As good a player as Hall-of-Famer Curtis Martin was, he’s an even better person.
“I think many people become professional athletes and football players to be just that, football players,” Martin said, shortly after being elected to the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame on Saturday. “I became a football player to be a role model. Moreso than the NFL, being a football player or a running back, in my mind, my career was being a role model. I took that to heart. Everything that I did from the time I entered the NFL until the day I retired, even until today, it was all in recognition that I have been gifted and blessed to be in this position and in this situation.
“More important to me than anything during my career, it was the type of man that I was and the example that I was, not only to my teammates, to the general public, but even more importantly, to kids because they really look up to us.
“Playing football was just the vehicle that enabled me to be able to do what make my heart sing, which is to impact people’s lives in a positive way.”