Dome Patrol & The First Winners- Franchise Legend
- Saints Hall of Fame
Eric Martin
- Position
- WRWide Receiver
- Number
- #84
- Saints years
- 1985–1993
- NFL career
- 1985–1994
- Era
- Dome Patrol & The First Winners
- Franchise
- New Orleans Saints
Honors
- New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame
- Pro Bowl
Also played for Kansas City Chiefs (1994–1994).
Why he’s a legend
The legacy
Eric Martin caught more passes than any Saint before Marques Colston, on teams whose identity was entirely defensive and whose quarterbacks changed regularly. His records for receptions and receiving yards stood from 1993 until Colston passed them nearly two decades later, and he was the receiver on all four of the playoff teams Jim Mora built.
Why he matters
- Held the Saints career records for receptions and receiving yards from 1993 until 2012.
- A Pro Bowl selection in 1988, on a team that won ten games and missed the playoffs.
- He was the passing offense on the four playoff teams of the Mora era, when the defense got all the attention.
- A Louisiana native out of LSU who spent nine of his ten NFL seasons in New Orleans.
Defining moment
The record that lasted nineteen years
1993 season
Martin left New Orleans holding the franchise records for receptions and receiving yards. Both stood until Marques Colston passed them in 2012, an interval that covered five head coaches and the only Super Bowl the club has won.
Career statistics
Current through the 1994 season
With the Saints
- Seasons
- 9
- Franchise Receiving Records Held
- 1993–2012
Honors & accolades
Championships & enshrinement
- New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame
Selections & records
- Pro Bowl1988
Career timeline
10 seasons in the NFL, 9 of them in New Orleans.
- 1985New Orleans SaintsDrafted in the seventh round out of LSU
- 1986New Orleans Saints
- 1987New Orleans SaintsFirst winning season and playoff berth in franchise history
- 1988New Orleans SaintsPro Bowl selection
- 1989New Orleans Saints
- 1990New Orleans Saints
- 1991New Orleans Saints
- 1992New Orleans Saints
- 1993New Orleans SaintsFinal Saints season, as the franchise receiving leader
- 1994Kansas City Chiefs
Era context
What the league looked like while Eric Martin played it. Raw totals across eras are not like-for-like.
Dome Patrol & The First Winners
1981–1996
The franchise finally wins — and builds the best linebacking corps the NFL had seen.
- Sacks became an official NFL statistic in 1982, so career sack totals begin there.
- The 1982 season was shortened to nine games by a players strike; 1987 was shortened to fifteen, three of them played by replacement players.
- The salary cap arrived in 1994 and changed how long a roster could stay together.
- The Saints reached the playoffs four times in this era and did not win a postseason game.
Data & sources
Statistics on this profile are current through the 1994 season.
- Career reception and yardage totals are not stated here because this profile could not verify them to the standard the rest of the page uses. The records he held, and the years he held them, are documented by the club.
