I thought this was interesting. In the history of the Jets, there really have not been many long careered running backs in terms of the "feature back". I mean Boozer was here for seven or eight years, but was never the true modern day feature back. Snell, same kinda thing, I think 6 or 7 years. Boozer and Snell would pretty much split their time so there was not a clear feature back per s?. Don't get me wrong, Snell and Boozer were great and key reasons why we won SB III. Then came the Riggins era. John Riggins was here for 5 years before going to Washington. Boozer blocked for him in the beginning, but then it was Riggins. Riggins was great, but moved on. Then we went though some obscure years with no real feature back at all. We had Gaines in '76, '77, and '79 with Long in at '78. Then came Freeman McNeil. McNeil played for the Jets for 8 years and had a stellar career as a true feature back. His slashing style is etched in the memories of many Jets fans as a long-time all-time favorite. As McNeil's career was winding down in the late 80's the Jets were wondering who would be the next "go to" guy. It took a couple of bad seasons and in Coslet' s second year we drafted Blair Thomas as the heir apparent. Little did we know that we had just drafted one of the biggest busts of all time. The guy had so much potential, but had the worst case of chronic fumblitis you ever saw. He probably cost Coslet his job, or at least contributed to it. We then went on to Johnny Johnson for a couple of years before the arrival of Adrian Murrell. Adrian was another slasher who was very similar in running style to Freeman McNiel, but unfortunately, Murrell succumbed to some injuries after a few years and finished out his career with the Cardinals. Then comes our man, Curtis Martin, who has now played for the Jets for eight years. Next year will be his nineth year with the Jets and will surpass Freeman McNeil's longevity. Quite an accomplishment and I think it speaks further volumes about the type of player Curtis Martin is. It is so tough to go that long as a running back in the NFL and be productive. Granted, last year Curtis took a step backwards, but played most of the year injured, and their was a marked downward spiral of the talent he was surrounded by. One also has to take into account the difficulty in playing in the modern era with regard to the cap. Curtis has always been willing to work with the Jets in this area. Even after Curtis is retired from the Jets, he will be remembered as one of the truly special players who ever wore Green and White.
Im not much of a stats or number guy so the years kind of suprised me. I've been following this team for 26 years but didn't get into football till I was 10. I remember Freeman. Loved him but that was when I first started to watch. Getting older I remember Curtis with the Pats and what we went through to get him. So, I think Curtis has split time where as Freeman was always here. Hearing Curtis has been here for 9 years makes me suddenly feel a whole lot older.
Good post, green hornet. I was even thinking about that, yet another acheivement by our man curtis "my favorite" martin. Knowing curtis, he will probably fight and fight and train, and will have about a 1300-1400 yard year.
That will be a special day. Martin will enter Canton as a true GangGreener. I will definitely watch the ceremony.
Actually Freeman was a Jet for 12 years from '81-'92. He is closing on the # of games since Freeman was always hurt but Freeman played in 144 while Curtis has played in 123 as a Jet so he still has 21 games to go.
Excellent post Hornet! :up: Curtis is going to be in the HOF and I sure hope it's as a Jets player. I loved both McNeil and Murrell but Curtis has been my fav ever since we got him. I remember how excited we were when we did.
I knew you would be here. Well, you are right. I really think the last 4 years Freeman was here he either was injured or clearly very much past his prime. Certainly, he was not the "feature back" during that time and not productive. You have to go back to '88 when he had Vick blocking for him under a 8-7-1 Joe Walton when he gained 940 yards, which even by today's standards could be argued as just OK. Freeman McNeil 1992 12 games | 43 rushes 170 yards 4.0 ave/rush 0 TD's 1991 13 games | 51 rushes 300 yards 5.9 ave/rush 2 TD's 1990 16 games | 99 rushes 458 yards 4.6 ave/rush 6 TD's 1989 11 games | 80 rushes 352 yards 4.4 ave/rush 2 TD's
They stopped using McNeil exclusively, alternating him with Johnny Hector (who was great). But I really feel like they underutilized him--every time he did get the ball he ran for big yards. They wasted his talents and Walton and Coslet got what they deserved.
Actually had Joe Walton gotten his wish, McNeil would have only been a Jet for 6 1/2 years. Right after the '87 strike he benched McNeil for Johnny Hector and tried to trade him to the Rams (sound familar?) but didn't get an offer he liked. Anyone remember that?.......hmy:
