Former RB, Curtis Martin, talks about the Jets’ QBs

Hall of Famer Curtis Martin never got booed in his own stadium, but he knows the mind-set of New York Jets fans and he thinks they will not have much patience if Mark Sanchez struggles — not with Tim Tebow looming on the sideline.

“There’s no way around it, it’s the big elephant in the room,” Martin expounded Monday of the potentially volatile quarterback situation. “It’s just a reality and the best man is going to win.

“If Mark isn’t having a good year, the crowd will be screaming for Tebow,” he continued. “If Tebow gets in there and does well, he’ll play.” Sports Betting

Martin met up with a group of reporters to reflect on his journey to Canton, where he’ll be inducted Aug. 4. When the conversation got around to the current Jets, he smiled and announced, “The QB scenario is certainly going to be intriguing.”

After the season, Martin was not shy about expressing his opinion, saying he wanted his old team to pursue Peyton Manning. That never came near to taking place, but they traded for Tebow in March.

Martin endorsed the move, saying, “If I were an owner, I would’ve made that deal all day. … It’s a great deal.”

This may sound like Martin isn’t that much of a Sanchez fan, but the 4th-leading rusher in NFL history asserted he believes Sanchez can be the long term answer for the Jets.

“I think Mark is a really accomplished QB,” he said. “I think he has the capability to be the starting quarterback for an extended period of time with the N.Y Jets. I suspect he is a guy who hasn’t tapped into what he’s really able of.

“For his sake and for the team’s sake, I’m hoping it happens this year. He’s already done well and there’s lot more in him … I just think Mark can get the job done. I think that’s why they gave him the new contract, time will tell.”

Martin, who described Tebow as “a good backup,” doesn’t forecast a QB controversy — even if the fans start screaming for Tebow. The locker room, he anticipated, will not take sides.

“It’s not like gangs, the bloods and the crips,” he said, smiling.

Martin enjoyed quarterback stableness during his 7 seasons with the N.Y Jets, going from Vinny Testaverde to Chad Pennington. The only rough patch happened in 1999, when Testaverde ruptured his Achilles tendon in the 1st game and they did not have a capable backup. There went the season.

That’s why, he revealed, he liked the Tebow trade.

“It could save the season,” he claimed.

Martin also remembered about his not likely trail to the NFL. As a kid being raised in a tough section of Pittsburgh, he never dreamed about playing in the NFL. He never liked football, not even as a player. He played as he had larger concepts.

“Football, to me, was like my essential training for life,” he revealed, adding, “At the end of the day, football saved my life. I do not know where I’d be — I don’t know if I’d be alive — if I hadn’t played football.”