Curtis Martin

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Curtis Martin
Curtis Martin in action against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Date of birth	May 1, 1973 (age 33)
Place of birth	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
Weight	207 lb (94 kg)
Position(s)	Running back
College	Pittsburgh
NFL Draft	1995 / Round 3/ Pick 74
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference NFL.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1995-1997 1998-present	New England Patriots New York Jets

Curtis Martin (born May 1, 1973 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), is an American football running back, an alumnus of Taylor Allderdice High School and the University of Pittsburgh, and currently plays for the NFL's New York Jets. He has not played since week 12 of the 2005 season, after aggravating a knee injury originally suffered in the second game of that season. He has stated that his career is almost certainly over.[1]

Martin ranks fourth overall among NFL running backs in rushing yards. He has reached the upper echelons of great NFL running backs relatively quietly, with little media attention for an NFL star of his caliber. His eschewing of the media spotlight is a testament to his reputation as a "team-first" player.

Contents 1 New England Patriots 2 New York Jets 3 Accomplishments 4 Personal 5 Career Rushing Statistics 6 External links

[edit] New England Patriots

Martin entered the NFL in 1995, as a third round draft pick of the New England Patriots. Martin won the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award after rushing for 1487 yards, and was named to the Pro Bowl. The following year, the Patriots went to Super Bowl XXXI, but lost to the Green Bay Packers. Martin rushed for 42 yards, caught 3 passes for 28 yards, and scored a touchdown in the game. Though he was much less effective in 1996 than he was in his rookie season, Martin was again named to the Pro Bowl squad.

[edit] New York Jets

Following the 1997 season, Martin was a restricted free agent, and signed an offer sheet with the New York Jets for 36 million dollars over six years. The Patriots, who had the opportunity to match the offer, declined to do so and instead received a first and third round draft pick from the Jets[2] This reunited Martin with his former Patriot coach Bill Parcells. In his first seven seasons with the Jets, Martin would miss only one game, in Week 6 of the 1998, and earned three more Pro Bowl selections. In 1998, Martin would help lead the Jets to the AFC championship game, (gaining 182 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns against the Jacksonville Jaguars in a Jets playoff win)[3] equaling the franchise's best result since Super Bowl III. Martin won the NFL rushing title in the 2004 NFL season with 1,697 yards (one more than runner-up Shaun Alexander, the closest margin in NFL history). He also won the FedEx Ground Player of the Year Award in 2004. In 2005, he failed in his quest to become the first running back in NFL history to start his career with 11 straight 1,000 rushing yard seasons. He missed the December 11th game vs. the Oakland Raiders with a knee injury and was placed on injured reserve shortly thereafter, meaning that he also missed the final three games of the regular season. Martin finished with 735 rushing yards, giving him a career total of 14,101 rushing yards. Martin began the 2006 campaign on the Physically Unable to Perform list due to complications from the injury. On November 1, 2006, it was announced that he would miss the rest of the regular season with a bone-on-bone condition in his right knee, and it seems unlikely that he will ever play again. Barring a comeback, he will be eligible for the NFL Hall of Fame in 2011.

[edit] Accomplishments

Martin rushed for over 1,000 yards in his first 10 professional seasons, a feat previously accomplished only by Barry Sanders. On November 6, 2005, he scored his 100th career touchdown, joining an elite group of only 16 players to do so. Martin is currently 4th on the all-time rushing yardage list, and on November 27, 2005, in the first quarter against the New Orleans Saints, he became the 4th running back in NFL history, behind Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, and Barry Sanders, to pass the 14,000-yard rushing mark. He is the all-time Jets leader with 10,302 rushing yards with the team.[4] He is also fourth in the same category for the Patriots with 3799 yards.[5] Additionally, Martin happens to have a 'perfect' passer rating of 158.3: 2 completions on 2 pass attempts, 2 TD passes, and an average of 18.0 yards per attempt.

[edit] Personal

Martin attended Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh. He is often spotted courtside at New York Knicks games and attends shows at New York movie premieres. He made Esquire Magazine's best-dressed list in 2004. In earlier years, he was linked romantically to singer Toni Braxton, an outdated fact he later asked the Jets to remove from his media-guide biography (along with a child to whom he was a godfather, not father). He has been linked recently with Destiny's Child member Michelle Williams, a fellow devout Christian.[6]He resides in Garden City, New York.

[edit] Career Rushing Statistics

Year	Team	Games	Attempts	Yards	YPC	TDs
1995	New England Patriots	16	368	1,487	4.0	14
1996	New England Patriots	16	316	1,152	3.6	14
1997	New England Patriots	13	274	1,160	4.2	4
1998	New York Jets	15	369	1,287	3.5	8
1999	New York Jets	16	367	1,464	4.0	5
2000	New York Jets	16	316	1,204	3.8	9
2001	New York Jets	16	333	1,513	4.5	10
2002	New York Jets	16	261	1,094	4.2	7
2003	New York Jets	16	323	1,308	4.0	2
2004	New York Jets	16	371	1,697	4.6	12
2005	New York Jets	12	220	735	3.3	5
Career	NE / NYJ	168	3,518	14,101	4.0	90

[edit] External links

• ESPN.com Curtis Martin Profile
• CBS Sportsline Curtis Martin Profile
• CNN/SI Curtis Martin Profile
• Curtis Martin at Pro Football Reference

Preceded by Marion Butts	New England Patriots Starting Running Back 1995-1997	Succeeded by Robert Edwards
Preceded by Adrian Murrell	New York Jets Starting Running Back 1998-2005	Succeeded by Kevan Barlow