I'd also like to add a few more things (facts). Not only was #28 great, but Curtis Martin was great throughout the course of his entire career (which makes his All-Time greatness, even greater). Let's not forget that he had over 260+ carries during his first 10 seasons (tied with Walter Payton for second most All-Time). His off the field work ethic and drive was truly second to none (a part of his greatness). Still to this day only Curtis Martin, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith have been able to post 10 consecutive seasons of over 1,000+ yards rushing. He was one of a kind. And as we all know most NFL HB's begin to break down and fall off a cliff toward the end of their careers. With that many carries over the years, one would think that Martin would have fallen off a cliff too. But Curtis Martin wasn't like most other backs. He was different. And he continued to rush for over 1,000 yards per season all the way up until the age of 31. For crying out loud we all seen the man put up 1,697 rushing yards back in 2004 (during his 10th year in the league). He then became the oldest back in NFL history to lead the league in rushing at 31. At the time Martin was also just 1 of 11 RB's to rush for over 1,400 yards as a rookie. He then became 1 of just 4 RB's (along with Walter Payton, Thomas Jones and Tiki Barber) to rush for over 1,400 yards at the age of 31. But he was the only RB in NFL history to pull off both. Maybe you've forgotten Martin's greatness over the years NC but i haven't (and never will). And also how many NFL RB's have ever been truly great while with and for two different NFL teams? Because #28 played H.O.F Football for both N.E & N.Y. ■ It's truly ashame that during the 2005 season Martin left the game for good with a career ending injury. Because after 10 consecutive seasons of 1,000+ rush yards Curtis Martin was still playing dominant football ala led the league in rushing the year before of 2004 (1,697 yards) and was on pace to pass both of Barry Sanders and Walter Payton for #2 All-Time and would've also challenged Emmitt Smith for #1 All-Time because prior to 2005's career ending injury... #28 was showing no signs of wear and tear or breaking down. None. Absolutely none whatsoever. I respect #28's greatness. And no, I'm not downing nor taking away from other All-Time greats that's played this game but while Martin was stuck behind an aging Vinny and stacked up against opposing front 7's with 8 in the box due to Pennington's weak arm (noodle arm) the likes of Jerry Rice always had All-Time great QB's in Steve Young & Joe Montana, Emmitt Smith was surrounded by the likes of HOF greats in Troy Aikman at QB and Michael Irvin at WR all while running behind a monster O-Line, Thurman Thomas was blessed with two All-Time greats @ QB & WR in Jim Kelly & Andre Reed, Marshall Faulk was surrounded behind sick talent in Kurt Warner @ QB & 2 explosive WR's in Torry Holt & Isaac Bruce all while L.T of the Chargers was surrounded by Philip Rivers and a future HOF TE in Antonio Gates. I'm sorry but what #28 was able to do (while under some pretty shitty offensive situations) was remarkable when thinking back. He was an amazimg offensive weapon. Which is why he's still rated top 4 in rushing yards, top 8 in yards from the L.O.S & top 23 in offensive TD's. Amomgst all players who've ever lived to play the game too.
"Your era." ROFLMAO You need to get over yourself. Whatever. I won't waste any more of my time or energy with you. You're not worth it.
Only Jet I love more than Revis. Martin had the best running style I've ever seen. Played the game hard and the right way. Both cliches but he lived that. Also stealing him from the evil empire is great.
