Harvey Martin must be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. A member of the 1970's all decade team for the Dallas Cowboys, Harvey Martin played in four Pro Bowls and had twenty-three sacks in fourteen games in 1977 - which would be the sack record had sacks been officially recorded in 1977. Martin was the MVP of Super Bowl XII; the NFL Defensive Player of the year in 1977 and a four time All Pro in 1976; 1977; 1979 and 1982. Martin totaled 114 sacks over the course of his career and was an integral member of one of the great defenses in pro football history: the Dallas Cowboy Doomsday defense. Additionally, Harvey Martin played in three Super Bowls and six NFC championship game, significantly contributing to the success of the Dallas Cowboys during his eleven year career in which the Cowboys made the playoffs ten of his playing eleven years. More significantly, the NFL recognized Harvey Martin as the finest player on defense in the NFL during the 1977 season: and one of the best in four of his seasons. Finally, the Pro Football Reference has a Hall of Fame monitor. This monitor rates the worthiness of all professional football players according to position. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Monitor, Harvey Martin ranks as the nineteenth best defensive end in pro football history, ahead of such gold jacket, Canton inductees such as Lee Roy Selmon; Richard Dent; Charles Haley; Claude Humphrey; Elvin Bethea; and Fred Dean. Of the eighteen players the eighteen Pro Football Reference monitor rates above Harvey Martin, all whom are eligible for entry into Canton to date of this commentary have been inducted except for Martin's contemporary, L.C. Greenwood - of whom it could also be argued is certainly deserving of induction into Canton, also. To date, Martin's 114 sacks (predominately accomplished during fourteen game seasons with run heavy offenses), is 114, with only Deacon Jones; Jack Youngblood; Alan Page; Carl Eller; Coy Bacon; Jim Marshall; Claude Humphrey; and Cedrick Hardman having more, leaving Martin with the ninth most sacks in NFL history when he retired, and thirty-six more than L.C. Greenwood. The bottom line is this: Harvey Martin is one of the greatest defensive ends in NFL history. He earned and deserves immediate induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

Posted by Cosme D. Ripol on 10/18/2022 @ 16:19pm