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Report: Curtis' Season Over, Career Likely Over as well - (MERGED)


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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2644240

Jets head coach Eric Mangini said earlier Monday that the team would wait until next week to make a decision about activating running back Curtis Martin for practice or ending his season. But according to a newspaper report late Monday night, it seems the decision has already been made. s3164.jpgMartin

Martin, the leading rusher in Jets history, will not play this season because of the same bone-on-bone condition in his right knee that has kept him on the physically-unable-to-perform list for the first eight weeks of the season, the Newark Star-Ledger reported, citing several players and a team official.

The report also said that Martin's career is likely over.

"He told me he's done," said one player, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of Mangini's policy of keeping mum about injuries. "He said he has bone-on-bone and he can't cut. Besides, he's not in any type of shape to play. The only way he would play is by some type of miracle.

"I think he's going to concentrate on his business opportunities. He feels he can make more money off the field than on it."

According the report, Martin has slowed his rehab process considerably, has been spending increasingly less time at the team complex, and rarely attends evening team meetings.

Martin, who has rushed for 14,101 yards, was injured last season in Week 2, but played in 12 games before ending his year. He underwent surgery in December, but was slow to recover. He was placed on the PUP list before training camp so he could continue to rehabilitate the knee.

"That's a hard injury to come back from," a team official, who also requested anonymity, told the newspaper. "The only thing he has to play for is pride. He doesn't have anything to prove. I don't see him playing again." According to NFL rules, a player on the PUP list can't be cleared to practice until after Week 6. Then, a team has three weeks to decide whether to allow that player to start practicing. The deadline for the Jets is Nov. 7.

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Jets delay final decision on whether Martin will return

The New York Jets will wait until next week to make a decision on activating running back Curtis Martin for practice or ending his season.

Coach Eric Mangini said he spoke with Martin, general manager Mike Tannenbaum and the Jets' medical staff last week and they chose to hold off on making a decision this week. The NFL's No. 4 career rusher, sidelined with a right knee injury since the end of last season, was eligible to come off the physically-unable-to-perform list Oct. 16, but the team announced he'd remain on it until after the Jets' game at Cleveland on Sunday.

"We're going to go through Monday of next week at least," Mangini said Monday. "In light of the bye week and talking to Mike and Curtis and the medical staff, that'll give us the maximum amount of time in the 21-day window and the maximum amount of practice time should he return to practice."

According to NFL rules, a player on the PUP list can't be cleared to practice until after Week 6. Then, a team has three weeks to decide whether to allow that player to start practicing. The deadline for the Jets is next Tuesday.

Martin, who has rushed for 14,101 yards, was injured last season in Week 2, but played in 12 games before ending his year. He underwent surgery in December, but was slow to recover. He was placed on the PUP list before training camp so he could continue to rehabilitate the knee, which reportedly has a bone-on-bone condition.

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http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=martinretirement&prov=st&type=lgns

Report: Jets RB Martin close to retiring

October 31, 2006

Jersey City, New Jersey (Ticker) - Curtis Martin is done donning his helmet and pads, according to a newspaper report.

The Newark Star-Ledger on Monday reported that the veteran New York Jets running back will not be returning this season and is very close to ending his career.

Martin, 33, has been on the physically unable to perform list the entire year. He underwent surgery in December after suffering an injury to his right knee in Week Two of the 2005 campaign. Martin doesn't have any cartilage in the knee, leaving him unable to run effectively.

"He (Martin) told me he's done," a Jets player, who requested anonymity, told the Star-Ledger. "He said he has bone-on-bone and he can't cut."

A 12-year veteran, Martin has rushed for 14,101 yards and 90 touchdowns in 168 games. He is the Jets' all-time leading rusher and has been selected to five Pro Bowls.

The Jets have until November 7 to decide whether Martin will be eligible to practice or rule him inactive for the remainder of the season.

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http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/story/466780p-392791c.html

Starting to look like curtains for Curtis

BY RICH CIMINI

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

The Curtis Martin watch will continue for another week.

The Jets aren't going to make a decision on Martin's future until Monday at the earliest, coach Eric Mangini said yesterday. The delay appears to be another ominous sign in Martin's comeback bid.

Martin, 33, on the physically-unable-to-perform list because of his surgically repaired right knee, was eligible to start practicing two weeks ago. But the Jets decided to hold off until this week at the earliest. The extra time, Martin said, would allow him to "make a wiser decision."

