Great players and *players who died while active or shortly after retirement is the way to go. Or just not retire numbers at all, like how the Raiders and Cowboys handle it. * Browns Ernie Davis, 45 Don Fleming, 46 Chiefs Stone Johnson, 33 Mack Lee Hill, 36 Cardinals Pat Tillman, 40 Stan Mauldin, 77 J.V. Cain, 88 Panthers Sam Mills, 51 Bears Willie Galimore, 28 Brian Piccolo, 41 Lions Chuck Hughes, 85 Vikings Korey Stringer, 77 Eagles Jerome Brown, 99 Giants Al Blozis, 32
Pat Tillman and Sam Mills both deserved to have their numbers retired...not just because they died, but they were great players...but better people.
Yeah, Piccolo was pretty cool too. Stone Johnson has a good name. I say we retire #280. That way we don't have to choose and if anyone wants to wear their idol's number years down the road, we won't have a conflict.
Both Stone Johnson and Ernie Davis never played in an NFL game. The other guys on that list all played in the NFL. Hughes died while playing. Johnson did play in a preseason game, though.
Every winner of the Heisman Trophy from 1955 through today is still alive, with the exception of Ernie Davis.
they are not in the same league. Martin is a hall of famer and chrebet never went to one pro bowl. give me a break.
I thought it was gonna be a poll between Namath and Martin... In this case Martin is the easy choice IMO. First ballot hall of famer or 10 year player with zero pro-bowls..
This is a silly poll. Neither of them should have their number retired, although Martin is more likely to then Chrebet. Why? Because neither were better than other Jets at their respective positions. I've been around long enough to have seen the Jets since the early Namath years and the best running back the Jets ever had was Freeman NcNeil. It's not even close. You're in the big game and you need four yards on fourth down you give the ball to McNeil, not Martin. Martin was a good runner and had longevity but he was not nearly as good as McNeil. As far as Chrebet goes, Walker, Toon, and Sauer were clearly better receivers. Do you retire numbers based on popularity or talent? Based on talent neither one deservers to have their number retired before either McNeil, Walker, Toon, or Sauer.
By far CMart, as much as I love Chrebet's moxie and what he did for us when he played, the fact that we have suffered BIG TIME in our running game w/o Martin's uncanny and DECEPTIVE ability to hit the hole and get open and his penchant for being a game changer of sorts and the fact that he is the #4 all time NFL leading rusher and the JETS all time leading rusher and a LOCK for the HOF, says it all.
Your kidding about Freeman McNeil right? let's compare the two Freeman McNeil: Year Age Tm Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb 144 97 1798 8074 38 69 4.5 56.1 12.5 295 2961 10.0 12 59 2.0 20.6 11035 50 45 vs Curtis Martin: Year Age Tm Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb Career 168 166 3518 14101 90 70 4.0 83.9 20.9 484 3329 6.9 10 41 2.9 19.8 17430 100 29 8 yrs NYJ 123 123 2560 10302 58 60 4.0 83.8 20.8 367 2439 6.6 5 34 3.0 19.8 12741 63 17 There is NO COMPARISON, CMart OUTSHINES Freeman McNeil BY FAR overall and VS Jets numbers. The only place McNeil outshines CMart is YPC and thats ONLY by .5 YPC.
Martin was definitely more consistent that McNeil, but McNeil was a better running back. he was injured all the time while martin pretty much never sat out a game, injured or not. showcasing their stats really doesn't paint the correct picture. Chrebet has more receptions than Al Toon, but I doubt anyone that has watched a game of football would say that he was a better receiver.
The one common denominator is the DURABILITY factor, no one is saying that McNeil was not a good or great back, he just was NOT better than Martin and the durability factor is one of the reasons. We can go by coulda, shoulda, woulda, all day, he WAS the greatest back in JETS history and I too am old enough to remember the PRE McNeil JETS, but this was BEFORE #28 donned a JETS uniform, the torch was OFFICIALLY passed. The lack of durability, the overall numbers and the overall impact each player had on the team is where I make my comparison, so the numbers were not the only thing I was bringing to the table, they were used to emphasize my point. Though I should have made that clear. But we'll agree to disagree.
I go back and forth on whether CMart is a HoF running back. Right now I'm not high on it. He simply was consistent. If you needed 4 yards consistently, then CMart was your man. Every once in a while he'd break a 10 yd run, but he would never change the game with his running. That's not to say that consistency is useless. Other teams game planned against him, because 3, 4 yard runs == first down. And that's what Parcells loved in him. 4 yards here, 5 yards there and next thing you know he has 30 carries for 120. He would simply chip away at a defense all day long. But there was no fear of him changing the game with some 70 yd run or catch. I agree that durability plays much into what makes them more important to the team and history. But I disagree when it comes to comparing their skills. CMart was a great running back with not great skills. If we combined the best elements of both players we'd be looking at possibly the best running back ever.
Are you kidding me? Curtis Martin is definitely a hall of fame running back, and he will get in first ballot. "4 yards here, 5 yards there and next thing you know he has 30 carries for 120" IS CHANGING THE GAME!!! and that is why Bill Parcells loved him!
Plinko, Curtis is hands down a HOF, no question. And he was by FAR, the best Jets running back all time (and i love McNeil). It's not even close.
Actually it isn't. When you are down 14 points. Someone that can't break a long run isn't changing the game. I love CMart, but he isn't a great back to have when you are losing.
