Bowl champion rusher Faulk retires

Kevin Faulk, a running back who helped the New England Patriots to three Super Bowl triumphs, has retired from the National Football League, the team announced on Tuesday. Faulk, who played in only seven games last year because he was recovering from a torn anterior cruciate knee ligament in 2010, helped New England capture the NFL championship game in 2002, 2004 and 2005. The 36-year-old rusher departs New England as the club's career leader in all-purpose yards with 12,349 and kick return yards with 5,041. "Kevin Faulk helped define the way an entire generation of Patriots fans have come to view and appreciate our brand of football," said Patriots chairman Robert Kraft. "He worked so hard to get better every year. He was always one of the first to arrive in the building and among the last to leave." Faulk, a second-round selection in the 1999 NFL Draft, ran for 3,607 yards and 16 touchdowns and caught 431 passes for 3,701 yards and 15 touchdowns in 161 career games for the Patriots.