Curtis Martin: Rushing Into Canton
Versatile. Consistent. Durable. These are some of the words that best describe Curtis Martin.
Martin was not the fastest running back nor was he the most powerful, but he was the perfect blend of both. Martin used his vision and hit the hole with speed and power making him a tough runner to stop.
Drafted in the third round out of Pitt in 1996, Curtis Martin was a star right out of the gate for the Patriots. Martin rushed for nearly 1,500 yards, scored 14 touchdowns and made the Pro Bowl, all in his rookie year.
His success with the Pats continued the following two seasons as he rushed for over 1,000 yards in each season, scored 18 touchdowns, and helped lead the Pats to Superbowl XXXI.
In the 1997 offseason, the rival New York Jets snagged Curtis Martin from free agency, signing him to a six year, $36 million contract. But that wasn’t the only price the Jets had to pay. They also had to give the Pats first and third round draft picks as compensation, but the Jets would later find out it was well worth the price.
Martin had an instant impact on his new team. In his first season with the Jets, he rushed for over 1,200 yards and helped lead them to the AFC championship.
Martin continued to be a huge success for the Jets helping them get to two more playoff appearances and rushed for six more 1,000 yard seasons.
In Martin’s seventh season with the Jets, he rushed for 1,697 rushing yards, edging out Shaun Alexander for the rushing title by one yard. In that season he also helped lead the Jets to a 10-6 record and the divisional championship game against the Steelers, which the Jets lost mainly due to their former kicker, Doug Brien.
Martin’s last season with the Jets was in 2005 when he rushed for 735 yards and missed four games due to injury. However, during Curtis Martins’ eight year career with the Jets he only missed one other game out of 128 total and led the Jets to four playoff appearances in eight seasons. He eventually retired in 2007.
Martin is one of the most consistent running backs in history being the only player to rush for 1,000 yards in 11 straight seasons. During his career, Martin made five pro bowls and two all pro teams. He finished his career 12th all-time in rushing touchdowns with 90 total, seventh all-time in yards from scrimmage, with over 17,o00, and third all-time in rushing attempts with 3,518 carries.
Martin even finished his career with a perfect passer rating having thrown two passes, both for touchdowns. One of those passes helped the Jets get a victory and Wayne Cherebet get revenge in the infamous “Flashlight Game”.
But to me the most important stat: Martin is fourth all time in rushing yards with 14,101 yards. The only three players to have rushed for more yards are Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders, arguably the best three running backs of all time. Notable Hall of Famers behind Martin in rushing yards are Eric Dickerson, Jim Brown, and Tony Dorsett.
If that does not say Hall of Famer, I don’t know what does.
-Cole
It’s hard to believe that Martin is fourth all-time in rushing. He did it so quietly. He didn’t win a ton of playoff games in his career though. So to me, he’s a lot more like Tim Brown or Andre Reed….guys with great stats. In fact, those guys both won more games and contributed to more playoff teams than Martin. I don’t think Martin is a hall of famer. I think he is a very good player with hall of fame type numbers, but he doesn’t pass the simple eyeball test.
Mr. Thomas is mistaken. You don’t have to be flashy to go in the Hall of Fame. Some of the greatest players of all time were on teams that were just dreadful.
Hall of Fame is not for team achievements, but for individual recognition. I get disgusted when people say phrases like, “He didn’t win a ton of playof games in his career though.”
No one player can win playoff games or championships by himself. They all need help. That’s why an entire team gets rings and not just these few guys or those few guys.
That guy’s logic could be applied to Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson, and Earl Campbell.
Curtis Martin is a Hall of Famer. No question about it in my mind.
There is absolutely no question that C-Mart belongs in the hall. The year he is elligble, he will get in, unless there is something seriously wrong with the voters. The posts that came before mine provide the well-thought out and overall excellent logic that make the case. I hesitate to add that he was a remarkable team player and was rewarded by a few team MVP, which is also the mark of a hall of famer.
Oh, and no one has rushed for more consecutive 1,000 yard seasons than Curtis.