1/7/2012 - Martinek Wraps Fine Career
Has it really been five years?
Has half a decade gone by within the wink of an eye?
Yes, it has. And the five years I write about are the five years former Hopatcong great Joe Martinek has spent helping Rutgers University win three bowl games and battle for the Big East crown.
“It seems like I was there for forever,” Martinek recently told me during an interview at the Mugs Media studios which will air on the Sports Beat soon.
“But then again it did go fast,” added Martinek, who recently capped his playing career and education career with a college degree. “I had a great time, learned a lot and I definitely made the right choice. Now I hope I can play at the next level.”
And, obviously, the next level is the NFL, and after playing a year in a pro-style offense at fullback, my bet is that Martinek’s chances of making it with a NFL squad have greatly improved.
Martinek said he will play in a college showcase game in February and will participate in several Pro Days, including one at Rutgers, which has sent numerous players to the level over the last five years under coach Greg Schiano.
Good for him because Martinek is truly one of the good guys on and off the playing field and true role model for the youngsters in Hopatcong and Sussex County. A role he does not shy away from, either.
You can’t but help root for a guy like “Jersey Joe” a nickname he reluctantly accepted from his teammates after they saw a photo of him from high school with the caption “Jersey Joe.”
From Day one when he announced he was going to Rutgers there were critics who said he made the wrong choice and that a tailback from a small Group 2 school in Sussex County could never make an impact at the big-time Division I level.
The naysayers doubted his high school accomplishments in which he set the state record for career rushing with 7,589 yards during his days with the Chiefs.
They said the Sussex County Interscholastic League was a nice little conference and that Martinek would flourish at a smaller D-I program or at a Patriot League school, not the Big East.
Wrong.
Martinek red-shirted his freshman season and did everything he could on the scout team to get noticed. He played safety at first and then he was needed to run the ball on the scout team and his work ethic and talent opened Schiano’s eyes and he earned a spot on the offense his first season of eligibility.
And anyone who has followed Martinek’s story knows the rest. His sophomore year he rushes for 967 yards and leads the Knights to a bowl win, injuries slowed him his junior year, and this season the big change to fullback.
For his career, he finished with 1,811 career yards rushing, 448 yards receiving on 46 receptions and 18 TDs.
Not bad for a guy the experts, including the media that cover Rutgers on a daily basis, felt was a sentimental pick by Schiano because Martinek was a Jersey Guy like him and would really have no affect on the program.
Once again, wrong.
And don’t get me wrong, Martinek has had to prove himself every step of the way during his football career when he burst onto the scene as a freshman for Hopatcong. And he has relished every moment proving everyone wrong.
Now, Martinek is not a me-against-the world type of guy, far from it. He has and always will be the ultimate team player and never one to brag about himself.
In fact, as the season went on, his playing time slowly decreased as former West Morris star Mike Burton started to get more reps.
But instead of sulking, he took Burton under his wing and helped him with the offense and has become very good friends with Burton, another Northwest Jersey guy.
That is almost unheard of in this day-and-age of me-first big time college and professional athletes.
When I pointed that out, he kinda just shrugged and said he wanted to help the team. He just wanted to help the team win.
Refreshing, huh?
When I was interviewing him, he really was uncomfortable talking about his personal accomplishments at Rutgers, he wanted to talk about how far the program has come and the bowl victories.
He wanted to talk about his special friendship with Eric LeGrand, the paralyzed former Rutgers player who led the Scarlet Knights on to the field at Yankee Stadium for the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.
That is Joe Martinek, just as good as a person as he is a player.
Martinek said when the final whistle blew at Yankee Stadium he was so happy so many of his family and friends were there to support him over the years. He was truly thankful for that.
He was thankful for the opportunity Schiano gave him. When I asked him about the criticism Schiano has faced for never winning the Big East or getting the Scarlet Knights into a BSC bowl game, he just laughed.
“What was Rutgers before coach Schiano?” he asked. “How many bowl wins did it have and how many players in the NFL?”
Point well taken, but that is a blog for another time.
Now that his time on the banks of Raritan (a little ode to Jerry Izenberg) is over, he is training for he hopes is another chapter in what has been a terrific football and life story.
And if football doesn’t work out, he has his degree and a career with the New Jersey State Troopers could be an option, he said.
But I don’t think Martinek should start shopping for a trooper uniform, just yet. Something tells me that a NFL scout will see what Schiano and the rest of us who know Martinek have seen over the years.
And who knows, maybe “Jersey Joe” won’t have to go too far and will be running out of the tunnel at MetLife Stadium for either the Jets or Giants next season.
Not so crazy, just ask Victor Cruz of the Giants.
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.
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