i voted freeman mcneil cause someone hit my brother's car and took off and ole man freeman chased the guy down. HE'S STILL GOT IT!
294 carries isn't alot for a career high. He didn't have the wear and tear on his body that Curtis had Can we please stop saying the 80s Jets had poor OLs?( Those OLs were just fine, a RB is not averaging over 4 YPC for his career w/ a good OL. B/c the QB took sacks he shouldn't have doesn't mean our OLs were not good. It boils down to this. Freeman was the more talented back but he couldn't stay healthy so this isn't really even a discussion. Curtis was far and away the more productive player btw the 2.
I don't know where people are getting that. The O-line of the early 80s used to push the other team back three or four yards right off the snap, Marvin Powell was in the Pro Bowl just about every year and Joe Fields was a great center. As I mentioned earlier, Chris Ward was a great run blocker although he held a lot in pass protection.
80-86 our line was stout. 87-90 not so much. Fields and Powell were drafted in the 1970s. Powell was a Buccaneer in 1986 and Fields was a Giant in 1988. This team got very old on OL and DL at the same time. After the strike the team regressed badly.
Regarding the wear and tear, I might buy that argument if it weren't for Martin Having several of his near 294 carry years he was actually younger than Freeman with less wear and tear on his body that Freeman had through injuries and producing at a lower level, even taking into account Martin's Patriot years...moot point. Curtis was the more reliable performer by far and away, the more productive player? Despite 750 more carries and 72 more receptionsthan Freeman Curtis only outgained Freeman by 1,400 yards from scrimage. To put that into perspective Freeman had 4 seasons of 1300 or more yards from scrimage, despite only having 1 season where he rushed more than 230 times.
He had a bad game, he fumbled too but watch the tape and show me one hole all game. Our OL was dominated in the ground game.
It's not just overall wear and tear but in each season. As seasons progress gus get banged up and become less effective. Freeman never even had a 300+ carry season. Freeman had just two 1,000 yd seasons in the NFL. A 1,000 yd season is an average year for a decent back.
Durability isn't part of the discussion, it's been conceded from my first posting. As far as only having 2 1,000 yard seasons, he was splitting time with Hector for much of that time, about a 2 to 1 ratio where as Martin was the sole back pretty much being used....that's a coaching issue and does add to your wear and tear argument. You also forget that 1982 was a strike year, Freeman led the league in rushing that year, albeit with only 786 yards. But again, I'm including Martins early years as well as his later, even under lighter loads at times he never reached McNeils numbers. Martins second and third seasons he carried 316 and 274 times respectively...for 3.6 and 4.2 yards per carry...You can claim injury drove those numbers down, but as already addressed Freeman suffered a number of injuries and those also have a culmative effect as wear and tear...I know he suffered several foot and leg injuries early on in his career, including his rookie season....so wear and tear is off the table, atleast for the first 3-4 seasons of each players perspective career. Again, the better back talent wise, McNeil, hands down...the RB that produced and was more reliable over their jets career...Martin, but not by as much as people make it out to be. Watch Video of McNeil rushing, then compare it to watching Martin's running. I've been around and watched them all from the days of Boozer and Snell through to today's Greene and LT....and by far so far McNeil was the most exciting back the Jets have ever had.
He was only splitting w/ hector b/c he was always hurt. If he wasn't he would have been getting many more carries and would have had many 1,000 yd seasons. Talent wise I agree w/ you but if that talent isn't on the field what is it good for? If we were drafting the players based on talent Freeman would go higher but this is about production and the 2 aren't close production wise.
He gained 14 yards on the ground, but we get your point. Based on how the Jets were blocking in the run game that day and based upon the play of the Denver front seven, I don't think Jim Brown would have had a good game that afternoon.
Curtis, of course. I loved watching Freeman run, and he was a great Jet and a great player. But Martin was a better RB.
I think people here are over glorifying Curtis - I love Curtis as much as the next guy so I am not putting him down but it is not exactly like he put the team on his back and won us a Superbowl. His teams as a Jet made it to the AFC championship game the same amount of times as Freeman's teams. This is way closer than many people are acknowledging. (I think alot by the younger fans) My vote goes to my favorite Jet of all time Freeman McNeil based off his productivity (YPC, YPR) and being one of the most exciting Jets to watch of all time (along with Walker).
I loved What Curtis did for us----he was "a warrior" this said Freeman IS MY FAVORITE Jet of all time!!! The guy was also a class act----much like Curtis never ever selfish it was always about the team. I will never forget him shredding the Bengals in that playoff game--he was awesome! PS he was a great post game reporter also---he told it like it was after the games,,unlike Greg Buttle who is a SHILL and says anything the Jets pay him to say
The biggest weakness in the 98 Jets was their run-blocking. That was a passing offense with a pass-blocking offensive line. Also, Curtis Martin was banged up all season long. Combine all of this with the fact that Denver had a seriously dominant run-stuffing defensive line, and you get 14 rushing yards for Curtis Martin
At what point did Freeman lead the Jets to a Super Bowl victory? I was a Freeman fan myself, but Martin was the better player.
