Emmitt's record should be safe a little longer

[Gryphon]

The NY Daily News quotes a source close to Curtis Martin that expects the running back to retire.

Martin reportedly mulled over retirement before the season before plowing ahead. Maybe Herm Edwards should have used LaMont Jordan a little more in 2004, when Martin had 457 touches.

Source: New York Daily News

 

[koolaid]

its sad to see a great player like martin go out injured, but im happy for him to have played at such a high level for so long

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Too bad, I always liked Martin.

I sometimes think Smith's record might never be broken as it takes such amazing longetivity just to have a shot at breaking it, actually to break it will be darn near impossible. If only Williams hadn't broken Smith's shoulder, he would have had an additional 5-600 yards and it would be unbreakable.

 

[AdamJT13]

Martin has/had no chance at Emmitt's record anyway. He's already 33, and he's still more than 4,250 yards away from the record.

 

[JackMagist]

Martin has/had no chance at Emmitt's record anyway. He's already 33, and he's still more than 4,250 yards away from the record.

Had he had another year last year like he did the year before he would have been within striking distance. But with the relatively poor year he had last season he was out of contention for the record.

 

[THUMPER]

Martin has/had no chance at Emmitt's record anyway. He's already 33, and he's still more than 4,250 yards away from the record.

He was really the only one with an outside shot at it (Bettis & Faulk were role players their last few years) but it was highly unlikely that he would come close. It is yet another testament to Emmitt's greatness that he was able to endure for so long and play at a high level. People tend to take that for granted but it is a rare player that can do that.

It is not that easy to maintain your health, stamina, and desire for 15 seasons like Emmitt did. Jim Brown and Barry Sanders lost the desire to play after 9 and 10 years respectively.

 

[EMMITTnROY]

Martin has/had no chance at Emmitt's record anyway. He's already 33, and he's still more than 4,250 yards away from the record.

my thoughts exactly...

 

[AdamJT13]

Had he had another year last year like he did the year before he would have been within striking distance.

Martin's 2004 season was an extreme outlier. He set career highs for carries, yards (by far) and yards per carry at age 31. But even if he did have another season like that, he'd still be 3,292 yards away from Emmitt's record, and I'd still say he has virtually no chance at it. That's more than 1,000 yards more than Emmitt got after turning 33. And the only running backs who keep going past age 34 or 35 are those who were never full-time feature backs for very long. Guys who carry the load just can't keep going forever.

 

[burmafrd]

Only a RB that has at least 10,000 yds before he is 30 has any kind of chance at the record. Actually, probably 12,000. Getting 6000 yds after age 30 is not very likely.

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

Clinton Portis still has the best chance. He's 25 with 6,000 yards. He's on pace. If he averages 1,500 yards a season like he has his first 4 years, He'll have 12,000 before the age of 30.

Assuming he's healthy over that 4 year span in his late 20's, THEN he has to average another four 1,500 yard seasons until the age of 33.

Assuming he's healthy and the starter, THEN he'll need another 400 yards.

What an impressive record.

 

[THUMPER]

Only a RB that has at least 10,000 yds before he is 30 has any kind of chance at the record. Actually, probably 12,000. Getting 6000 yds after age 30 is not very likely.

If Tomlinson can stay healthy and maintain the pace he is on he should have over 11000 yards by the time he is 30 but that is asking an awful lot. He's much more like Emmitt in his running style than Sanders in that he doesn't have a lot of big runs but gets positive yardage almost all the time. That style is not condusive to longevity. Emmitt was unique.

 

[burmafrd]

LT if he stays with the Chargers and they keep a good O line has a shot. Portis was young when he came into the league- but I think that its number of years in the NFL that matter more then your age; he got worn down last season when GIbbs ran him a ton. He has got to have less carries if he is going to last more then 3-4 more years. Staying healthy and avoiding major injuries is very rare for any RB with more then a few years in the league.
Emmitt never had a serious leg injury his entire career; how rare is that?

 

[Bizwah]

Clinton Portis still has the best chance. He's 25 with 6,000 yards. He's on pace. If he averages 1,500 yards a season like he has his first 4 years, He'll have 12,000 before the age of 30.

Assuming he's healthy over that 4 year span in his late 20's, THEN he has to average another four 1,500 yard seasons until the age of 33.

Assuming he's healthy and the starter, THEN he'll need another 400 yards.

What an impressive record.

Wow, I had no idea that Clinton Portis was at that point!

I've always liked Portis's game (too bad he's a Commander), but his lack of size is a concern. He's listed at 205, but seems a lot smaller. Emmitt was listed at 209 for most of his career, but he always looked like he was thickly built.

If Portis continues to take a bunch of touches, he's not going to last long.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Portis has about as much chance of breaking Emmitt's record as I do.

 

[Doomsdayblitz]

I think the only RB playing today that has a legitamate chance of breaking Emmitt's record is LT. He already has 72 TDs & 7361 yds. in his first 5 yrs.-that's over 1470/yr. That has with an ordinary line as well. SD has been working hard the past couple of yrs. to put together a better OL. Once they do that, watch out.

 

[the kid 05]

the only running back that can come close to it is maurice clarett....

 

[big dog cowboy]

Emmitt's record should be safe a little longer

Emmitt's record should be safe a LOT longer. I'll even go so far as to say there isn't anybody in the league today who can break Emmitt's record. The reason why is simple. There are not very many teams who will give one back that many carries year after year like Emmitt had. You won't find many backs that will average the same number of carries a year as Emmitt.