Former NFL Running back Curtis Martin revealed how his faith in Jesus Christ led him to become a better man and enter the Hall of Fame as an athlete with the New England Patriots and New York Jets.

"...At the time I was speaking to a pastor and I told him what numbers were available between 26 and 28, and he said 28. He said because that is a really important Bible verse," said Martin to on NBCSN's Pro Football Talk show, "It's Deuteronomy 28, and he said that it talks about the blessings for obedience and all that. So I took the number and Deuteronomy 28 became my only ritual before every game. I would read it and that's the reason why I wore number 28."

Martin mentioned in his memorable Hall of Fame speech some of the terrible things he had witnessed as a child inside his home.

"Let me tell you about how I got started playing. So I grew up in a pretty bad neighborhood. But the household that I lived in was even worse. I had a father who I love him dearly and he's passed and gone on, but he was my guy before he died. But when I was 5 years old, I remember watching him torture my mother, I mean, literally. I don't necessarily have notes, so I'm going to bare my soul and just bear with me," said Martin to the audience at his HOF speech in Canton, Ohio on August 4, 2012, "I've seen him beat her up like she was a man. I've seen him throw her down the steps."

Curtis Martin did not believe he'd live past the age of 21 due to his tough environment inside his home and out.

"[When I was 15,] I remember one distinct time a guy had a gun to my head, a loaded gun to my head, pulled the trigger seven times. God's honest truth, the bullet didn't come out. He wasn't pointing the gun at me and pulled the trigger and a bullet came out. I was too young to even recognize that God was saving my life," said Martin.

He revealed that he accepted Christ into his life after he listened to a Pastor preaching a sermon when he was 20-years-old.

"I had never went to church. My mother never raised me telling me about God or anything. But I said I've got to go to the nearest church and tell this God, God, thank you, because I know I'm not faster than a bullet. I'm not Superman. But somehow I seem to have had more than nine lives," said Martin.

"So I looked up and talked to God like he was one of my boys in the street. I said, 'Listen, man, I don't know nothing about you or this Jesus cat that everybody talk about, but I'm going to make a deal with you. I heard about people making deals with the devil, but I don't want to do that. I'm going to make a deal with you. If you let me live past 21, dude, I promise that I'll just try to do my best and try to live right and try to do whatever you want me to do. I know you're a smart person, if you're God.'"

Martin also disclosed what he wants his legacy to be when the Good Lord calls him home one day.

"At my eulogy, I don't want my daughter or whoever it may be giving my eulogy to talk about how many yards I gained or touchdowns I scored. I want my daughter to be able to talk about the man that Curtis Martin was. How when she was growing up, she looked for a man who was like her father. That he was a man of integrity, a man of strong character, and a God fearing man. That's what I want," said Martin.