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https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/12/13/z...bowls-as-career-holding-penalties-daily-cover
A certain statistic circumnavigated the football world late this summer, soaring above the usual wave of colorless preseason content. It first took flight on social media—raising eyebrows, halting scrolling thumbs, all those early signs of something going gobsmacking viral. And before long it barged into real life, too, popping up one day in conversation at its point of origin inside the Cowboys’ offensive line room.
“My first reaction was like, Damn,” center Tyler Biadasz says.
“Just incredible,” tackle Terence Steele says.
“Oh, yeah, I’ve become very familiar with it through the Twitterverse, through the building,” tackle Tyler Smith says. “It’s pretty absurd.”
The stat is simple enough, requiring no knowledge of QBR, PFF or any such acronymic mode of analysis. Yet, like a picture, it’s worth a thousand words about its subject (or, in this article’s case, exactly 2,927). In its original form, as Cowboys right guard Zack Martin prepared for his ninth NFL year, it went like this:
Martin has reached more Pro Bowls (seven) than he has received career holding penalties (six).
From sports bars to message boards, it’s a well-worn cliché that holding could be called on every NFL snap. And while this isn’t actually true—at least not according to the letter of the law—even the most reputable blockers occasionally find themselves busted for an illicit clutch, grab, rip, tug or hug, and then forced to endure the public-shaming ritual of having their number announced over the entire stadium loudspeakers while a close-up shot of their guilty face flashes on television.
Last year alone, 26 offensive linemen finished with at least four accepted holds, among them Browns guard Wyatt Teller and Niners tackle Trent Williams, both universally recognized as being among the league’s elite. By contrast, entering ’22, Martin boasted just one holding penalty on his record—not counting another that was declined—since the start of the ‘17 season, a span of more than 5,300 offensive and special teams snaps including the playoffs. (During that time he also made four Pro Bowls, most recently last year alongside Teller and Williams).
So how is such a pristine rap sheet possible? Sitting down at the Cowboys’ facility after a recent practice, Martin confesses his secrets. “I’d be a liar if I told you I don’t hold,” he says. “But the biggest thing is understanding when I can and when I can’t.”
A certain statistic circumnavigated the football world late this summer, soaring above the usual wave of colorless preseason content. It first took flight on social media—raising eyebrows, halting scrolling thumbs, all those early signs of something going gobsmacking viral. And before long it barged into real life, too, popping up one day in conversation at its point of origin inside the Cowboys’ offensive line room.
“My first reaction was like, Damn,” center Tyler Biadasz says.
“Just incredible,” tackle Terence Steele says.
“Oh, yeah, I’ve become very familiar with it through the Twitterverse, through the building,” tackle Tyler Smith says. “It’s pretty absurd.”
The stat is simple enough, requiring no knowledge of QBR, PFF or any such acronymic mode of analysis. Yet, like a picture, it’s worth a thousand words about its subject (or, in this article’s case, exactly 2,927). In its original form, as Cowboys right guard Zack Martin prepared for his ninth NFL year, it went like this:
Martin has reached more Pro Bowls (seven) than he has received career holding penalties (six).
From sports bars to message boards, it’s a well-worn cliché that holding could be called on every NFL snap. And while this isn’t actually true—at least not according to the letter of the law—even the most reputable blockers occasionally find themselves busted for an illicit clutch, grab, rip, tug or hug, and then forced to endure the public-shaming ritual of having their number announced over the entire stadium loudspeakers while a close-up shot of their guilty face flashes on television.
Last year alone, 26 offensive linemen finished with at least four accepted holds, among them Browns guard Wyatt Teller and Niners tackle Trent Williams, both universally recognized as being among the league’s elite. By contrast, entering ’22, Martin boasted just one holding penalty on his record—not counting another that was declined—since the start of the ‘17 season, a span of more than 5,300 offensive and special teams snaps including the playoffs. (During that time he also made four Pro Bowls, most recently last year alongside Teller and Williams).
So how is such a pristine rap sheet possible? Sitting down at the Cowboys’ facility after a recent practice, Martin confesses his secrets. “I’d be a liar if I told you I don’t hold,” he says. “But the biggest thing is understanding when I can and when I can’t.”