Now the target is next week. It's then or never.

If Martin doesn't start practicing by next Tuesday, he's ineligible to play for the remainder of the season. Once he starts practicing - there's no guarantee he will - the Jets have another three weeks to decide whether to activate him or place him on season-ending injured reserve.

Another week of waiting isn't going to help Martin's physical condition, but it "will give us the maximum amount of time for the 21-day window and the maximum amount of practice time, should he return to practice," Mangini said.

This is the bye week for the Jets. Because of the bye, they have only two practices this week, followed by a four-day break. Mangini said Martin "would be better served ... to have the full 21 days with the group." Of course, they knew about the bye week when they announced the initial plan two weeks ago.

Mangini confirmed that another reason for the delay is because Martin is taking the extra time to evaluate his options. Friends say he'll probably try to practice, although he's said to be torn by the pending decision. They say he goes back and forth, mulling retirement versus his comeback bid. It's also believed that he will be examined this week by a doctor, which could have an impact on the ultimate decision.

Martin is working out daily at the Jets' facility, attending most meetings and rehabbing his knee. Two weeks ago, he admitted he still hadn't tried to cut. He reportedly has a bone-on-bone condition, plus another undisclosed problem in his knee that could worsen.

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/ny-spjnotes314954819oct31,0,133504.story?coll=ny-jets-print

Add week for Martin

BY TOM ROCK

Newsday Staff Writer

October 31, 2006

The Curtis Martin Comeback likely will go down to its final day. With a 4 p.m. deadline next Tuesday for the Jets to file paperwork shifting him from the physically unable to perform list to an active practice player, coupled with the team's apparent desire to use every allotted moment based on the framework and rules of the PUP list, the decision could come down to the final minute.

The future of the NFL's fourth all-time leading rusher could be indicated via a fax machine at 3:59 p.m. a week from today.

Coach Eric Mangini said the team will wait until at least Monday to decide which moves, if any, to make with Martin. The Jets had said a decision would be made no earlier than after the Browns game, but with a bye this week, Mangini said waiting the extra week would maximize the actual practice days within the 21-day window if Martin is cleared to practice.

Since being put on the PUP list at the start of camp, Martin has been involved in almost every aspect of the team except the actual football.

"It's not a ceremonial position where he kind of rolls out and shows up to the meeting and then waves to us as we go on," Mangini said. "It's pretty amazing the way he prepares even though he knows he's not going to be in that game that week."

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http://www.nj.com/jets/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1162274883290230.xml&coll=1

Season, career likely over for Martin

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

BY DAVE HUTCHINSON

Star-Ledger Staff

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- The Jets' future Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin won't play this season because of a bone-on-bone condition in his right knee and his career is likely over, several players and a team official told The Star-Ledger yesterday.

They all spoke on the condition of anonymity because of Jets coach Eric Mangini's policy of giving few details on injuries.

Mangini said two weeks ago that the earliest Martin would begin practicing would be after the Browns game, which the Jets lost, 20-13, on Sunday in Cleveland.

But yesterday, Mangini pushed that date to next week, the deadline for the team to make a decision on whether to allow Martin to practice or place him on the injured reserve list. Getting put on injured reserve would end his season.

That decision must be officially made by next Tuesday.

"He told me he's done," one player said. "He said he has bone-on-bone and he can't cut. Besides, he's not in any type of shape to play. The only way he would play is by some type of miracle.

"I think he's going to concentrate on his business opportunities. He feels he can make more money off the field than on it."

Martin's agent, Eugene Parker, didn't return a phone call to his office. Martin was unavailable for comment.

There have been several tell-tale signs that Martin won't play again. According to the players, Martin:

Has slowed down his rehab considerably. At one time, he often was seen in the trainer's room. Now, he's hardly there.

Has yet to perform any type of drills or do much running. Though he's not allowed to practice with the team, players haven't seen him working out on the field.

Is spending less and less time at the complex. Players say Martin comes in the morning but is usually gone by the afternoon. He rarely attends evening meetings.

The leading rusher in Jets history was placed on the physical unable to perform list in August. Martin, 33, underwent what was thought to be routine arthroscopic surgery on his right knee last December. The bone-on-bone condition was apparently discovered at that time and Martin realized the severity of the injury.

"That's a hard injury to come back from," a team official said. "The only thing he has to play for is pride. He doesn't have anything to prove. I don't see him playing again."

Martin would be the second local high-profile running back to retire. Giants star Tiki Barber has said he will retire at the end of the season to focus on other business opportunities.

