Paul Martha (born June 22, 1942 in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

) 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 wi ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

who played seven seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

Early life

Martha played high school athletics at

Shady Side Academy } Shady Side Academy is an independent preparatory school located in the Borough of Fox Chapel (suburban Pittsburgh), and in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883 as an all-male night school in the Shadyside ...

in Pittsburgh, where he was a star quarterback, graduating in 1960.

College career

Martha played college football and basketball at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

. After playing quarterback in 1961, he moved to running back, where he became a consensus All-American in his second season at the new position. In 1962, he led Pitt in both receiving and scoring. He led the Panthers to a 9-1 record as a senior in 1963, and after the season he played in the

East-West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *''East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salma ...

, the

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...

and the College All-Star game.

NFL career

He was selected in the first round (10th overall) of the

1964 NFL Draft The 1964 National Football League draft was held in Chicago, Illinois, at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers on Monday, December 2, 1963. The first overall pick was Dave Parks, an end from Texas Tech, selected by the San Francisco 49ers. The AFL ...

by his hometown

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. In his rookie season of 1964, Martha caught six passes for 145 yards (a 24.2 average) and rushed four times for 12 yards. He also returned 13 punts and one kick. In 1965, he caught 11 passes for 171 yards (a 15.5 average) and rushed two times for three yards. He spent the next four seasons as a full-time safety on defense, and in those four seasons he recorded a total of 15 interceptions. After the 1969 season, his sixth and last one in Pittsburgh, he played for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

in 1970, picking off a career-high six passes for 99 return yards.

Post-NFL career

During his time playing for the Steelers, Martha attended

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Gh ...

, from which he earned a law degree. He became an attorney and worked for the Reed, Smith, Shaw and McClay law firm in Pittsburgh and for Youngstown Steel before hooking up with

Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. Edward John DeBartolo Sr. (May 17, 1909 – December 19, 1994) was an American businessman. In 1971, his Ohio-based corporation was ranked as 47th among the nation's top 400 construction contractors. In 1983, DeBartolo was included on ''For ...

, the Youngstown shopping mall magnate, in the mid-1970s. He rose in prominence with DeBartolo's sports teams, becoming executive vice president, general counsel and CEO of the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

in 1977 and executive vice president and general counsel of the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's Nationa ...

in 1978. He also ran the Civic Arena, now Mellon Arena. In the early 1980s, he was general manager of the Pittsburgh Maulers of the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

. He was involved in mediating between the NFL players union and NFL owners on different occasions.

Personal life

Martha is currently retired and lives in a retirement community in Valencia, Pennsylvania. He has three sons and six grandchildren. In 2010, he returned to Pittsburgh to attend a Paul Martha Tribute Luncheon attended by 140 people. He also was married to two different women, Roxanne Martha and Bobbie Martha-Smith.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martha, Paul 1942 births Living people All-American college football players American football safeties Denver Broncos players Pittsburgh Panthers football players Pittsburgh Penguins executives Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Pittsburgh Sportspeople from Pittsburgh Shady Side Academy alumni