My prediction is that Faulk is inducted in 2011 and the other two will wait. If fame is important to the voters, Bettis will be inducted in 2012 and Martin would wait till 2013. If on field accomplishments are worth more, then Martin will be inducted before Bettis or in the same year as Bettis.
You are either a HOF'er or you are not. I hate this 1st ballot/2nd ballot/not going to allow you to get 100% of the vote bullshit.
I absolutely hate it, too. If 12 guys deserve it one year, then put them all in. If there are only two worthy guys the next year, then so be it. Look at the baseball Hall. There was only one player inducted this year. It was just Dawson, right? Him and a manager (Herzog).
Not sure who will get in on the senior ballot but my early prediction for 2011: Deion Sanders Marshall Faulk Cris Carter Shannon Sharpe Willie Roaf
The competition is what makes the HOF elite. If 12 guys get in during the same year it becomes an absolute joke where everyone gets in.
Here is a list of the first ballot HOFers: Troy Aikman Marcus Allen Lance Alworth Raymond Berry George Blanda Mel Blount Terry Bradshaw Jim Brown Willie Brown Dick Butkus Earl Campbell Eric Dickerson Tony Dorsett John Elway Dan Fouts Darrell Green Joe Green Forrest Gregg Jack Ham John Hannah Franco Harris Ken Houston Deacon Jones Jim Kelly Jack Lambert Jim Langer Steve Largent Bob Lilly Ronnie Lott Gino Marchetti Dan Marino Ollie Matson Bruce Matthews Hugh McElhenny Joe Montana Warren Moon Anthony Munoz Ray Nitschke Merlin Olsen Jim Otto Jim Parker Walter Payton Jim Rice Barry Sanders Gale Sayers OJ Simpson Mike Singletary Jackie Slater Bruce Smith Bart Starr Roger Staubach Jan Stenerund Lawrence Taylor Johnny Unitas Gene Upshaw Paul Warfield Randy White Reggie White Larry Wilson Rod Woodson Steve Young Now let’s narrow it down to offensive skill position players, who player after 1980 (just so it is players we should all know): Troy Aikman Marcus Allen Terry Bradshaw Earl Campbell Eric Dickerson Tony Dorsett John Elway Dan Fouts Franco Harris Jim Kelly Steve Largent Dan Marino Joe Montana Warren Moon Walter Payton Jim Rice Barry Sanders Steve Young Does anyone here seriously think Curtis Martin belongs on that list?
What I was saying is that if Faulk, Martin, and Bettis all deserve to be in, then put them all in right away. Why make a guy wait? Look at Harry Carson. It took him 13 ballots before he finally made it. What happened that 13th season? Was new Carson footage and stats found? I mean, it's ridiculous.
I'll keep this fair and only compare Martin to the RBs. Martin was better than Allen and Harris. He's not better than Campbell, Dickerson, Sanders, Payton or Emmitt Smith. I think Martin is even with Dorsett.
The argument against this, is that you don't end up watering down the class of player that gets into the HOF. Only the best of the best should get in. It doesn't always work out that way, but it keeps out some fringe players who aren't really HOF caliber. BTW....both Tim Brown (first year of eligibility) and Cris Carter (second year of eligibility) didn't get in this year. I would say Martin is on-par with those two guys.
Fringe players wouldn't get inducted the other way. Hell, fringe candidates can get in now considering how the voting is currently constructed because at least four players/coaches/contributors MUST be enshrined each year.
You can't just judge on stats. Harris was a 7x all-pro and played on 4 Super Bowl winners. Allen was a Super Bowl MVP, NFL MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, played RB at a high level for 16 years, and finished with 123 TDs. Also, if Al Davis didn't screw with him, he probably would have had better stats. He was an all-time great. EDIT - And Dorsett played on a higher profile team. They are probably equal in skill set though.
No....but I don't know how else you could say Martin is more worthy of being a HOFer than the other two.
ONE time was Harris a consensus All-NFL player. The six other times he got some sort of All-Pro recognition it was 2nd team stuff or all-AFC stuff. Martin actually bests Harris 2-1 in all-league 1st team selections. Harris loved to run of bounds instead of making contact with a defender in an effort to gain another yard or two. Martin was a much tougher player. Harris belongs in the HOF and if I had a vote I'd have voted for him as soon as he became eligible. Problem is, that's not the system. We have a 1st ballot, 2nd ballot, 13th ballot system. I don't think Harris fits the profile of a 1st ballot player in this system. Allen never had a 1000 yard season after 1985. He was a Super Bowl MVP who had one spectacular season. The other feathers in his cap were a bunch of pretty good to very good seasons and a 16-year career where he was able to compile some nice career totals.
i think being 4th all time is the kinda stat that gurantees that he will be in one day, but i dont think hell be 1st ballot. Id be very suprised.
Martin was a better pass receiver than Harris. Allen was the best of the three in that department, though. We can't put stats on blocking, but I believe Martin was the best of the three in terms of picking up the blitz and helping to keep defenders away from the QB. Dorsett would have had 10 straight 1000 yard seasons to start his career if not for the 9-game 1982 season. Then, like Martin, he got hurt in his 11th season. Unlike Martin, Dorsett then played two more seasons.
I'm not arguing that Martin is of comparable ability. But it is the Hall of "Fame". Of those 4 players Martin is a distant 4th when it comes to notoriety. Again, I think Martin is great....but his impact on the sport was less than the others. Fair or not....that is the way it is.
The real problem is nobody knows for sure how much weight the voters put on the fame aspect. Of the four guys here (Allen, Dorsett, Harris, Martin), Martin is the least famous. He doesn't have a great Super Bowl run like Allen, a lucky catch to win a playoff game like Harris, or a 99-yard run like Dorsett. Also, Martin did not play for a flagship team. The others played for the Raiders, Cowboys, and Steelers, respectively. Dave Wilcox, Mike Munchak, Jackie Slater, Ron Yary, Elvin Bethea, Bob Brown, Rayfield Wright, Gene Hickerson, Charlie Sanders, Roger Wehrli, Emmitt Thomas, and Gary Zimmerman were some of the people inducted in the 2000s. More than half of those players never won an NFL title. I understand there is no running back in the bunch and because running backs handle the ball so often, they become well known. Be that as it may, I don't think any of those 12 players was more famous than Martin. My point here is that the voters do vote in players who are not household names at least in casual NFL households.
No way Martin gets in on the first ballot.too crowded of a field and Bettie will go in over him with a ring on his finger.2012 will be Martin and klecko and we will be playing the h o f game.book it
Martin was as complete a running back as there was during his time. He was an top level runner, a terrific receiver out of the backfield, one of if not the best at picking up blitzers. Statisically speaking he ended his career 4th on the All-Time Rushing list, had 10 consecutive 1,000 yard seasons (only Barry Sanders has that many), Top 3 in rushing 4 times, Martin is 8th in receptions for a RB over the last 20 seasons (1990-2009). Did Curtis Martin's teams win? 7 out of his 11 years his teams had a winning record (6 of those teams made it to the postseason). With the Patriots Martin contributed 28.4% of their total yards. With the Jets (1998-2005) he was 30.6% of the Jets total offense.
