Across the Hudson River, Tiki Barber, seemingly in the prime of his career and in great health, cavalierly talks about retiring after this season regardless of his production or how far the Giants might go.
Meanwhile, at Weeb Ewbank Hall, Curtis Martin, a Hall of Fame lock the millisecond he’s eligible, toils for one more football moment, one more yard, one more win, one more Sunday sprint through the tunnel with his teammates.
Martin has been a mysterious presence around the Jets’ facility this season since being placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list with his surgically-prepared right knee not well enough for him to compete, quietly slipping in and out team meetings and rehabbing on his own, never to be seen at practices or games.
This week, by NFL rule, he was eligible to come off the PUP list and begin practicing with the team, but Jets head coach Eric Mangini on Monday said the plan is to look at practicing Martin after the team’s Oct. 29 game in Cleveland, an ominous further delay of two more weeks.
Yesterday, while speaking to reporters about his situation for the first time since the start of the regular season, Martin painted a rather cloudy picture of what his future holds, seemingly unsure himself about whether he’ll ever practice or play again.
In what was the most sobering comment of all, when he was asked if he will “definitely” practice the week after the Cleveland game, Martin said, “Definitely is not a word I’m going to use. Hopefully is the word that I will use.” The obvious question that remains unanswered, even after yesterday’s session with Martin, is this: Ten months removed from the arthroscopic surgery he had and subsequent months of rehabilitation, what could two more weeks (until after the Cleveland game) do for Martin?
It seems almost as if Mangini and the Jets are simply delaying the inevitable, which is placing Martin on the injured reserve list, which would end his 2006 season and, very possibly, his brilliant career.
“I don’t think much will be different physically in my body two weeks from now, but I do believe we will be able to make a wiser decision,” Martin said.
There’s been a rumor floating since training camp that Martin has a bone-on-bone condition in the knee, which is degenerative and will never get better. Martin has denied the rumors, but declined to specifically discuss the exact problem.
The closest Martin would come to discussing his injury came when he said, “I feel myself getting better. I’m running a little better.
The one thing I was concerned about was making the cuts. Once you get out there, instincts take over and I haven’t been put in that situation, so I don’t know how that will turn out.” Martin said he’d been targeting this week as his return to practice, but insisted he’s not discouraged about the delay.
Asked why, after everything he’s accomplished, he’s putting himself though all this and yearns to return so badly, Martin said, “This is my team. This is my job. This is what I like doing.” Martin, saying “there is more that someone can contribute to the team than just being out on the field,” has taken pride in helping Jets RBs Leon Washington, Kevan Barlow and Cedric Houston behind the scenes.
As for retirement, Martin wants no part of it at the moment.
Asked if he would try coming back next season if he’s never cleared to practice this season and is placed on IR, Martin said, “Right now, I honestly can’t answer that question.” Asked what his “terms” as far as leaving the game are, Martin, the NFL’s fourth alltime leading rusher, said, “I’ve always taken the approach that in football you have to play every play as if its your last, because you never know when it’s going to be your last. So, whenever that time came for me, I knew that I was ready.
“I knew that I had given my all, and that’s the best feeling I can have, to know when my career is over that I left it all on the field, I gave my team, I gave the organization, I gave the media everything – honesty, trustworthiness, character, integrity. Those are the types of things and type of legacy that I want to leave. I believe I’ve worked hard to do that and when I do retire, I don’t think I’ll have any regrets.” Asked if he’d be “at peace” if he never plays again, Martin said, “If that ends up being the situation, I’m sure I’ll make peace with it, but until that is a reality, my mind won’t make peace with it. To have peace with that doesn’t benefit me right now.
I’d like to keep my drive going the way it is.
If that was the situation, then I’ll come to peace with it.”
