Curtis Martin to have knee surgery

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Long time New York Jets running back Curtis Martin will undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his right knee this week, the Jets said Sunday.

If Martin, 32, had been able to finish the season, he would have been the first running back in NFL history to rush for at least 1,000 yards in each of his first 11 years. Martin had been bothered recently by knee pain.

"It would be great," he said on the Jets' Web site. "(But) I'm more concerned about winning games. I know this sounds like the right thing to say right now, but I've never been a goal guy. I have to understand that this would be special, not just for myself, but everyone who's a part of it. We just need to win a game."

Before Sunday, Martin had made 119 straight regular-season starts and had not missed a start since Week 5 of the 1998 season.