Curtis Martin: Hall of Famer?

[Little Jerry Lawler]

When listing the greatest runningbacks in NFL history, you come up with Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, and others. One name that doesn't seem to come up is Curtis Martin. He has the 4th most rushing yards in NFL history and is 3rd in career rushing attempts. However, his name rarely comes up when talking about Canton so how does his career stack up?

He has five Pro Bowl appearances yet he wasn't in the top three for MVP voting in any of his eleven seasons. He wasn't regarded as the best runningback during his career as those honors went to Terrell Davis, Barry Sanders, LaDanian Tomlinson, or Marshall Faulk. To me he was in the NFL like Rafael Palmeiro was in MLB. Put up great numbers but never had any real impact on his sport. I'm on the fence on whether he should be a HOF or not but time will tell.

So is Curtis Martin a Hall of Famer or will he be left on the outside looking in?

 

[TwistofRKO]

To me, I'm not sure he gets in for a while. Down the line I believe he will, and should. He just fails to pass the name test at first sound, and wasn't flashy. He has no defining moments, or at least nothing that everyone can spout out at a moment's notice. Very good players, would the rushing title just a few years back, but I don't think he gets voted in immediately.

 

[Baller]

I have to agree with VT RKO because he isn't the big name that gets in right away. However he does have the stats to get into Canton. I say maybe in his 4th or 5th try and its a down year for the Hall he can get in.

 

[Big Sexy]

Curtis Martin is definitely a hall of famer. He won't be a first ballot guy, but the numbers speak for themselves. 3rd in career rushing attempts, 4th in career rushing yards, and he was the oldest running back to ever win a rushing title.

He wasn't the flashiest or the most talented guy, but he was always consistent. He rushed for over 1,000 yards in 10 of his 11 NFL seasons, with his last season being the only year he didn't. He played in all 16 games in 8 of his 11 seasons and he never missed any more then 4 games in a given season.

I see him being a lot like Art Monk. Both guys put up great career numbers, but never did anything overly spectacular in their careers. Martin will get in, but it will probably take a few years.

 

[BooCocky]

The problem with Curtis is he played in an era when there were backs who were simply better. He played with Emmit Smith, and he also played in the same league with Barry Sanders. Martin was never the flashiest of players but he was a solid running back. Anyone who runs for that many yards is a special back. It shows longevity, and he never really lost a step as he got older. So I do believe he is a HOF running back. First ballot hall of famer? Absolutely not. But a man with his numbers deserve to have a head in Canton.

But I will say this, if he doesn't get in, The Bus wont get in either, and I believe Jerome deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

 

[TwistofRKO]

The thing that helps Bettis is that he went out with a high stock. It's not limited to winning the Super Bowl, but his popularity absolutely sky-rocketed in 2004, after almost disappearing. Curtis Martin won the rushing title, but more attention was still focused on Shaun Alexander that year.

I believe Martin is superior to Bettis, but I think Bettis has more memorable moments than Martin does. Whether right or not, you have to think like the voters.

 

[Big Sexy]

Jerome Bettis is much more of a toss up then Martin. With Martin it's not a matter of if, but when. Bettis I'm not so sure about. In his 13 seasons Bettis only averaged over 4 yards per carry, 4 times. He had a great stretch numbers wise, in his career with his first 6 seasons in Pittsburgh. He also has a Super Bowl ring. However, he was just a backup that season. I still think Bettis will get in as well but it's not a guarantee and it definitely won't happen right away.

 

[TwistofRKO]

I'm not disagreeing on whether or not he SHOULD be in over Martin, or at all, I'm trying to put on the voter's glasses and trying to look at it they way they do.

I just think Bettis passes the name test to more people than Curtis Martin.

 

[BooCocky]

You're looking Jerome all wrong. He and Martin are two completely different backs. Jerome was more of a pound it up the middle guy while Curtis wasn't. Not saying Curtis wouldn't go up the middle, it just wasn't his cup of tea.

Jerome averaged 3.9 yards per carry in his entire career, had 94 touchdowns, he has one more pro bowl selection, one more all pro team, both were rookie of the years in 1993 and 94.

Honestly, one can't go in without the other because there numbers were so close. But if I wanted a running back to milk the clock Jerome is my guy. You can have 9 in the box and he'd still fight for nearly four yards. Curtis, not so much. This is another debate for another topic, but like I just said, one can't be a hall of famer if you do not include the other.

Also, the way Jerome went out gives him the nod. It was a name in everyone's house, so that has to hold some weight when looking at who actually votes for the Hall of Fame.

Anyways, Big Sexy, did you really use the 4 ypc argument? Curtis' ypc average is exactly 4.0 according to pro-football reference.com Jerome's is 3.9. Not a big difference at all.

 

[Theo Mays]

I love Curtis Martin, he is one of my favorite RB to ever play the game. The guy is a class act and he deserves to be in the hall of fame and he should get in. I honestly think he is a 1st/2nd ballot kind of guy, but I'm bias towards how big a fan I am of his. I think he is a better RB than Jerome Bettis, but I think the Bus is also a HOF. Both were excellent RB.

 

[Big Sexy]

Anyways, Big Sexy, did you really use the 4 ypc argument? Curtis' ypc average is exactly 4.0 according to pro-football reference.com Jerome's is 3.9. Not a big difference at all.

Yes but Curtis Martin was consistently putting up great numbers. For his first 10 seasons he put up over 1000 yards every year. He had double digit rushing touchdowns 4 times and he averaged at least 4 yards per carry in 7 of those 10 seasons.

If you take Bettis's first 10 or 11 seasons which were the only ones where he was a starter he only averaged over 4 yards per carry 4 times and had double digit rushing touchdowns only twice. Bettis just wasn't as consistent. He had a few years where he was well over 4 yards per carry and then he had a few seasons where he averaged 3.2 or 3.3 yards per carry.

In the end it pretty much evened out, but with Curtis Martin you knew what you were going to get every season. With the Bus it was sometimes hit or miss.

 

[Baller]

Curtis Martin was one of the most consistent running backs in the NFL. Just because he wasnt one of those guys who was media-happy, and had to be an OchoCinco, Brandon Marshall, Terrell Owens, doesnt mean he isnt great. He is a hall of famer, and has to stats to prove it.

 

[X]

Curtis Martin should certainly be in the Hall of Fame in my opinion. I had the pleasure to see him play for the Patriots for his first few seasons, and in those 3 seasons alone he absolutely dominated in the running game and set himself high atop almost every single Patriots rushing records list, in only 3 seasons. I had the honor to even meet him once when I was a kid at training camp that they used to hold every summer at Bryant College (only about 25 or so minutes from my house), even had him sign my Patriots football (though at the time I was about 10,000 times more excited about my Terry Glenn autograph, and even more so about my Drew Bledsoe autograph. Bledsoe was God to me as a kid). Personally I think anyone with 100 rushing TDs should be a lock for the Hall of Fame. It should be one of those numbers, like 500 HRs in baseball, that's used as a benchmark to determine who deserves to be in the HOF. I may have despised Martin for joining with the Jets when Parcells and the rest of his lackeys tucked their tails between their legs and ran out of town with some of our best players, but his greatness can't be denied.

Now...when are we gonna start talkin' about that Drew Bledsoe For Hall of Fame campaign?!

EDIT: Brian has just informed me that Martin has 90 rushing TDs, and 12 receiving. My mistake, thanks for bringing that up Brian. 90 rushing TDs is still damned impressive