David Earl Martin (born March 13, 1979) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

and is currently the tight ends coach at

Maryville College Maryville College is a 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 college is one of the ...

. He was drafted 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 club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in the sixth round of the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting 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 ...

. He also played for the

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

and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. Martin is married to fellow Tennessee alum and five-time All-American sprinter Kameisha Bennett. They have two children together: Darius (born 2003) and Devyn (born 2007).

Early years

Martin did not play football until his final two years at

Norview High School Norview High School is a public high school in central Norfolk, Virginia. Norview High School is one of the five local high schools that serve the city. It is home of the Dodson Scholars Program and the Leadership Center for Science and Enginee ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, 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. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. Aside from being a wide receiver, he was a

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

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 (appr ...

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

College career

Martin played

as a wide receiver. 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. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

in 39 games.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Martin was drafted by the

in the sixth round of the

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 a former American football tight end who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Miami. He was drafted by the Green Bay ...

. 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 a former American football tight end in the National Football He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Georgia. Early years Mc ...

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 Anthony Joseph Fasano (born April 20, 1984) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Notre Dame. Fasano also played for the Kansas City ...

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 th ...

on September 6, 2009 after

Davon Drew Davon Anthony Drew (born December 9, 1985) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at East Carolina where he played some quarterback b ...

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.

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