Curtis Martin heading to Hall of Fame, Bill Parcells misses out

In what has to amount to a drastically different Hall of Fame class than what many expected, the NFL announced a pretty shocking list of members for pro football's highest honor.

Jack Butler, Dermontti Dawson, Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf, and Curtis Martin will all make the Hall of Fame this year. A list that focuses mostly on offensive and defensive lineman, with the exception of Martin who was a running back with the Jets and Patriots.

It's a rather shocking list due to the fact that Giants/Jets/Patriots head coach Bill Parcells was left out of the Hall of Fame final selections. Here is a coach who resurrected three different franchises and established a group of coaches who had worked under him that are now currently successful head coaches in the NFL. Parcells should have been elected to the Hall of Fame, but the vote continues a pattern established by the NFL of not electing two-time Super Bowl winning coaches for this honor.

Andre Reed, Chris Carter and Tim Brown, all terrific wide receivers, were also held out of the Hall of Fame, as well as Steelers running back Jerome Bettis.

As for Curtis Martin, his induction is a bit surprising since he was not exactly the best back of his era, and he was a notorious compiler throughout his career; one can make the argument that Bettis was a better running back than he. Yet, the voters were swung by Martin's numbers since he ranks fourth in the NFL in total rushing yards.

So while Giants fans might be disappointed that Parcells will not get in, Jets fans can take some solace that Martin will make it, making him only the third Jet to enter Canton.  While Parcells may not be enshrined in the NFL's Hall of Fame, chances are he will introduce Martin into the Hall. Martin and Parcells were close during their time in New England and New York, and in some respects, Martin considered Parcells a father figure.

In 1998, when Martin was a free agent with the Patriots, Parcells brought him to the Jets to help turn around that franchise. The Jets went 12-4 in '98, their best team, arguably, ever during the regular season. Martin spent seven years with the Jets, retiring in 2005; he led the league in rushing at the age of 31 in 2004 when he out-gained Shaun Alexander by one year.  Martin had 10 years of 1,000 yards or more during his 11-year career, becoming one of the most consistent backs in NFL history.