When Curtis Martin had his first good game as a rookie with the Patriots, reporters clustered around his locker. Coach Bill Parcells walked by and said, “Don’t go putting him in Canton yet.”

Eleven years later, Martin had 10 seasons with at least 1,000 yards, an NFL rushing title and was fourth in NFL history in rushing yards with 14,401.

On Saturday night, six years after he retired and 17 after Parcells' comment, Martin is in Canton and Parcells will introduce him.

Negative words about Curtis Martin are rare. Players, coaches and nonfootball people all cite his professionalism, humility and humanitarianism.

Jets RG Brandon Moore’s first full season as a starter was in 2004 -- the year Martin won the NFL rushing title. Moore, who will attend the induction at Martin’s invitation, is excited to be included. “I take great pride in it,” Moore said. “I’m happy for him. I’m excited to get there and be a part of it.

“Just to feel like you had a very, very small part in a big career; I’ll never forget that year," Moore said. "It’s a season I look back on and the way it ended, we went to the playoffs and lost that wacky game in Pittsburgh, but I just look back at it on my time spent with [Martin] as one of the great years in my career.”

Former Jets Pro Bowl center Kevin Mawae was Martin's teammate during their Jets careers (1998-2005). 

“Curtis was the most underrated running back I ever played with,” Mawae said. “He relished that -- playing in the anonymity. He never wanted [attention], never asked for it and never got it.

“As an offensive lineman there’s not a whole lot of stats you can hang your hat on," Mawae said. "Sacks and rushing yards.  It was a huge accomplishment for somebody who was in his 30s and who people said was past his prime.

“I was proud to block for him, and it’s a privilege to go to Canton to watch him be inducted."

Mawae will be part of a large contingent of romer teammates representing Martin’s football life. He'll join Moore, QB Vinny Testaverde, LT Jason Fabini, LG Dave Szott (the Jets director of player development) and numerous members of the Jets organization, teammates from the Patriots and the University of Pittsburgh.

What's amazing about Martin is that he never liked football, something he’s talked about repeatedly over his career.  When he was renegotiating his contract with the team several years ago GM Mike Tannenbaum asked, “Do you still love football as much as you always have?”

Martin decided to be honest and explained that he was using football for a wider platform, to do bigger things in life. Mawae always believed Martin would go into the ministry. A very private person, Martin has many business ventures, but keeps those quiet as well.

Martin frequently references his upbringing in a rough part of Pittsburgh and credits football with changing his life. 

“I don’t know if I’d be alive if I hadn’t played football,” he said.

It is ironic that Martin has become a New York Jets icon, considering he wasn't all that interested in the team when he became a free agent after playing his first three years with the Patriots.

“I didn’t like New York at all,” he said. “Beyond not liking New York, I didn’t like the Jets. It was the Jets and Tampa Bay; those are the two teams I never want to play for. The only thing that changed that was the fact that Parcells was here. I wasn’t the biggest football fan to begin with, but if I was going to play I wasn’t going to play for what was, in my mind, the worst team ever. I looked at the Jets at the bottom of the barrel. I felt they always ended up at the bottom of the totem pole.”

In spite of his achievements, Martin believes that he was never the most talented player on the field -- just the mentally toughest. “I think much of it was just pure determination,” he said. "I still maintain the belief that there was someone on the team more gifted than me.”

He’s clearly alone in that opinion, and Saturday night he will be enshrined as one of the best in the history of the game.

Stay dialed in on the New York Jets by following correspondent Lisa Zimmerman on Twitter@CBSSportsNFLNYJ and@LisaZimmerman.