Running Back,
New England Patriots
Age: 22
College: Pittsburgh
Height: 5’11” Weight: 197
Prelude:
Martin
suffered through an injury-plagued college career, rushing for 1045 yards in
ten games as a junior and then, after a 251-yard performance against Texas in
the first game of his senior year, he went down with a severe ankle sprain. He
chose to enter the 1995 NFL draft and was taken by the Patriots in the third
round. While there were concerns regarding his injury history, Martin quickly
allayed them by rushing for 102 yards in his NFL debut.
1995 Season Summary
Appeared in all
16 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Rushing
Attempts – 368
[2]
Most
attempts, game - 36 (for 127 yds.) vs. Buffalo 10/23
Yards – 1487 [3,
1st in AFC]
Most yards,
game – 166 yards (on 35 carries) at NY Jets 11/5
Average gain
– 4.0 [15]
TDs – 14 [3]
100-yard
rushing games – 9
Pass
Receiving
Receptions – 30
Most
receptions, game – 8 (for 62 yds.) at Pittsburgh 12/16
Yards – 261
Most yards,
game – 62 (on 8 catches) at Pittsburgh 12/16
Average gain
– 8.7
TDs – 1
Scoring
TDs – 15 [6]
2-pt PAT – 1
Points – 92
Awards & Honors:
NFL Rookie of
the Year: Sporting News
NFL Offensive
Rookie of the Year: AP, PFWA
AFC Rookie of
the Year: UPI
1st-team
All-AFC: UPI, Pro Football Weekly
Pro Bowl
Patriots went
6-10 to finish fourth in the AFC East.
Aftermath:
Martin
followed up with another Pro Bowl year in 1996, rushing for 1152 yards and
catching 46 passes as the Patriots won the AFC title. It was the second of ten
straight seasons in which he rushed for over a thousand yards. An elusive
runner who caught the ball well out of the backfield, he exhibited impressive
stamina and durability, although he missed three games in ’97 due to an abdominal
injury that required surgery. After rushing for 3799 yards and 32 TDs with New
England, Martin was signed as a restricted free agent by the New York Jets in
1998, reuniting with Bill Parcells, his first coach with the Patriots, and played
a key role in that team’s quick turnaround. Despite maintaining a heavy
workload, he carried on through a string of 119 consecutive starts before a
major knee injury finally ended his career 12 games into the 2005 season. Along
the way, his quiet consistency was often overlooked, but he twice gained over
1500 yards in a season, including a league-leading 1697 at age 31 in 2004.
Overall, he received consensus first-team All-NFL honors once, gained at least
some first- or second-team recognition after three other years, and was
selected to the Pro Bowl five times while rushing for 14,101 yards, which
ranked fourth all-time at his retirement, on 3518 carries (4.0 avg.) and
catching 484 passes for another 3329 yards, giving him 17,430 yards from
scrimmage. He scored an even 100 touchdowns (90 rushing, 10 receiving). The
Jets retired Martin’s #28 and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of
Fame, Class of 2012.
--
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were named Rookie
of the Year in the NFL, AFL (1960-69), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized
organization (Associated Press – Offense or Defense, Newspaper Enterprise
Association, United Press International, The Sporting News, or the league
itself – Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year).
