I remember when he started playing for the Cowboys. he flashed his aggressive style instantly.
The team of the late 60's that played Green Bay twice and went to two SB's in a row was getting old. Real old. All of them. Eight of 11 defrensive startrers were 28 or older. The average age of their starting linebackers were 35. Half of their starting secondary, the Pro Bowlers, were 33. Bob Lilly was 35.
The defensive ends were younger but they were not athletic head hunters, they were trained to stop the run. They were able to get to the QB occasionally but that was because their offense was so good that the opponent was almost always playing from behind.
Martin was drafted in 1973 and added instant excitement. Keep in mind thee was no such thing as "in the grasp", helmet to helmet, and the much wider range of activities that constituted roughing the passer.
Under those circumstances, Martin was a destroyer right out of the gates. Landry would bring him in to replace Larry Cole on long third downs and he had QB's running for their lives because Martin was not a gentle tackler. In his rookie year playing strictly on third and long plays, Martin had 9 sacks.
Martin injected instant excitement and when his partner, "Too Tall" Jones was drafted by the Cowboys #1 overall, the Cowboys had two sets of DE's. Cole and Toomay stopped the run, the were the pair called "Thunder". Martin and "Too Tall" would come in on long passing players before the other two retired. They would get to the QB quick. They were the "Lightning".
Sports journalist that don't do enough research make the mistake of labeling Too Tall and Martin as "Thunder and Lightning" and they are incorrect.
Martin had a mean streak on the field....and close to the field. When the final game of the 79 season was against the Washington Unspeakables and the Cowboys won by a point in the final minute, it made the Cowboys division champions and eliminated the Commanders from the playoffs. After the game Martin threw a wreath into their lockeroom.
When the Cowboys put White on the defensive line he played next to Martin on the right side. White took a lot of double teams and this made Martin even deadlier.
The Cowboys won Super Bowl 12 and the two of them were Co-MVP's. The Broncos starting QB only played in the 1st half. His QB rating for that SB was 0.0. That's right, a Super Bowl starting QB had a rating of absolute zero against the defense.
........Another great Cowboy robbed by biased HOF voters.
OUR☆HISTORY
