[3][4] His grandmother, Eleanor Johnson, was found murdered with a knife in her chest; at age 15, Martin had a near-death experience when the trigger of a loaded gun pointed at his head was pulled seven times, but never fired.

[3] At the insistence of his mother, who wanted him to participate in an extracurricular activity as a way to keep him away from crime and violence, Curtis began to play football during his senior year, despite having never cared much for the sport.

[6][8] In 1994, Martin opened his senior year running for a career-high 251 yards against Texas; however, the following week against Ohio he suffered a sprained ankle that sidelined him for the rest of the season.

[8] Draft analysts predicted that had Martin stayed another season at Pittsburgh and remained injury-free he could have been a potential first-round selection.

[8][10] Martin signed a contract with the team on July 19, 1995,[11] and made his NFL debut in the Patriots' week one win over the Cleveland Browns.

It was at this game that a young Adrian Peterson fell in love with his hero Curtis Martin and vowed to wear the number 28 in his honor.

On the first day of the free agency period Martin's agent, Eugene Parker, contacted the New York Jets to gauge their interest in potentially signing the running back.

[16] Negotiations ensued between Parker and Jets head coach and general manager Bill Parcells (who had left New England not long before) and an offer sheet was formulated.

[16] Though Martin had reservations about playing in New York and particularly for a division rival, the presence of his former coach Parcells influenced his decision to ultimately join the Jets.

[18][19] The "poison pill" was a clause in the contract that stated Martin would become an unrestricted free agent after one year if the Patriots matched the offer and it would have forced New England to pay a $3.3 million roster bonus that would have compromised their salary cap.

In 2005, Martin suffered what was deemed as a strained right knee injury in the Jets' second game of the season against the Miami Dolphins, when he was tackled by linebacker Zach Thomas.

[24][25] On November 27, 2005, Martin joined Barry Sanders, Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith as the only running backs to rush for 14,000 yards in their career.

[27] Martin began 2006 on the Physically Unable to Perform list as the post-operation recovery period took longer than expected though the surgery was considered minimally invasive.

[31] He continued to involve himself in various charity work including through the Curtis Martin Job Foundation, established by Martin during his playing career, designed to provide "financial aid and hands-on support to single mothers, children's charities, individuals with disabilities and low income housing providers".

[2] In 1990, Curtis Sr. checked into a veteran's hospital for two weeks followed by a six-month stay at a rehabilitation center and was able to remain sober until his death from cancer, in June 2009 at age 58.

[2] Martin married his longtime girlfriend Carolina Williams in a ceremony held at Oheka Castle in Huntington, Long Island in 2010.