Post by 50yardfan on Jul 10, 2011 13:40:15 GMT -5
Ex-Tigers QB Matt Martin staying in the game in indoor league
www.indeonline.com/communities/massillon/x910594669/Ex-Tigers-QB-Matt-Martin-staying-in-the-game-in-indoor-league
Matt Martin’s indoor football career didn’t get under way through some grandiose plan. Instead, it started through a simple question from a friend.
“I was living in Newport, Rhode Island,” the former Massillon quarterback said this week. “One of my buddies, one of the guys who coached him in high school was starting up a team out there.
“He asked me if I wanted to play, just to have some fun and get back in the game. I started playing out there and was doing real well.”
From there, Martin found the door opened to bigger things. One of those bigger things was a spot on the roster this past season of the Alabama Hammers, a Southern Indoor Football League team located in Huntsville, Ala.
But before Martin — a 2003 Washington High graduate — could end up in Huntsville, he took a brief bypass through Erie, Pa.
“I worked out for the Erie (SIFL) team and ended up signing with them,” said Martin, who had a workout scheduled with the Arena Football League’s Dallas team a couple years ago before that league took a one-year hiatus. “But then they ended up signing another quarterback who was in the NFL on the practice squad. So, that probably would have bumped me to the practice squad.
“Once I got signed with them, I contacted an agent, so he’s the one that Alabama contacted. They set up the workout, and I went down there and worked out. They liked what they saw and told me they wanted to sign me and bring me down for the season.”
So the former Massillon and John Carroll University quarterback packed his bags for Alabama. Yet, it would take a while for Martin to find himself on the field in the position he was actually signed by the Hammers to play.
“I was the backup to start the season,” Martin said. “The guy they had starting had some experience and had played a couple of years, so he started. I actually saw time at receiver before I saw time at quarterback. It was just a learning experience.”
Martin did make two catches for 36 yards in his time at receiver. However, for the most part, he spent that time sitting and learning the ins and outs of the league, which is comprised of several players who spent time at major Division I college football programs, as well on some NFL teams.
He admits there was some major adjustments he had to deal with moving into the SIFL, which has a season that runs from late March until early June.
“It was definitely the size of the field and the speed of the game,” Martin said. “Everything happens so much quicker, because the field’s smaller. That was the big thing is learning the defenses and reads and having to get rid of the ball so quick because of how fast everything is.”
Martin would finally get his own chance to see first-hand how fast it is out on the field when he made his first — and only — start of the season in the 10th game of the year at Columbus, Ga. Yet, even that was a bittersweet affair for Martin, who did throw a pair of touchdown passes in the loss.
“It took me a few series to get into the flow of the game and get the speed of it down,” Martin said. “Once I settled in, I was playing really well. Then in the third quarter, a guy fell into my knee and I tore my MCL. One start and I was done.”
The injury still is in the process of healing, forcing Martin to use crutches for the time being. He was scheduled to have a follow-up with the doctor in Huntsville on Thursday to find out the next course of action in the recovery process.
Still, Martin has been given assurances that he will have a second year in the SIFL, despite the injury.
“I spoke with the owner of the team and the general manager and the head coach after the season,” said Martin, who worked under a one-year deal last season. “We all sat down, and they all said with the little opportunity that I actually got, they really liked what they saw. They thought I played well, and they want to re-sign me for next season.”
That said, Martin isn’t closing the book on possibly eyeing bigger things. He worked out for a Canadian Football League team during the season, and had other workouts lined up until the injury put those on the back burner.
Martin, though, isn’t letting himself get too obsessed with those grander possibilities. For now, he’s concentrating on healing his knee and working toward another season in Huntsville.
“Whatever happens, happens,” Martin said. “I don’t have any expectations. I’m having fun with it while I still can, while I’m young and my body will let me. Once it’s over, you know, it’s over.”
www.indeonline.com/communities/massillon/x910594669/Ex-Tigers-QB-Matt-Martin-staying-in-the-game-in-indoor-league
Matt Martin’s indoor football career didn’t get under way through some grandiose plan. Instead, it started through a simple question from a friend.
“I was living in Newport, Rhode Island,” the former Massillon quarterback said this week. “One of my buddies, one of the guys who coached him in high school was starting up a team out there.
“He asked me if I wanted to play, just to have some fun and get back in the game. I started playing out there and was doing real well.”
From there, Martin found the door opened to bigger things. One of those bigger things was a spot on the roster this past season of the Alabama Hammers, a Southern Indoor Football League team located in Huntsville, Ala.
But before Martin — a 2003 Washington High graduate — could end up in Huntsville, he took a brief bypass through Erie, Pa.
“I worked out for the Erie (SIFL) team and ended up signing with them,” said Martin, who had a workout scheduled with the Arena Football League’s Dallas team a couple years ago before that league took a one-year hiatus. “But then they ended up signing another quarterback who was in the NFL on the practice squad. So, that probably would have bumped me to the practice squad.
“Once I got signed with them, I contacted an agent, so he’s the one that Alabama contacted. They set up the workout, and I went down there and worked out. They liked what they saw and told me they wanted to sign me and bring me down for the season.”
So the former Massillon and John Carroll University quarterback packed his bags for Alabama. Yet, it would take a while for Martin to find himself on the field in the position he was actually signed by the Hammers to play.
“I was the backup to start the season,” Martin said. “The guy they had starting had some experience and had played a couple of years, so he started. I actually saw time at receiver before I saw time at quarterback. It was just a learning experience.”
Martin did make two catches for 36 yards in his time at receiver. However, for the most part, he spent that time sitting and learning the ins and outs of the league, which is comprised of several players who spent time at major Division I college football programs, as well on some NFL teams.
He admits there was some major adjustments he had to deal with moving into the SIFL, which has a season that runs from late March until early June.
“It was definitely the size of the field and the speed of the game,” Martin said. “Everything happens so much quicker, because the field’s smaller. That was the big thing is learning the defenses and reads and having to get rid of the ball so quick because of how fast everything is.”
Martin would finally get his own chance to see first-hand how fast it is out on the field when he made his first — and only — start of the season in the 10th game of the year at Columbus, Ga. Yet, even that was a bittersweet affair for Martin, who did throw a pair of touchdown passes in the loss.
“It took me a few series to get into the flow of the game and get the speed of it down,” Martin said. “Once I settled in, I was playing really well. Then in the third quarter, a guy fell into my knee and I tore my MCL. One start and I was done.”
The injury still is in the process of healing, forcing Martin to use crutches for the time being. He was scheduled to have a follow-up with the doctor in Huntsville on Thursday to find out the next course of action in the recovery process.
Still, Martin has been given assurances that he will have a second year in the SIFL, despite the injury.
“I spoke with the owner of the team and the general manager and the head coach after the season,” said Martin, who worked under a one-year deal last season. “We all sat down, and they all said with the little opportunity that I actually got, they really liked what they saw. They thought I played well, and they want to re-sign me for next season.”
That said, Martin isn’t closing the book on possibly eyeing bigger things. He worked out for a Canadian Football League team during the season, and had other workouts lined up until the injury put those on the back burner.
Martin, though, isn’t letting himself get too obsessed with those grander possibilities. For now, he’s concentrating on healing his knee and working toward another season in Huntsville.
“Whatever happens, happens,” Martin said. “I don’t have any expectations. I’m having fun with it while I still can, while I’m young and my body will let me. Once it’s over, you know, it’s over.”