Ball Carrier ability is one of the most important traits of a great player. The ability to protect the football (see Tiki Barber). So for me. To see the same poster who I've seen claim that Freeman McNeil is the best Jets RB of All-Time or was better than what Curtis Martin was. And then to see that same exact poster begin to (and continuously) harp all over Curtis Martin's ''Fumble Problems'' within seperare paragraphs and/or throughout a multitude of post(s). It bothers me. It's just a little weird to me. Because it reminds me of agenda driven favoritism. And it's hypocritical to me at the same time. But i have no problem with following NC's lead and talking fumbles and ball security issues (when describing #28's overall greatness). Regular Season + Postseason (combined): □ McNeil: 1,948 career rush attempts + 312 career pass receptions = 2,260 total career offensive touches. 48 Career Fumbles. 1 fumble per every 47.0 touches. ■ Martin: 3,700 career rush attempts + 521 career pass recepfions = 4,221 total career offensive touches. 32 Career Fumbles. 1 fumble per 131.9 touches. So as you can see (with simple math) #28 was a much greater ball carrier. Protected our football so much better. But yet there's no mention of this as NCJetsFan harps all over Curtis Martin "FUMBLES"? McNeil had 1,961 fewer touches than that of Martin but yet McNeil still had 16 more fumbles than that of Martin. One fumble per every 131.9 touches (Martin) vs. one fumble per every 47.0 touches (McNeil) is a gigantic difference. It's a differental of 84.9 to be exact. Which is astronomical when speaking fumble and football numbers. He's also harped all over Martin due to two playoff fumbles @ Denver back in 1998 but yet no mention of McNeil's 2 playoff fumbles against Oakland back in 1982? Martin: • 10 Career Postseason Games. • 219 Career Playoff Touches. • 3 Career Postseason Fumbles. • 1 Fumble Per Every 73.0 Playoff Touches. McNeil: • 8 Career Postseason Games. • 167 Career Playoff Touches. • 3 Career Postseason Fumbles. • 1 Fumble Per Every 55.6 Playoff Touches. So please. For crying out loud. Never again mention or harp all over Curtis Martin "Fumbles" without also ripping Freeman McNeil's ball carrying ability to pieces at the same time. Martin touched the rock over 4,200 times but yet fans will harp over 3-5 career NFL fumbles? Congrats. But then to also claim that McNeil was a better overall back at the same time? That's just pretty funny to me. I'd hate to see what a fan like NC would say about Martin if Curtis Martin himself fumbled at a clip of 1 fumble per every 47.0 touches such as McNeil. Instead of 1 fumble per every 131.9 touches such as Martin. #28 was almost 3x the ball carrier that McNeil was.
There are not many HOF HB's that you can say were greatness for two different NFL organizations. #28 Curtis Martin was truly one of them. As N.Y Jet fans we like to ignore the fact how #28 was once a N.E Patriot and we seem to forget how great and dominant he actually was while with N.E. However. It's not to be forgotten. And i haven't. During his 3 year career he was one of the greatest young RB's to ever do it ala combining for 3,799 rushing yards (4.0 average yards per carry) and 32 rushing TD's to go along with 117 receptions for 890 receiving yards and 5 TD receptions. During his 3 year N.E career (3 games missed) a young Martin combined for 4,689 total yards from scrimmage and 37 TD's. That's an average of 1,563 total offensive yards and 12.3 TD's per season during his 1st 3 seasons of NFL play. That is down right domimant. During his NE teams one & only 1996 SB run (loss vs. GB) and during those 3 postseason games he combined for 267 rush yards (average of 5.4 yards per carry) and 5 rushing TD's along with 8 receptions for 55 receiving yards. Not to mention his pass protection ability as an HB and/or #28's All-Time greatness ball carrier ability while protecting the football. There's a reason why #28 ranks top 10 (8th All-Time) in NFL offensive yards from the line of scrimmage amongst all former & current NFL HB's, FB's, TE's & WR's. Only behind the likes of Marcus Allen, Barry Sanders, LaDainian Tomlinson, Marshall Faulk, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith & Jerry Rice and it had nothing to do with "3rd down draw plays" and everything to do with pure football greatness. One of the greatest offensive NFL weapons of All-Time. And amongst 5 of the top 7 All-Time leaders in total yards from the L.O.S ahead of #28, one could even argue that Curtis Martin's career was surrounded by the least amount of (team) offensive talent surrounding himself when compared to the likes of LaDainian Tomlinson, Marshall Faulk, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith & Jerry Rice ala making the job harder/more difficult on the likes of Curtis Martin & especially Barry Sanders as their offenses #1 go-to weapon. Just another aspect in which certain fans forget to mention and completely fail to bring up when speaking on behalf of Curtis Martin's All-Time greatness as an NFL offensive HOF force. But i won't.
When Rex used to have that stupid Play Like a Jet phrase, I always took it to mean play like Curtis Martin, which would be a championship team if there were 53 Curtis Martins. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Curtis Martin literally has the best fumble rate of all time.. He averaged 1 fumble every 121 carries. No one else is even close. To put it in perspective, Jim Brown fumbled 1 in every 41 carries, Walter Payton 1 in every 44 carries. lol Is someone actually stating he had fumble issues? He is a top 10 RB of all time. As complete and versatile a player there ever was at the position. Everyone knew the offense was going through him, and it still didn't matter. If his career wasn't abruptly cut short, I think he'd have broken the all time rushing record.
