FRISCO, Texas — No one in a ĂŰĚŇTV’ uniform is safe from the ravages of the injury bug in 2024, and that's never been more clear as the weeks roll along. One of the latest victims of it is Zack Martin, a perennial NFL ironman who has combated a variety of injuries this season to remain available through the first 11 games.
It's been an emotional last several days for the nine-time All-Pro right guard, first hearing news he had received the team's nod as their 2024 nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
"Having that extreme honor of being the nominee for the Walter Man of the Year," the Gob said of the illuminated side of his coin. "It's very humbling, and it makes you feel good inside to look at some of the teammates in the past that I've been really close with that have been the nominees, and obviously Dak was the winner of it [in 2022] and to see how much they pour into the community and what they do for this team, not only on the field but off the field.
"So very humbled to be a part of that."
But then came the dark side of that same coin: Martin will not take the field again this season.
In that aforementioned 11th game, his season was ended by an injury to his right ankle, while he was still dealing with one to the opposing one.
Martin didn't know at the time he'd be forced to undergo surgery to repair the issue, operating under the premise he'd return soon, and despite missing the two divisional matchups that culminated in a win over the New York Giants on Thanksgiving.
But as he prepared to try and return for Week 14 against the Cincinnati Bengals, he came to the realization his ankle wasn't healing, also revealing it's not a new ailment; but rather one that has nagged him for a very, very long time now.
"It's something I've been dealing with all year, back to training camp, and really over the last few years," Martin said. "But the last couple of weeks, we kind of took those two weeks and tried to heal up and did some different treatments, and stuff like that. And then, Monday, we did some workouts on the field and that just didn't respond very well.
"Britt [Brown] and I kind of had a heart-to-heart conversation and decided that it was smart to get this thing fixed and get healthy."
Martin went on to note this will mark the second surgery on the offending ankle of his career, also hoping to "clean up some other stuff in there as well" when he goes under the knife in the days to come (the week of Dec. 9, to be exact), and that the injury was "not responding to treatment" over the past two weeks leading into the decision to surgically repair it.
"It's been an interesting few days, to say the least," said the nine-time Pro Bowler. "Coming off those two weeks off and having a little extra time, thinking about really preparing to play in the game the last couple of days, and then just coming to the realization that I need to get this thing fixed and get healthy — it's tough. Anytime you pour everything you have into something and then come up short on it and have to do stuff like this, it sucks.
"Guys in this locker room, we put a lot of time into this and yeah, it's a sh-tty situation."
The glaring question, one that was already hovering above his 2024 season prior to the injury but is now torrentially showering his outlook, is if Martin will retire after this news.
"This is not the time to have those discussions, and this is kind of all I'll say about that," he said with a very clear air of emotional frustration and disappointment in his voice. "It's a tough situation and the most important thing on my mind is getting healthy, and then having those conversations down the road. First and foremost, I want to get healthy and maybe those conversations are a little bit easier.
"... We'll see what the future holds."
Whenever Martin does call it a career, be it in the next few months or further down the road, it will not only mark the end of one of the greatest NFL campaigns in the history of the position, but also that of what was once a ironclad wall of offensive linemen that featured Martin, Travis Frederick and Tyron Smith.
Martin became teary-eyed when mentioning his recent conversations with Frederick, who retired following the 2019 season due to his battle with Guillain–Barré syndrome.
That could very well indicate Martin is potentially seeing some writing on the wall — also considering, in the past, it would've required an Act of Congress for him to miss a game — but, again, he is not prepared to make that call in a cloud of frustration and poor health.
You can count on him to remain heavily involved in the Cowboys' game planning and the coaching up of players like Brock Hoffman and T.J. Bass going forward, however, as it made completely clear on Thursday.
Will that involve putting on a headset on game days, though?
"If they'll give me one, I'll take one," he said with a huge, ear-to-ear smile.
It's a safe bet the Cowboys give the living legend whatever he wants.
