Oct. 17—Should you cross paths with Mike Martinez, a thought leaps immediately to mind.
“That dude is a football player.”
For a while, though, he wasn’t, which makes being able to resurrect his career as a senior for one last go-round with the Idaho Vandals a special time for him.
Martinez is listed on Idaho’s roster as a 6-6, 265-pound tight end. But the mere numbers don’t convey his imposing size.
Every inch, every pound is useful. He looks like he jumped off the screen of a superhero movie. Like he was forged in a steel mill.
Martinez points to the Northwest’s rugged scenery as one of Idaho’s unanticipated charms when he ventured here from his native Long Beach, CA. and the wreckage of his career at UCLA. Well, picture this. There are trees here, and then there is old growth.
Martinez is old growth.
“He is the best-looking player on our team,” says Idaho coach Jason Eck.
But in Moscow, with the Vandals, Martinez hardly acts entitled. He takes none of his current good fortune for granted.
To even get Eck to offer him a role at Idaho, Martinez had to do videotaped drills in a park.
“He had not played football for two years. You could gain or lose 100 pounds in that time,” Eck says.
Last Fourth of July, Eck got a text from a coaching colleague, Derek Sage, now the tight ends coach at Toledo University, who had been Martinez’s position coach at UCLA.
“He said ‘I have a kid I had at UCLA. We were trying to get him into Nevada or Toledo, but he did not quite have all his requirements,'” Eck said.
Martinez acknowledged of his tryout in the park “it felt pretty crazy. But it reminded me how badly I wanted to play, the lengths I would go to.”
Martinez was a three and four star recruit from the California football factory Mater Dei High School when he signed with the Bruins. From his freshman year in 2019 until being lost for the season with a reported leg injury in the third game of 2021, Martinez played in every UCLA game and was lauded as a dominating blocker.
He went through spring ball with the Bruins in 2022 and reported to preseason camp.
Then, suddenly, he was gone.
UCLA’s coach at the time, Chip Kelly, reported cryptically that Martinez had left the program.
He was dealing with the effects of concussions, Martinez says.
“It was messing with all areas of my life, football and otherwise.
“It took two or three years to rehabilitate. But something about football called to me. I was taking steps every day to come back.”
Eck played as an offensive lineman on a Rose Bowl winning team at Wisconsin, and he has coached football as a graduate assistant or assistant football coach at Wisconsin, Colorado, Idaho, Winona State, Ball State, Hampton, Western Illinois, Minnesota State, Montana State and South Dakota State before he was hired as Idaho’s head coach for the 2022 season.
“He is as good a blocking tight end as I have ever been around,” Eck says of Martinez, and that includes Dallas Goedert at SDSU, who has been moving bodies in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles since he was drafted in the second round in 2018.
Martinez arrived at Idaho in time for the third preseason practice. He made an immediate impact as a blocker, and his role as a receiver has been growing as he becomes familiar with Idaho’s offense. The highlight has been catching a touchdown pass in the Vandals’ homecoming win against Northern Arizona.
“It has worked out really good, honestly. It has worked out better than I thought it would. I didn’t expect to get as close to everybody here. I didn’t expect this community,” he says of playing for the Vandals.
“It has reignited my passion.”
At UCLA, Martinez was named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, so he has the academic side of representing the University of Idaho handled.
When his college career concludes “I would like to play in the NFL,” he says.
In the meantime, he is relishing the opportunity to be back in helmet and pads as a Vandal.
“Seeing all the hard work pay off, that is really nice. That is one of the best parts on playing tight end,” says Martinez.
The Vandals (4-3, 1-2 in the Big Sky Conference) are coming off a frustrating 38-7 loss to third-ranked Montana State. Idaho is currently ranked 14th as it looks ahead to a home game against Cal Poly Saturday, and the Vandals still hope to make a deep playoff run.
“We are always aiming at a championship. That’s our expectation,” Martinez says.
He is enjoying the pursuit enormously.
“It’s been fun. Really exciting,” he says.
Of course it has. That dude is a football player.
