David Earl Martin (born March 13, 1979) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

who is currently the tight ends coach at

Maryville College Maryville College is a Private college, private liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1819 by Presbyterian minister Isaac L. Anderson for the purpose of furthering education and enlightenment into the West. The colleg ...

. He was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the sixth round of the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

. He also played for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Early life

Martin did not play football until his final two years at Norview High School in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, yet was rated as the ninth-best prospect in Virginia by SuperPrep at the end of his senior season. He received all-district and All-Tidewater Area honors, in addition to being named as the conference offensive player of the year as a senior, when he caught 35 passes for 690 yards and 11

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s. Aside from being a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

, he was a

free safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the American football positions#Defense, defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two var ...

on defense. Martin was also a four-time letterman for the school's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team, averaging double figures in points his final two seasons.

College career

Martin played

as a

. During his career he caught 46 passes for 543 yards and five

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

in 39 games.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Martin was selected by the

in the sixth round of the

with the 198th overall pick with the intentions of converting him to a

. He spent most of his Packers career backing up

Bubba Franks Daniel Lamont "Bubba" Franks (born January 6, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning fir ...

. Altogether he played six years for the Packers making 87 receptions for 766 yards and nine touchdowns.

Miami Dolphins

On March 5, 2007, Martin signed a three-year deal with the Miami Dolphins. The team signed him to replace

Randy McMichael Randy Montez McMichael (born June 28, 1979) is an American former professional football tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL draft. He played college football a ...

who was released. During his first year with the Dolphins he started all 15 games he played in making 34 receptions and two

. Serving as the Dolphins' second tight end behind Anthony Fasano in 2008, Martin caught 31 passes for 450 yards and three touchdowns. Martin was placed on season-ending

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on September 6, 2009, after

Davon Drew Davon Anthony Drew (born December 9, 1985) is an American former professional football tight end. He was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL draft. He played college football at East Carolina where he played som ...

was claimed off waivers. Martin was waived on December 8, 2009, from the Dolphins, and was re-signed by the Dolphins on August 6, 2010. He was cut on September 4, 2010.

Buffalo Bills

Martin was signed by the

on September 5, 2010, replacing J. P. Foschi as the second tight end on the Bills roster. He was released on September 27, 2011.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, David 1979 births Living people Players of American football from Kentucky American football wide receivers American football tight ends Tennessee Volunteers football players Green Bay Packers players Miami Dolphins players Buffalo Bills players People from Christian County, Kentucky