America went to the polls Tuesday. NFL fans – and especially those amazed by the recent exploits of Doug Martin – can keep right on voting through the rest of the week.
Martin, the dazzling Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie running back, was named the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Month for October last week. Then, four days into November, he basically racked up another month's worth of production, blasting the Oakland Raiders defense for 251 rushing yards and four touchdowns. As such, it was no surprise when the award nominations rolled in for Martin on Tuesday morning.
For the second week in a row, Martin has been nominated for both the NFL's Ground Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week awards. After winning the first of those two awards for Week Eight, Martin will try to sweep both of them in Week Nine…but he'll need your help.
Both of those awards are determined by fan voting on NFL.com. To help Martin repeat as the league's Ground Player of the Week, please go here. To help him take home his first Rookie of the Week honors, please also go here. Balloting began on Tuesday morning and will continue through Friday at 3:00 p.m. ET.
This time around, Martin will do ballot-box battle with Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings and Isaac Redman of the Pittsburgh Steelers for Ground Player of the Week honors. Both Peterson (187 yards) and Redman (147 yards) had strong outings on Sunday, but neither quite matched the historic performance of the Buccaneers' red-hot rookie.
To take Rookie of the Week honors, Martin will have to draw more votes than Seattle QB Russell Wilson, Cleveland RB Trent Richardson and a pair of Indianapolis Colts, QB Andrew Luck and WR T.Y. Hilton. Luck's 433 yards and his voter-friendly position (quarterbacks have won six of the first eight ROTW awards, including three by Luck) will make him a formidable opponent but, again, Martin is coming off one of the most notable performances by a running back in league history.
Martin's 271 yards from scrimmage and quartet of touchdowns in Tampa Bay's 42-32 road win at Oakland has generated so many eye-popping notes that it has been hard to keep track of them all. So, in the interest of swinging the NFL.com electoral college in his favor, here's a rundown of just about every Martin observation or tweet we've seen in the last 48 hours:
- His 251 rushing yards shattered the previous Buccaneer record and, in fact, his 220 yards in the second half alone would have been enough to surpass the previous mark of 219 set by James Wilder against Minnesota on Nov. 6, 1983
- His 272 yards from scrimmage also set a new Tampa Bay single record, besting the mark of 239 set by Wilder in that same 1983 outing
- His four touchdowns tied the team record set by Jimmie Giles at Miami on Oct. 20, 1985
- He is the first Buccaneer ever to score four rushing touchdowns in a single game
- He is just the second player in NFL history to rush for at least 250 yards and score four touchdowns in a single game, joining Denver's Mike Anderson (Dec. 3, 2000) on that very exclusive list
- He is the first player in NFL history to have touchdown runs of 45 yards, 65 yards and 70 yards in the same game, and, in fact, the first to have three rushing touchdowns of 45 or more yards in the same game
- He is also the first rookie in NFL history with four touchdowns of 45 or more yards in a two game span, including his 64-yard scoring reception at Minnesota in Week Eight
- His 486 yards from scrimmage in the last two weeks is the most by an NFL player in a two-game span since Walter Payton had 525 in consecutive November games in 1977.
- His 251 rushing yards tied for the 10th-highest single game total in NFL history
- His 220 yards in the second half against Oakland were the second most in a single half in league history, trailing the 253 yards Adrian Peterson posted for Minnesota against San Diego in the second half on, coincidentally, Nov. 4, 2007
- His 143 rushing yards in the third quarter on Sunday were the fourth-most in a single quarter in NFL history
- His 10.0 yards per carry against Oakland was the third-highest mark in NFL history among players with at least 25 carries in a game
Call that an extensive policy review. Doug Martin is ready for your votes! Once again:
