Ruvell Martin (born August 10, 1982) 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 ...

wide receiver and former coach in the

NFL 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 major ...

. He was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in 2004. 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 ...

at Saginaw Valley State. Martin also played for the

Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, to ...

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 ...

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

, and the

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. ...

Early years

Martin graduated from

Muskegon Catholic Central High School Muskegon Catholic Central High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Muskegon, Michigan. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids. Muskegon Catholic Central has won 13 football state championships (1979, 1980, 1982 ...

in 2000, where he played football and basketball. He was inducted in the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.

College career

Martin played college football at Saginaw Valley State. His junior season was highlighted by a three-touchdown game against

Northern Michigan Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan (known colloquially to residents of more southerly parts of the state and summer residents from cities such as Detroit as " Up North"), is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. A popul ...

. As a senior, he was a first team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection.

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

Martin was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent in 2004, but was waived before the season began.

Amsterdam Admirals

He re-signed with the team in the following offseason and was allocated to the

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

. He was waived again by the Chargers before the 2005 season. Martin earned All-NFL Europe honors after leading the league with 679 receiving yards and twelve

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 for the 2005

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

champion Admirals.

Green Bay Packers

Martin was signed to the practice squad of the

in November 2005. He stayed with the team in 2006, starting three games and catching his first career touchdown. On November 10, 2007 Martin had two touchdowns - his first multiple-TD game of his two-year career - in a 34-0 victory over the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. He finished the game with four catches for 57 yards. He was considered the third-string quarterback on the Packers behind

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...

and

Aaron Rodgers Aaron Charles Rodgers (born December 2, 1983) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Rodgers began his college football career at Butte College in 2002 before transferring to the ...

due to his experience playing the position, but that title was removed after the Packers signed

Craig Nall Craig Matthew Nall (born April 21, 1979) is a former American football quarterback who was drafted by the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football for LSU Tigers ...

to be their third quarterback. On September 5, 2009, Martin was released by the Packers in the roster cut downs.

St. Louis Rams

The

signed Martin on September 15, 2009. After posting six catches for the Rams, the team did not offer him another contract.

Seattle Seahawks

Martin signed with the

on March 15, 2010. He was released on September 4, 2010 as the Seahawks made final cuts to set their 53-man roster. On November 3, 2010, Martin re-signed with the Seahawks.

Buffalo Bills

The

signed Martin on August 24, 2011. He was released during final cuts, but was re-signed early in the season. A late-season hamstring injury hampered his season. Martin was re-signed by the Bills on March 7, 2012. He was released during final cuts but re-signed quickly after. He suffered an injury that kept him out of at least one game in the season.

After playing

Martin met his wife Michelle in college; the couple has four children. After his playing career ended, Martin worked as a realtor in

Fort Mill, South Carolina Fort Mill, also known as Fort Mill Township, is a town in York County, South Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina. As of 2020 United States census, 2020 census, 24,521 people live inside the town's corporate limits. ...

. In 2020, former college teammate

Matt LaFleur Matthew Patrick LaFleur ( ; born November 3, 1979) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He has served as the quarterback coach of the Washington Redskins, Notre Dame ...

hired Martin in a minority coaching fellowship role. After the 2021 season, Martin left the team.

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bio

Seattle Seahawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Ruvell 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Muskegon, Michigan People from Fort Mill, South Carolina Players of American football from Michigan American football wide receivers Saginaw Valley State Cardinals football players San Diego Chargers players Amsterdam Admirals players Green Bay Packers players St. Louis Rams players Seattle Seahawks players Buffalo Bills players