Martin rushes to the top
Class of 2012 member Curtis Martin earned the distinction of the oldest player to lead the NFL in rushing when he racked up 1,697 yards in 2004. The New York Jets running back started the year off with a bang when he torched the Cincinnati Bengals for a season-high 196 yards. He would go on to eclipse the 100-yard mark seven more times leading into the final week of the season.
Despite that strong effort, Martin was only second in the league in rushing heading into the season finale. At that time Shaun Alexander of the Seattle Seahawks had a firm grasp on the rushing crown with a 72-yard advantage over the 31-year-old Martin. As great players always do, Martin rose to the occasion and rushed for 153 yards (his second highest total for the season) against the St. Louis Rams. Alexander’s total of only 80 yards against the Atlanta Falcons allowed Martin to take the rushing title by a mere yard.
| Rushing | Receiving | ||||||||||||
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Att. | Yards | Avg. | Long | TD | No. | Yards | Avg. | Long | TD |
| 1 | Sept. 12 | Cincinnati Bengals | W, 31-24 | 29 | 196 | 6.8 | 24T | 1 | 3 | 7 | 2.3 | 7 | 1 |
| 2 | Sept. 19 | at San Diego Chargers | W, 34-28 | 32 | 119 | 3.7 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 4.2 | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | Bye | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 4 | Oct. 3 | at Miami Dolphins | W, 17-9 | 24 | 110 | 4.6 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 11 | 0 |
| 5 | Oct. 10 | Buffalo Bills | W, 16-14 | 22 | 77 | 3.5 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 23 | 3.8 | 8 | 0 |
| 6 | Oct. 17 | San Francisco 49es | W, 22-14 | 25 | 111 | 4.4 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 6.7 | 10 | 0 |
| 7 | Oct. 24 | at New England Patriots | L, 7-13 | 20 | 70 | 3.5 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 8 | Nov. 1 | Miami Dolphins | W, 41-14 | 19 | 115 | 6.1 | 25T | 1 | 1 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 0 |
| 9 | Nov. 7 | at Buffalo Bills | L, 17-22 | 19 | 67 | 3.5 | 19 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 10 | Nov. 14 | Baltimore Ravens | L, 17-20 | 28 | 119 | 4.3 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | Nov 21. | at Cleveland Browns | W, 10-7 | 17 | 88 | 5.2 | 19 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 12 | Nov. 28 | at Arizona Cardinals | W, 13-3 | 24 | 99 | 4.1 | 19 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 13 | Dec. 5 | Houston Texans | W, 29-7 | 23 | 134 | 5.8 | 22 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 5 | 10 | 1 |
| 14 | Dec. 12 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L, 6-17 | 24 | 72 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 35 | 11.7 | 14 | 0 |
| 15 | Dec. 19 | Seattle Seahawks | W, 37-14 | 24 | 134 | 5.6 | 20 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 16 | Dec. 26 | New England Patriots | L, 7-23 | 13 | 33 | 2.5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 44 | 8.8 | 22 | 0 |
| 17 | Jan. 2 | at St. Louis Rams | L, 29-32 | 28 | 153 | 5.5 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 |
| TOTAL: | 371 | 1,697 | 4.6 | 25 | 12 | 41 | 245 | 6 | 22 | 2 | |||
#PFHOF12
The Hall of Fame has created a special hashtag #PFHOF12 for all things related to the 2012 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival.
Joe Morgan's route home
On Sun, Aug. 5 New Orleans Saints wide receiver Joe Morgan will return to his hometown of Canton, Ohio to play pro football on the same field that he played on in high school and college.