Curtis Martin is hurting badly at the moment, more than he ever has in his brilliant career that has spanned 14,101 rushing yards in 11 seasons.
It’s not necessarily the physical pain in his right knee, which was repaired with arthroscopic surgery last December to clean out some loose pieces in the joint.
It’s starting out Jets training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, which prohibits the player from practicing with the team.
Based on Martin’s perennial durability, you’d sooner have expected to see him on Mars before you’d see him on a PUP list. For Martin, being on the PUP list is akin to making him endure a 90-degree day without drinking water.
“It hurts,” Martin said yesterday during a break in his rehab schedule. “This is the one thing in my NFL career – more so than any physical pain – that hurts knowing I’m not out there [practicing] right now. That’s what I have most difficulty with.
“The hardest thing for me is not being out there with the team,” Martin went on. “I’m one of those guys who really, really believes in the whole team concept. And as a leader of the team, I look at myself as one of those guys who likes to lead his team out to battle.”
Martin’s absence from practice has placed an ominous cloud over this camp, despite it being so early.
He’s 33 and coming off the worst season of his career. His 735 yards rushing ended an NFL-record streak of 10 consecutive seasons of 1,000 or more rushing yards.
Martin was placed on injured reserve for the final four games of the season with his right knee screaming.
“Last year was the hardest year of my career, because I wasn’t able to go out there,” Martin said.
Oddly, though, just days after Martin had surgery, he had a bounce in his step and vowed to come back stronger than ever in 2006.
That’s what makes this setback, seven months later, so surprising.
“I won’t say surprised as much as I’ll say I always hope for the best and always train for the best, and if it doesn’t turn out that way then you have to adjust, and that’s what I’m doing right now – I’m adjusting,” Martin said.
Though he wouldn’t say it, it’s clear Martin was not thrilled to be placed on the PUP list even though he can come off any day. Asked if he agreed with Eric Mangini’s decision to place him on the list, Martin said, “That’s not a question I would answer. It is what it is. Sometimes things are what they are. I don’t desire to fight what they are.
“I think at some point in time you become wise when you learn to just listen and take heed. Sometimes you have to see beyond your own pride – something I definitely had to do.
“Not being involved with the team and to be out here on the first day of camp, yeah, to be honest, it bothers me.”
Asked if he has any doubt he’ll be suited up to play the Jets’ season opener in September, Martin said, “I’m not going to comment on that. That’s a question I’ll pass on. Please don’t insinuate; I’d ask you not to do that.”
Martin was in a difficult position, because players are forbidden under this Mangini regime to talk about injuries.
“I wouldn’t be working as hard as I am if I [wasn’t going to come back],” Martin said. “When the team is practicing, I’m inside watching film for 2½ hours. I’ve been working out for hours. I wouldn’t do it all for nothing.
“My fire will burn until the day I’m done with football,” Martin said. “I’ll always have that eye of the tiger and I’ll always be focused. This is my priority, this is my profession, and I put my all into it. I’m a man of fortitude.”