Curtis Martin is exactly what that phrase meant, and I don't think it was stupid at all. I'd like this team to find some more character guys, and see more pride taken representing the green and white.
Great player, consummate professional. I remember a reporter asking him about his opinion on who might win the NFC. His reply was "I can't say. I don't really follow pro football". I laughed out loud. May be the best player to play fir the Jets or at least he's in the conversation Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yea. Martin actually pointed out during his legendary HOF speech that he doesn't even like football, and that he only picked it up to stay out of trouble. During his HOF speech he also stated that he could count on a single hand how many football games he's watched from start to finish. Speaking of his HOF speech. It's the best one I've ever seen or ever heard to date. He was truthful. And honest. And spoke from his heart. He talked about abuse to his mom in which he seen from a small child. Very emotional a must watch. He was greatness on the field and even greater off the field. A real football legend and an even better person. I'm proud to say that #28 was and is still my #1 All-Time favorite Jet. By far too. And it's not even close. As classy as they've ever came. My top 100 list. Top 50. Top 25. Top 10. Top 5. Top 3. Top 2 etc it doesn't matter; #28 is #1 on each and every one of my All-Time favorite list(s).
If you like Martin that's fine. I don't hate him and I thought he was a good back but don't ignore facts either. Martin was not a goal line threat by any means and the Jets ran the ball a a ton not because Martin was money, it was because except for a year of VT, we has awful QB production.
Thank you. You just said it best. Curtis Martin was stuck behind awful QB play. Due to a lack of a strong armed QB opposing defenses would stack 8 men in the box. But yet #28 still ranks 4th in All-Time rushing & 8th All-Time in Yards from the Line of Scrimmage despite playing behind awful QB production. Thank you. You just pointed out #28's greatness.
Great RB Great team mate Great human Sadly my memories are faded because the jets never won SB with him
Ok, now you are pissing me off. I am new around here and the last thing I want to do is get into a fight with someone but you are being a complete asshat here. You know that isn't what I said. Why take my words and twist the meaning to fit your agenda. To what you said. No, except for Penny when he was actually on the field which wasn't often, we didn't have weak armed QB. VT could throw a ball through a wall. The guy had a cannon on his body. Foley didn't have a huge arm but by no means weak. I can go on but it is not what I said. I said we had poor QB play except for VT. There is a difference there. Browning Nagle had one of the strongest arms I ever saw (there is a video of him throwing a ball through the goal post from the 50 on his knees) but he was horrible. Strong arms don't win as you are asserting. Now for your 8 in the box statement. You are making Martin sound like Lynch. He was NOT A POWER BACK. Martin needed a hole, not a crack. I will give him this, Martin could make a guy miss one on one and he was a tough but he wasn't the type to drag someone for extra yards or even fall forward after going down. Martin gained a lot of yards on stupid third and long draw plays. I watched every game he played in and it was madness. On top of it he never converted any and the Jets ran him on third and long all the time. If you denie this you are denying a fact. Third and 8, hand off, 6 yard gain. He got like 4 or 5 of them every game. Now here is where your constant 8 in the box statement falls apart. In 2004 when Martin ran for nearly 1600 yards, Penny played 13 games, threw for almost 2700, 65 comp. % over 7 yards per comp. You don't stack the box against that. That is a great way to lose and btw, Penny was a damn good QB even with the weak arm. You want more proof? He had about a 1300 a year avg with Bledsoe. So stop claiming other teams dared the Jets to throw. He had some good QB's but most of them were just bad decision makers. Now to wrap this up. I want to repeat, Martin was a good back but he had major draw backs and padded stats. At the goal line he was not good. He had the stupid draw plays that gave him about 25 yards a game. He would run under hits and go down to avoid contact. Now go think about twisting that around.
The Jets version of beast mode. Curtis "My Favorite" Martin was so great for the Jets. I remember the day the Jets signed him. I remember thinking 30 million for this guy, boy was that a bargain. It was the first time I've heard of a poison pill in a contract. Tannenbaum threw some crazy stuff into his contract and the Patriots let him go.
