RSS
Home | NFL Retired | Harvey Martin
|
|
|
As part of the famed Doomsday Defense, "The Beautiful" aka "Too Mean" Martin led the Cowboys in sacks seven times. Martin went to the Pro Bowl four times and was co-Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl XII (shared with teammate Randy White). He still holds team records for most sacks as a rookie (8 - 1973), in a season (23 - 1977), and career (114) Former Cowboys GM Tex Schramm stated "He'll be remembered as one of the great Cowboys of the golden years ... He was a great player, one of the first great pass rushers." Martin followed up his 20-sack 1977 season with a 14-sack performance in 1978, 9 in 1979, and 12 in 1980. Martin, along with Don Meredith, is among the few players to play his high school (Dallas South Oak Cliff High School), college (East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University � Commerce), and pro (Dallas Cowboys) career in and around the Dallas, Texas, area. He never played a home game, on any level, outside of North Texas. Following his retirement in 1984, Martin briefly served as an NFL analyst for NBC, participated in the battle royal at WrestleMania 2 (1986) for World Wrestling Federation, and appeared several times in World Class Championship Wrestling and the Global Wrestling Federation as a ringside commentator. With football gone, many inner demons came to light, including bankruptcies, domestic violence, and polysubstance abuse. Although coach Tom Landry sent him to rehab in 1983, Martin continued to abuse drugs and alcohol. He hit rock-bottom in 1996, when "Too Mean" was jailed on domestic violence and cocaine charges, where he received probation and spent the next eight months in a court-ordered rehabilitation program. Afterwards, he was given a job selling chemical products by former teammate and Cowboys offensive lineman John Niland. He was able to turn his life around, staying clean and sober for the final years of his life, giving anti-drug speeches to both schoolchildren and recovering addicts. Martin died of pancreatic cancer on December 24, 2001 at the age of 51. As of June 1, 2010, he is the only Super Bowl Most Valuable Player who is deceased. |
