Durable running back Martin leads hall class
INDIANAPOLIS – Curtis Martin has gone from the mean streets of Pittsburgh to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The star running back with the Patriots and Jets for 11 seasons was one of six players elected Saturday to the shrine. Martin once disliked playing the game, but used it to escape a neighborhood where his grandmother was murdered.
“When I get awarded something like the Hall of Fame, it’s almost foreign to me,” said Martin, the NFL’s No. 4 career rusher. “This wasn’t something I planned on doing. Football is something I did so I didn’t end up jailed or dead.
“If you make up your mind to just do the right thing no matter what … and you stick to it, which I did, this is how things can turn around. I feel as if my life turned around from what it used to be, and I think anyone has a chance.”
Martin and four linemen were elected to the hall, along with one senior committee choice. He is joined by Chris Doleman, former Seattle Seahawk Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf, Dermontti Dawson, and senior selection Jack Butler.
Jerome Bettis, Cris Carter and Bill Parcells were among the finalists who didn’t make it.
A panel of 44 media members voted in the six men.
Martin made it for his consistency and durability, rushing for 14,101 yards and 90 touchdowns. He rushed for at least 1,000 yards in each of his first 10 seasons, the first three with New England and the others with the Jets. The 1995 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Martin won the NFL rushing title in 2004 with 1,697 yards.
Doleman and Kennedy were sackmasters from the defensive line, Doleman at end and Kennedy at tackle.
Doleman had 150 1/2 sacks in his 15 seasons, mostly with Minnesota, and was one of the prototype agile yet powerful pass rushers who dominate the game today. He made the Pro Bowl eight times and was fourth on the sacks list when he retired.
“I am totally blown away by this and humbled by it,” Doleman said, adding his son, Evan, would present him for induction. “When they call your name, you’re absolutely numb.”
Roaf spent one season at right tackle, then the rest of his 13 seasons on the left side, making 11 Pro Bowls. He made the All-Decade team for the 1990s.
Dawson made seven Pro Bowls as the Steelers’ center, that rare snapper who also could block defensive players one on one. He replaced a Hall of Famer, Mike Webster, and started for Pittsburgh for most of his 13 pro seasons.
Butler also played for the Steelers as a cornerback from 1951-59, picking off 52 passes, at the time second-most in NFL history. But he was best known for his tackling skills.
“They told me I was good. I didn’t know I was good,” Butler said. “I never, ever, ever thought I would be here.”
Guard Will Shields didn’t get in – the only first-year eligible player to make the 15-man finals.