and he throws the ball with more accuracy than Major. Marc also knows the game better.”

The coach did admit that Bulger was the best passer he ever coached. That includes Oliver Luck and Jeff Hostetler, two long-time NFL quarterbacks.

“Our offense was much more sophisticated when Marc played,” Nehlen noted. “When we had those two, we threw play-action passes and ran the football.

“With Marc,” he continued, “we had a package of two runs and a pass. I had no idea if we were going to run inside, outside or throw the ball on any of those plays. It was up to Marc to decide.”

Bulger’s eye-opening production and a laser-beam-like release helped him get invited to the Hula Bowl, where he completed four-of-six passes for 112 yards and a touchdown to help the North tie the South, 28-28.

Although standing 6-foot-3, Bulger’s slight build (210 pounds) didn’t attract a lot of attention from NFL scouts. One NFL draft expert rated Bulger chances of making an NFL team at “50-50.”

He wasn’t drafted until the sixth round by the New Orleans Saints (168^th overall). Quarterbacks Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redmond and Tee Martin were picked ahead of him.

“You wonder if your name is ever going to be called,” said Bulger. “And the longer you wait, the tougher it gets.”

Bulger’s career with the Saints last roughly a month before he was waived. He signed with the Atlanta Falcons and was placed on their practice squad. He spent only two weeks with them before being released.

Bulger was running out of options when St. Louis called. He was placed on the Rams practice roster for the final week of the 2000 campaign and made the team as the third quarterback for the 2001 season. He spent the entire year on the bench and didn’t throw a single pass.

With all-pro Kurt Warner as the starter, it didn’t look like Bulger was going to see the field any time soon. He began the 2002 season as the team’s No. 3 quarterback behind Warner and Jamie Martin, but was hastily thrust into a starting role against Oakland when both Warner and Martin were sidelined with injuries.

Bulger played well against the Raiders, completing 14-of-21 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns to lead the winless Rams to a 28-13 victory over the Raiders.

Bulger’s next start against Seattle led to another Ram victory and it was his fourth-quarter passing at Arizona that helped St. Louis to a 27-14 victory over the Cardinals.

Against San Diego, Bulger completed 36-of-48 passes for 453 yards and four touchdowns to lead St. Louis to its fourth-straight win. His 36 completions were a club record and his 453 yards passing were the fourth-most in franchise history.

The quarterback completed his backup role with a 21-of-35, 347-yard, two-touchdown performance in a 21-16 win against Chicago on Monday night. Bulger’s five-game passing total of 1,496 yards is the best start of any quarterback in NFL history.

Said ABC announcer John Madden during the game: “This kid can throw any pass.”

Lofty praise also came from analysts at other networks. The unthinkable was happening: a quarterback controversy was brewing in St. Louis.

To his credit, Bulger downplayed his role in it saying the team was Warner’s. That made things much easier for St. Louis coach Mike Martz.

Said Martz: “Marc feels he can start right now and he deserves to start. But the comments he’s made about Kurt, you’ve got to realize how much I appreciate that because it helps me as a head coach. This could be a very substantial problem. When you’ve got a guy that’s got great talent, and is playing so well he could make an issue. He’s got a right to.”

Perhaps the real issue is that Warner isn’t the same quarterback who won back-to-back MVP awards. Before his first injury, Warner threw eight interceptions and one touchdown pass in losses to Denver, New York, Tampa Bay and Dallas.

He returned to the field against Washington in a game St. Louis had to win to remain in the hunt for the playoffs. The Rams lost 20-17 and dropped their next two to Philadelphia and Kansas City.

A full blown controversy was avoided when Bulger was forced to the sidelines by a finger injury sustained in the Chicago win.

Warner is back on the bench now with a broken wrist. Bulger, his finger now mended, gets a chance to quarterback the team for the remainder of the 2002 season.

Warner, a veteran of the Arena Football League, took his setback in stride: “We’re obviously in this together,” Warner said. “And we’re friends first. There’s no animosity. I’m not worried that he’s going to play well. I want him to play well. That’s what this is all about.”

If Bulger continues to do well it could force St. Louis to make a difficult decision. The attitude of management toward Warner has changed during Bulger’s impressive five-week run and his contract status gives St. Louis some flexibility to shop Warner and free up some salary cap room.

Bulger is an exclusive rights free agent this spring, meaning the Rams can retain him with a minimum qualifying offer of just $375,000. The Rams owe Warner a $6 million signing bonus and a regular salary of $5.3 million for the 2003 season.

Because of this the unthinkable in St. Louis just might happen. And if that does, once again Marc Bulger will have defied the odds.

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