Markus Dwayne Paul was an American professional football safety in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
17 Facts About Markus Paul
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Markus Paul was selected by the Chicago Bears in the 1989 NFL draft.
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Markus Paul was a strength and conditioning coach with the New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots, New York Jets, New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.
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Markus Paul chose Syracuse because it was the only football program that gave him the option to play as either a quarterback or a defensive back; other Division I programs only recruited him to play on defense.
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Markus Paul would go on to start every game for Syracuse as a free safety during his career.
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Markus Paul set the school records for interceptions in a career and in a game.
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Markus Paul replaced Mark Carrier in a week five match-up against the Green Bay Packers after Carrier suffered a concussion.
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Markus Paul appeared in 8 games, playing as a nickel back on passing downs.
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Markus Paul started in 15 of the 70 career games he played with the Bears and registered 7 interceptions.
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Markus Paul appeared in one game and was declared inactive for the season finale.
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In 1998, Markus Paul rejoined his strength and conditioning coach at Syracuse, Mike Woicik, then serving in the same position with the New Orleans Saints, as the Saints' assistant strength and conditioning coach.
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Markus Paul followed Woicik to the Patriots in 2000, again serving as the assistant strength and conditioning coach under Bill Belichick.
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Markus Paul spent one year under Herman Edwards as the Jets' director of physical development, then a year under Eric Mangini as the team's strength and conditioning coach.
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Markus Paul was then hired by the New York Giants as their assistant strength and conditioning coach and won two more Super Bowls in his 12 year tenure.
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Markus Paul was the assistant strength coach for the Dallas Cowboys in 2018, joining Woicik on an NFL coaching staff.
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Across his coaching career, Markus Paul was involved in five Super Bowl wins.
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On November 24,2020, Markus Paul was rushed to the hospital after suffering a heart attack at the Cowboys' team facility, and died the following day at age 54.