Here to balance out the Gholston negativity with my favorite Jet growing up. 228 yards in the snow against Pittsburgh for the best RB in Jets history. Extra special that we got him from the Pats, and you got to love the elbow pads!
The fumble in Denver in the '98 AFC Championship game Just kidding. All time favorite for sure. Used to love watching him up close at Hofstra during camp. Such a fine Back. Up close you could see the subtlety of his game
One of the best RB's the Jets had. He could bull rush and then turn on a dime to elude tacklers. Loved watching him play.
Very efficient workhorse. Great team player, great leader, great receiver out of the backfield. Not a breakaway back...probably his only weakness.
Loved watching every game he played .. he had me spoiled for a while though, as I expected every back that played for us after him to glide through the defensive line almost effortlessly. Forte reminds me of Martin at times ... wish we coulda had the young Forte.
My All-Time favorite Jet. And it's not even close. His greatness on the field was amazing but off the field he was as humble and as classy as they came. Barry Sanders type of humble. Lost his mom at an early age and never lost his burning fire. His passion as a man literally drove him into the HOF. I was blessed enough to see him play live against Tampa Bay in 2000 @ Raymond James. I was 15-16 at the time. I remember he ran for almost 100 yards, caught a lot of passes, scored a TD and also threw the 4th quarter game winning TD to Wayne Chrebet with under a minute to go (it was like a 20 yard TD) and we won by 4. That was the "stars vs. flashlights" game and the look on Keyshawn's face from the TB sidelines was priceless (he did nothing literally all game). And Chrebet catching #28's TD pass was epic. Still to this day my favorite Jets game I've seen in person. Me and my older brother both had our #28 jerseys on in attendance and damn was it awesome. He was a complete back. A 3 down back in which ran with both great patience and field vision, he could catch out of the backfield like a receiver and could also pass protect with any HB out there. They called him Curtis "caught from behind" Martin. But not until he was 25-35 yards downfield. Man do i miss #28. You all ready for his highlights? I know i am (about to watch them now).
He was (and still is) a total class act. He was deceptive, didn't look to be doing much... then you looked and he had a hundred yards. I think 2004 was his most impressive season, he looked quicker then and more explosive for some reason. I've never seen that in-the-snow Pittsburgh game, I'd love to get a download of it but haven't found one yet.
#28 could be really elusive at times (2nd & 3rd levels) but he was never blazing fast with speed nor super quick although his patience behind the L.O.S, ability to follow his lead blockers, top of the line field vision, smooth change of dirrection (effortless), ability to break out into open space, pound for pound toughness and overall durability were all second to none types of HOF worthy attributes of Martin's. His ability to catch out of the backfield along with his pass protection ability made him a true 3 down featured back. I loved watching Martin catch & run off of HB screen plays too. 1998 did happen during the AFC Championship game but #28 rarely ever fumbled the football. A total of 3,518 rush attempts along with 484 receptions meaning he touched the ball exactly 4,002 times, but yet, only had 29 career fumbles. That's an average of only 1 fumble per 138 touches. And that is crazy good. #28 still ranks 4th All-Time in NFL rushing yards behind only Barry Sanders, Walter Payton & Emmitt Smith. Which is great company to be in. Passed up the likes of Jim Brown, O.J Simpson, Eric Dickerson, Franco Harris, John Riggins, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen, Thurman Thomas and Ricky Watters (just to name a few). The likes of L.T, Jerome Bettis, Marshall Faulk, Edgerrin James, Fred Taylor, Warrick Dunn and Corey Dillon weren't able to out run or pass up #28 neither. And i don't think either of Frank Gore or Adrian Peterson will be able to pass #28 for 4th All-Time either. Frank Gore is 1,036 yards behind Martin (now the age of 34) and A.P is currently 2,354 behind Martin (now the age of 32). I wouldn't put it past Gore and Peterson but i have a strong feeling that #28 will be within the top 5 for a very, very long time.
Do I have to create the Freeman McNeil thread or is someone going to do this ? So many great memories of Freeman !!!
I have my own opinions on C. Mart's greatness, but I learned to appreciate him more by seeing him through the eyes of another RB's biggest fan: My best friend is a huge Detroit Lions fan, and one of the biggest Barry Sanders fans in the world. He was also the fullback for our high school team. We didn't watch a ton of ball together, but we made it a point to watch all Jets/Dolphins games and Lions/Vikings games together, and we tried to watch most games where the Jets played NFC North teams or the Lions played AFC East teams. It was interesting to me seeing how much my friend enjoyed watching Curtis run the ball. He would talk about how Martin would make subtle body movements to ensure that he never took the full force of a tackle. He noticed that Martin was almost never tackled by the first defender to get a hand on him, even when that guy was a Ray Lewis, Zach Thomas, Derrick Brooks, or Steve Atwater. He noticed that Martin ALWAYS fell forward, even when he was swarmed by a crowd-- this was a big deal because it basically added about a yard and change to every carry, but it took away the possibility of trying to scramble backwards and take off up field again. He felt that this, not some lack of speed or quickness, was the only reason Curtis would never be a highlight reel guy.
I was 13 and just really getting into football. I saw this guy on tv that to me at the time, embodied a football player. The toughness, the look and the skill. A true total package. By the time the '98 season ended I was all in and have worn green ever since. As i grew older i learned about him off the field, his trials growing up as well as what a class act he's become. I still rock my #28 every Sunday.
Martin was a class act, hard worker, great team mate but he lacked that killer instict you see from guys like Lynch, Peterson, or Thomlinson. Too many times at the goal line he didn't punch it in. Also Martin lacked break away speed as a Jet. The real reason he gained so many yards is the volume of carries and those stupid draw plays on 3rd and 7.
