Dallas Cowboys Friday Flashback: Harvey Martin

This week’s Dallas Cowboys Friday Flashback stays in the ’70s with the legendary Doomsday Defense, as there is another player from that team who deserves to be in the famed “Ring of Honor.”

Last week, we discussed the legendary career of Ed “Too Tall” Jones, his legacy with the Dallas Cowboys and how he was deserving of being named to the Cowboys “Ring of Honor.” This week, it is only proper to discuss another player from that era and the Doomsday Defense who also belongs with those names, and that is defensive end Harvey Martin.

Martin passed away in December 2001, but he should never be forgotten by fans of the Dallas Cowboys because without him on the roster, the Doomsday Defense wouldn’t have been nearly as effective as it was.

Wearing No. 79 and standing at 6’5” (he weighed 260 pounds), Martin was a force to be reckoned with as he played 11 seasons with the Cowboys, his entire NFL career, in a total of 158 games from 1973-83, making 130 starts in that time frame, according to Pro Football Reference.

Though sacks were not officially kept until the early ‘80s, in his next-to-last season (’82), the defensive end at 32 years old totaled eight sacks in nine games. Also in his career, Martin totaled two interceptions (’76, ’78) and had a total of six fumble recoveries. In ’79 and ’81, he also collected a safety in each of those seasons.

Now for his playoff performances, where he shined and made teams go on notice in the biggest games of the season. He played in 22 total playoff games, starting 20 of them, where he totaled 17.3 sacks, including four in the playoffs of ’80 and added three more sacks the following year in the playoffs. Martin also had three sacks in the ’77 playoffs, and in all but three of the 10 years he played in a playoff game, he recorded at least one sack.

Martin’s accolades speak for themselves. He was the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year in ’77 and also that year was the Super Bowl co-MVP (shared with Randy White), and for the ‘70s, he was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame second-team of the All-1970s Team. Add to that his four trips to the Pro Bowl in the ‘70s, he was first-team All-Pro in ’77, and with that he was selected to various media outlets’ All-Pro teams in the ’70s and early ‘80s, including in ’82, where he was selected to the AP second-team.

Martin’s place in the history of the Dallas Cowboys is known, but it needs to be recognized even more, for he was a Cowboys player his entire career, put up better numbers than most and unofficially had 113 sacks and in ’77 unofficially totaled 20 sacks in a season.

Here is what the New York Times wrote about Martin when he passed away in ’01:

"“The former Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson recalled that Martin was in danger of being cut as a rookie, but altered his disposition after meeting with the defensive coordinator, Ernie Stautner. Ernie told him, ‘You’re too nice,’ ” Pearson remembered. ”Harvey changed overnight. All of a sudden, Too Nice became Too Mean.”"

With all that has been listed and said about Martin, the Cowboys really need to take a better look at Martin and place him and his teammate “Too Tall” Jones in the Ring of Honor because those two should be remembered in a better way for what they provided to the Doomsday Defense.

It should be safe to say without Martin (and Jones), the Doomsday Defense wouldn’t have been what it was, and the Cowboys of the ‘70s would not have won as many games as they did without the presence of Martin pressuring and sacking the opposing quarterback.

More Cowboys: A look at the career of Ed 'Too Tall' Jones

You can say it would be a “beautiful” thing if Martin and Jones were to become members of the Ring of Honor. Their career numbers and accolades earned while with the Cowboys make it an easy decision.

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