7/24/2012 - Martinek, Big Blue Good Fit
By the time people read this blog, Joe Martinek will be already squared away in his dorm room at Albany University ready to start the adventure of a lifetime.
The former Hopatcong High School and Rutgers star is fulfilling his dream of becoming an NFL football player as he awaits for preseason camp to begin Friday afternoon as he will put on a New York Giants helmet and officially make his bid to become a member of the Super Bowl-winning Big Blue.
Pretty incredible, right? For those who know Martinek it is no shock that the hard-working, humble and first-class individual has made his dream come true.
But over the years, Martinek has made a pretty neat habit of shocking everyone outside Sussex County and I see no reason why the 6-foot, 225-pound fullback with the heart of a lion won’t continue that on the professional level.
Martinek had his doubters in high school where he left Hopatcong as the state’s all-time leading rusher with 7,589 yards. He had his doubters when he accepted Greg Schiano’s scholarship offer on the first day of signing.
Now after a solid career at Rutgers where he led the team in rushing his sophomore year before finishing his tenure as a fullback in the Scarlet Knights’ pro-style attack, some people still question whether he has the chops to make in the NFL.
That’s the type of fuel that Martinek lives on and he is more motivated than ever to show he very capable of playing on Sundays despite not being drafted.
In fact, not being drafted enabled him to pick what team he wanted to sign with and the Giants were a perfect fit.
His agent Don Henderson worked out a deal and Martinek signed right after the draft ended.
I was somewhat surprised he wasn’t selected in the seven-round draft after he had a monster Pro Day at Rutgers. During that workout he turned in a sizzling 4.4, 40-yard dash, an impressive 32.5- inch vertical leap and a 9-8 broad jump—numbers similar to Trent Richardson of Alabama, which is pretty good company, I would say.
And the fact that his former college coach, Schiano, was now the head coach of the Tampa Bay Bucs made me think he would get drafted by the Bucs.
But Martinek was not deterred and he made a good first impression on demanding Giants head coach Tom Coughlin during rookie mini-camp in May.
“To be honest, he’s been pretty good the whole camp,” Coughlin said in a published report. “He’s been very steady. I think he learns well and is very motivated. I think he has some position versatility. I think he can probably play both spots (in the backfield). That would be good.”
Very high praise from a coach who doesn’t dole it out very often, especially for undrafted rookie free agents.
So Martinek once again is in a very familiar position and I think that serves as a tremendous advantage. You see, he has the mental makeup to go out and prove himself because he has had to do it every phase of his career.
Other running backs in camp, like draft pick David Wilson out of Virginia Tech, have impressive resumes, and have been Blue Chippers their whole careers. Proving themselves is something new and that can wear on a guy who is not used to it.
In the NFL, coaches don’t care what you did in the Sugar Bowl. They care what you can do for them right now. And right now, I fully believe Martinek can help this club on special teams and possible in the backfield that now features starting tailback Ahmad Bradshaw, reserves DJ Ware, Andre Brown, Wilson and Martinek and returning fullback Henry Hynoski.
Like Coughlin said, Martinek’s versatility is key. Hynoski was an undrafted free agent last year out of Pitt and the 6-1, 266-pounder won the starting job and a Super Bowl ring.
In fact over the years, the Giants have developed their fullback spot with lower draft picks and free agents.
So why not Martinek?
Martinek can also follow the example of a fellow undrafted player in veteran linebacker Chase Blackburn, who wasn’t re-signed by the Giants until late last season and he played a huge role in their Super Bowl run at middle linebacker.
Blackburn, a special teams demon his first six seasons with the Giants, recently ran a camp for kids at Dreamfield in Sparta and he had great words of advice for Martinek.
He said work hard and make your mark first in practice, then on special teams and the coaches will notice. He said that is the formula he followed and after sitting home waiting for the phone to ring for most of last season as he now heads into camp as the Giants starting middle linebacker.
So this is an unbelievably exciting time for Martinek, his family and his die-hard Hopatcong friends and fans. He becomes the second player in Hopatcong history to play proball joining Dave Yovanovits who was drafted by the Jets out of Temple in 2003.
Pretty heady stuff for a small town that has always been known as the home to the largest lake in the state.
I think the Giants and Martinek will work out just fine. People said when he signed with Rutgers that he bit off more than he could chew and we saw how that worked out.
He could have easily went to a subdivision school and had a monster four years. I feel the fact that, love him or hate him, Schiano had sent 20 quality players onto the NFL including stars like Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens, tackle Anthony Davis of the 49ers and troubled Tennessee Titans star receiver Kenny Britt, helped him get a little more recognition.
It is funny, a few years ago I went down to Rutgers to interview Martinek and Davis, an All-American, couldn’t say enough good things about him. So did Mike Teel then the Scarlet Knights quarterback.
And when I asked Schiano about Martinek, who was a blossoming sophomore at the time, another reporter snidely interrupted and said, “Can you believe he has a website?”
Schiano just smiled and said he didn’t know about that but that Martinek was a heckuva a football player.
Yes, Joe Martinek is a heckuva football player and a person and someone that everyone in Sussex County can be proud of.
I wrote a blog four years ago hoping that Martinek would get a chance to shine in the 2008 Rutgers season and he did.
Let’s hope it happens again.
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.
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