Mangini, meanwhile, continues to suggest that Martin might begin practicing next week.

"In thinking about it, to maximize the 21 days (the window for Martin to start practicing or be placed on injured reserve), it would be much better for him having the three full weeks," Mangini said. "I just thought it would be more productive if we took a step back and talked it all out."

The organization has sought to give Martin, the NFL's fourth all-time leading rusher, every opportunity to come back.

"Curtis is a special guy and he's been special to the organization," Mangini said. "He's just been so important to the organization. I respect everything he's done."

Prior to the draft last April, Martin, who had a streak of 126 starts broken last season, strongly suggested to the organization that it draft a running back high because he was concerned about his knee.

The Jets, however, selected left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson (fourth overall) and center Nick Mangold (29th overall) with their two first-round picks. They didn't take a running back until the fourth round, but the selection, Leon Washington, is looking like a solid pick.

Martin signed with the Jets as a restricted free agent from New England in 1998. He has 14,101 yards in his career and in 2004 was the oldest player to lead the NFL in rushing.

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http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061031/SPORTS01/610310360/1108/SPORTS01

Martin decision delayed

By ANDREW GROSS

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original Publication: October 31, 2006)

HEMPSTEAD — His absence no longer looms over the Jets as it did in training camp or even the nascent part of the season. But, sooner or later, a decision must be made on whether Curtis Martin will practice.

The Jets once again opted for the "later'' option yesterday, pushing the decision back another week as the 33-year-old Martin remains on the physically-unable-to-perform list.

They'll apparently take it right to next Tuesday's league deadline for deciding whether to allow Martin, who underwent surgery on his right knee in December, to practice. Once Martin begins to practice, the Jets have 21 days to either place him on the 53-man roster or put him on season-ending injured reserve.

"To maximize the 21 days, if he's able to come back, it would be better served for us to do that right at the edge of that window,'' Jets coach Eric Mangini said.

The Jets are in a bye week and will practice only today and tomorrow. Mangini said he wanted Martin to come back to work on a full week so he could get the most practices possible before the Jets had to make a decision.

If the Jets decide the 33-year-old Martin, who reportedly has an arthritic, bone-on-bone condition, cannot practice, he can either be left on the PUP list, where he was placed the day before training camp opened, or put on the IR. Either would preclude him from playing in 2006.

Mangini said it also gives Martin — fourth in the NFL with 14,101 career rushing yards — an extra week to consider all the possibilities. Left unsaid was that one is retirement.

"It's partially that and it's really more, in thinking about it, to maximize the 21 days,'' Mangini said.

Then again, the Jets knew their schedule two weeks ago, when Martin was first eligible to come off the PUP list. At that time, Mangini said no decision would be made until after the Browns game. The Jets lost at Cleveland 20-13 Sunday.

"At that point, that's really how it felt,'' Mangini said. "And once we got through it, I was thinking about it through the week and talking to (general manager) Mike (Tannenbaum) and Curtis and the medical staff and thought, 'OK, we would be better served, not just organizationally, but for him to have the full 21 days with the group.''

It could also be the Jets — in deference to Martin's Hall of Fame career and what he's meant to the organization — are just giving him an opportunity to be satisfied that he's made every effort to return to the football field, even if ultimately he can't.

"Curtis is a special guy, and he's been special to the organization,'' Mangini said. "Not that we wouldn't do this with any player, but I think Curtis is a unique person.''

Without Martin, the Jets have struggled somewhat in their running game, which was 15th in the NFL through Sunday's game in averaging 112.0 yards.

Rookie Leon Washington has emerged as Martin's likely replacement as the feature back, with two 100-yard performances in three weeks before gaining 51 yards on 15 carries against the Browns.

Meanwhile, Martin's fellow Pittsburgh native, Kevan Barlow, had 16 yards on five carries in the first half but did not touch the ball after halftime.

"I just think it's a matter of the situations and personnel,'' Barlow said. "Leon runs a lot of the single-back personnel. I think we ran a majority of that through the second, third and fourth quarters, which is keeping me from being out there on the field.

"I was picking up yards, but I just have to be patient until my time comes,'' Barlow said. "I'm not going to question what the offensive coordinator (Brian Schottenheimer) or the running-back coach (Jimmy Raye) have in mind as far as personnel. Five carries is good enough for me. Any carries in the NFL is good. Hopefully, that's not my role, five carries.''

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