His name is Doug Martin, and if you haven’t heard of him, maybe you know him by his nickname, “Muscle Hamster.” Muscle Hamster? What is that?? Martin agreed on NFL AM.
“It has to be the worst nickname ever. I can’t shake it. It started in college, started back in Boise [at Boise State] with our linemen. I have a lot of bigger friends, and they’d call me the Muscle Hamster because of how much I could lift in the weight room.”
Martin, the 31st pick by the Bucs in last year’s draft, returned to his hometown of Oakland this past weekend when his squad took on the Raiders. There, he amped up some loud stats, setting a franchise record 251 yards rushing, along with 4 TDs. He was only the second 200-yard rusher this season (Ahmad Bradshaw). Maybe Martin’s teammates ought to lighten up on the name calling this week after that stellar performance. Lets face it though, guys goof on each other all the time, and a nickname as terrible as “Muscle Hamster” isn’t going anywhere.
In case you’re wondering, here are the 200-yard rushers over the past five seasons:
2007
-Adrian Peterson: 296 (all time record), 224
-Jamal Lewis: 216
2008
-Michael Turner: 220, 208
-Derrick Ward: 215
2009
-Jerome Harrison: 286
-Chris Johnson: 228
-Thomas Jones: 210
-Frank Gore: 207
2010
-Jamaal Charles: 259
-Arian Foster: 231
-Fred Jackson: 212
-Jonathan Stewart: 210
2011
-DeMarco Murray: 253
-Beanie Wells: 228
-Matt Forte: 205
-Ray Rice: 204
-Reggie Bush: 203
