Mike Martz is not having any of this Terrell Owens to the Hall of Fame talk. He coached two receivers that are still waiting their turn at the Hall of Fame in Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. He barely held back when asked about it. From STL Today:
“‘Surprised’ isn’t the word,” Martz said. “You can’t print how I felt when T.O. leapfrogged those two. That’s just plain out-and-out ridiculous. If they big-timed it and did all that dumb stuff, they’d probably get in earlier. I think they’ll eventually get in. I don’t think that’s an issue, but it’s tragic that people think of them like that. If Marvin Harrison gets in, how could they not get in?”
Let’s take a look at the stats for the three and see how they rank. From ProFootballReference:
Terrell Owens- 1078 receptions, 15,934 yds, 153 TD
Isaac Bruce- 1024 receptions, 15,208 yds, 91 TD
Torry Holt- 920 receptions, 13,382 yds, 74 TD
Based off of that, T.O.’s play contributed to his stardom more so than Martz likes to think. Sure he was a HUGE personality, but if he didn’t have the play to back it up, none of it would have mattered.