Curtis Martin

Curtis James Martin Jr. is a former American football running back. Martin was born May 1, 1973 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and grew up there. He is an alumnus of Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh. Martin played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. He officially announced his retirement from the NFL on July 26 2007. 

Martin had an illustrious career in the NFL. He ranks fourth overall among NFL running backs in rushing yards. He 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 was a testament to his reputation as a "team-first" player.

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 1,487 yards, and was named to the Pro Bowl. The following year, he rushed for a franchise record 166 yards and 3 touchdowns in his first career playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. 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.

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 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 This reunited Martin with his former Patriot coach Bill Parcells. In his first seven seasons with the Jets, Martin missed only one game, in Week 6 of the 1998 season, and earned three more Pro Bowl selections. In 1998, Martin led the Jets to the AFC Championship Game, gaining 182 yards from scrimmage and scoring two touchdowns against the Jacksonville Jaguars in a Jets playoff win. 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, Martin 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. Curtis officially announced his retirement on July 26, 2007. He will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.

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. He is also fourth in the same category for the Patriots with 3799 yards. 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.

Personal
Martin 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. He resides in Garden City, New York Chris Berman from ESPN gave him the nickname Curtis "My Favorite" Martin, a play on words from the 60's television show "My Favorite Martian".