INDIANAPOLIS -- Curtis Martin has gone from the mean streets of Pittsburgh to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The star running back with the Patriots and Jets for 11 seasons was one of six players elected Saturday to the shrine. Martin once disliked playing the game, but used it to escape a neighborhood where his grandmother was murdered.

"When I get awarded something like the Hall of Fame, it's almost foreign to me," said Martin, the NFL's No. 4 career rusher. "This wasn't something I planned on doing. Football is something I did so I didn't end up jailed or dead.

"If you make up your mind to just do the right thing no matter what ... and you stick to it, which I did, this is how things can turn around. I feel as if my life turned around from what it used to be, and I think anyone has a chance."

Martin and four linemen were elected to the hall, along with one senior committee choice. He is joined by Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf, Dermontti Dawson, and senior selection Jack Butler.

Jerome Bettis, Cris Carter and Bill Parcells were among the finalists who didn't make it.

"I'm not even close to this position, I actually don't think I'd play more than four or five years without Bill Parcells," Martin said, indicating he will have his former coach present him for induction on Aug. 4 in Canton, Ohio.

"I'm very, very happy that Curtis got in. He's really deserving," Parcells told ESPNNewYork.com, preferring to keep the focus on Martin and not his own situation.

"He's one of the greatest players I have ever coached," Parcells said.

Martin called it a "bittersweet" moment because his mentor didn't make the cut with him.

"There's God and there's Parcells as far the meaning they've had on my career," Martin said in a conference call with reporters, adding: "If I did dream about anything, it would've been going into Hall of Fame with guy I feel is responsible for my career ... I was looking forward to either Bill going in or us going in together."

A panel of 44 media members voted in the six men.

Martin made it for his consistency and durability, rushing for 14,101 yards and 90 touchdowns. He rushed for at least 1,000 yards in each of his first 10 seasons, the first three with New England and the others with the Jets. The 1995 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Martin won the NFL rushing title in 2004 with 1,697 yards.