Mike Martz: Hall of Fame snubs Torry Holt because 'there's enough' players from '99 Rams

USA Today

14-04-2025

Mike Martz: Hall of Fame snubs Torry Holt because 'there's enough' players from '99 Rams Apparently, the Hall of Fame voters think there are 'enough Ram players from that team' in Canton already
There may not be an eligible player more deserving of being in the Pro Football Hall of Fame than Torry Holt. He's been a finalist six years in a row, yet the committee still will not vote him in and give him a spot in Canton.
As one of the greatest wide receivers in NFL history, it's shocking that he hasn't been inducted yet.
There could be a reason for that, though. Former Rams coach Mike Martz, who was the offensive coordinator in 1999 when St. Louis won the Super Bowl, revealed on 'The Coach JB Show' that one voter believes 'there's enough Ram players from that team' in the Hall of Fame already, so that's why Holt hasn't been voted in yet.
'The top three guys that do this now, they're dead-set – and one of them said this in a meeting and it got out – that, 'Ah, there's enough Ram players from that team, we don't need anymore.' Which makes no sense,' Martz said (h/t Turf Show Times).
That's a baffling reason for keeping someone out of the Hall of Fame. Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, Orlando Pace and Dick Vermeil are all in Canton as Hall of Famers, and though Aeneas Williams wasn't on the 1999 Super Bowl team, he did play four years with the Rams from 2001-2004.
If a player is great, he should be in the Hall of Fame – regardless of how many of his teammates are also in.
As Martz points out, Holt should be a no-brainer considering he was, at the time, the fastest receiver ever to 10,000 yards and is the only player in league history with six straight seasons of 1,300 yards.
'To me, it's the biggest in all of professional sports that he doesn't have a jacket right now,' Martz said. 'His numbers are just ridiculous. He's the quickest guy to 10,000 yards receiving. Nobody has ever gone six seasons in a row with 1,300 yards or more. Nobody's ever done it. Jerry Rice didn't do it.'
Martz believes that at some point, the committee will put Holt through and give him a spot in Canton.
'He'll get in eventually, but it's just painful to sit there. I feel bad for him because he's so deserving,' he said.
It's easy to make the case for Holt to be in already.
He had 13,382 yards and 74 touchdown receptions in his career, recording at least 1,100 yards in eight straight seasons. Jerry Rice is the only player in NFL history with more seasons of at least 1,100 yards than Holt, and he finished with 13 such seasons – just two more than Holt.
It's time for Holt to get his rightful place in Canton.