Marc Bulger
| primarytext | |
|---|---|
| secondarytext | |
| currentteam | St. Louis Rams |
| image | Replace this image male.svg | width= |
| Caption | |
| country | USA |
| currentnumber | 10 |
| currentposition | Quarterback |
| birthdate | |
| birthplace | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | heightft=6 | heightin=3 |
| weight | 212 |
| debutyear | 2002 |
| debutteam | St.
Louis Rams |
| highlights |
* 2x [[Pro Bowl]] selection ([[2004 Pro Bowl|2003]], [[2007 Pro Bowl|2006]])
* 2004 [[Pro Bowl MVP]]
|college=[[West Virginia Mountaineers football|West Virginia]]
|draftyear=2000
|draftround=6
|draftpick=168
|pastteams=
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| nfl | BUL162264 |
High school & college :
Bulger attended Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh and was a standout in football, basketball, baseball, and golf. In football, he passed for 1662 yards as a senior and led Pennsylvania past Ohio in the annual "Big 33" All-Star game in 1995.Bulger, after playing high school in Pittsburgh, wasn't even looked at by the Big East's Pittsburgh Panthers. Bulger got payback on the Panthers when he was recruited by the West Virginia Mountaineers, and passed for over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns against them in three seasons.
In his sophomore season, 1997, Bulger achieved national status. He passed for 2,465 yards with 14 TDs, while rushing for two touchdowns as well. The following season, 1998, Bulger set a school record when he passed for 3,607 yards and 31 TDs in the season. The passing totals broke records for most total offense in a season, passing yards in a season, pass completions in a season (247), pass attempts in a season (417), and passing touchdowns. Bulger also won the MVP honor in the 1998 Insight.com Bowl.
Bulger set over 30 passing records at West Virginia University, including career passing yardage with 8,153 yards and career touchdown passes with 59.
NFL career :
Bulger was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth round (168th overall) of the 2000 NFL draft. Bulger attended the Saints' training camp in 2000, and spent a couple weeks on the Atlanta Falcons and St. Louis Rams practice squads. He was signed by the St. Louis Rams on January 12, 2001.Bulger did not see action in any contests during his first season with the Rams; he was inactive as the third quarterback for 16 regular season games and all three postseason contests. In 2002, after the Rams started 0-5, Bulger filled in for an injured Jamie Martin, who had been filling in for the injured Kurt Warner, and finished the season with a 6-0 record in games that he both started and finished, but Bulger was injured early in a game against the Seattle Seahawks and the Rams ended the season at 7-9. In 2003, Bulger helped lead the Rams to a regular-season record of 12-4 and the division championship; the Rams lost to the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the playoffs after having earned a bye in the first round. In June of 2004, Warner was released and Bulger was named the Rams' starting quarterback. The Rams signed Bulger to a four-year $19.1 million contract. Bulger was also MVP of the 2004 Pro Bowl. After the 2006 season, Bulger was selected as a reserve the Pro Bowl, after recording an NFL-best 8 games with a quarterback passing rating of more than 100. It marked the second time that he was voted to the NFL's version of an "All-Star" game. Later that offseason, Bulger signed a six year contract extension with the Rams, worth over sixty million dollars.
He was one of the quarterbacks selected ahead of Tom Brady in the 2000 NFL Draft. Both QBs were picked in the sixth round.
Among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts, his 63.9 career completion percentage ranks sixth highest all-time, behind Kurt Warner, Chad Pennington, Steve Young, Peyton Manning, and Daunte Culpepper, through Week 4 of the 2007 NFL season.
Bulger comes from an impressive family of athletes. His father, Jim, was quarterback for Notre Dame from 1970 to 1973. Marcs brother Jim golfed for the Fighting Irish, sister Kate was drafted into the WNBA, and youngest sister Meg is a standout guard for West Virginia University.
On September 10, 2006 in a game against the Denver Broncos, Marc Bulger reached 1,000 completions faster than any quarterback in NFL history. Bulger got there in 45 games, two games sooner than ex-Rams QB Kurt Warner. Drew Bledsoe and Peyton Manning needed 48 games, and it took Dan Marino 49.
Career stats :
| Year | Team | G-S | Passing Att.-Comp. | Yards | Pct. | TD | Int. | Long | Sacks-Lost | Pass Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | St. Louis | 0-0 | ||||||||
| 2002 | St. Louis | 7-7 | 138-214 | 1,826 | 64.5 | 14 | 6 | 58 | 12-102 | 101.5 |
| 2003 | St. Louis | 15-15 | 336-532 | 3,845 | 63.2 | 22 | 22 | 45 | 37-288 | 81.4 |
| 2004 | St. Louis | 14-14 | 321-485 | 3,964 | 66.2 | 21 | 14 | 56 | 41-302 | 93.7 |
| 2005 | St. Louis | 8-8 | 192-287 | 2,297 | 66.9 | 14 | 9 | 57t | 26-188 | 94.4 |
| 2006 | St. Louis | 16-16 | 370-588 | 4,301 | 62.9 | 24 | 8 | 67t | 49-366 | 92.9 |
| 2007 | St. Louis | 11-11 | 208-353 | 2,216 | 58.9 | 10 | 13 | 40 | 34-248 | 71.4 |
| TOTALS | 71-71 | 1,565-2,459 | 18,449 | 63.6 | 105 | 72 | 67t | 199-1,494 | 88.4 |