Hall of Famer: Curtis Martin

Curtis Martin is one of the bigger Hall of Fame puzzles for me. Certainly the biggest in this class. Despite leading the NFL in rushing once, 2004, he always struck me as an under the radar football player. He did some great things but he did them quietly. Some of the things that he accomplished were incredible. Some of his statistics are incredible. To start, he and Barry Sanders are the only backs in NFL history to start their careers with ten straight 1,000 yard seasons. That alone might warrant Hall of Fame induction. Curtis Martin is the NFL's fourth all-time leading rusher with 14,101 yards. That alone might warrant induction. He's ahead of the rushing totals of automatic Hall of Fame inductee LaDanian Tomlinson in careers of comparable lengths. All of his numbers are Hall of Fame worthy but one. His career average per carry of 4.0 bothers me. He even had a couple seasons in which he averaged far less than 4.0. I feel as if I'm doing football a disservice by viewing the career of Curtis Martin the way that I have. The 10 straight 1,000 yard seasons is a much greater indication of Martin's career than his average per carry. You expect a Hall of Fame back to be there every game. To be there to move the chains. Curtis Martin did just that. He deserves his spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.