Martez Ivey (born July 25, 1995) is a professional gridiron football offensive tackle for the

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). He played college football at

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

High school career

Ivey attended

Apopka High School Apopka High School is in Apopka in northwest Orange County, Florida, United States. The school has been named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. The school serves grades 9 through 12, and has a preschool with a main teacher and student teachers. ...

Apopka, Florida Apopka is a city in Orange County, Florida. The city's population was 55,000 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area. ''Apopka'' comes from Seminole word ''Ahapopka'' for "Potato eating ...

. In his sophomore year, Ivey helped protect quarterback Zack Darlington as Apopka went on a 13–2 record, and won the 2012

FHSAA The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high schools in Florida. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Florida uses ...

Class 8A state title over Cypress Bay. The following year, Apopka reached the state 8A final again, but lost to South Dade. After Darlington graduated, the offensive load was carried by halfback

Chandler Cox Chandler Duke Cox (born July 29, 1996) is a former American football fullback. He played college football at Auburn. College career After playing in a single-wing offense at Apopka High School and leading the team to a state championship, Co ...

. With Ivey paving the way, Apopka went 12–4 and beat Miami Columbus for the 2014 Class 8A state title. Ivey was recognized with the

Hall Trophy The All-American Bowl Player of the Year Award (formerly known as the Hall Trophy and U.S. Army Player of the Year Award) has been awarded annually since 2000 to the most outstanding high school football player in the United States, comparable to t ...

as the U. S. Army Player of the Year. Regarded as a five-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, Ivey was ranked as the No. 1 offensive tackle prospect in his class. With offers from virtually every major football program, Ivey said he was “50/50” between

and Auburn after his final visit. On

National Signing Day National Signing Day has traditionally been the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a school that is a member of the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

2015, he announced his commitment to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

College career

In August 2015, Ivey suffered a slightly torn

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...

in his left knee during practice, and was scheduled for arthroscopic surgery on August 28. He was sidelined for a little more than two weeks, before making his college debut against

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

on September 19. Ivey played in the final twelve games of the season, starting in the last eight including the Citrus Bowl against

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. After the season, Ivey was named to the SEC All-Freshman team by the conference's coaches.

Professional career

New England Patriots

On July 30, 2019, Ivey signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent. He was released during final roster cuts on August 30, 2019.

Tampa Bay Vipers

Ivey was drafted in the 2nd round in phase two in the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social ...

by the

Tampa Bay Vipers The Vegas Vipers are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. The team began operatio ...

. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Carolina Panthers

Ivey signed with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

on April 6, 2021. He was waived on August 28, 2021.

Toronto Argonauts

On October 15, 2021, Ivey signed with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

Edmonton Elks

The

traded for Ivey just before the

2022 CFL season The 2022 CFL season is scheduled to be the 68th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it will be the 64th season of the Canadian Football League. The regular season is scheduled to begin on June 9, 2022, and end on October 29, 2022, w ...

, acquiring him and

Jalen Collins Jalen Carnell Collins (born March 20, 1993) is a professional gridiron football defensive back who is a free agent. He played college football at LSU and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. High sc ...

from the

for a 2023 6th Round Draft Pick.

References

External links

*
Toronto Argonauts bio

Florida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivey, Martez 1995 births Living people American football offensive tackles Carolina Panthers players Florida Gators football players New England Patriots players Tampa Bay Vipers players People from Apopka, Florida Players of American football from Florida Sportspeople from Orange County, Florida Toronto Argonauts players