Vaughn Martin (born April 18, 1986) is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. He was most recently a member of the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

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 was drafted 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 the fourth round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

, the first Canadian university football player drafted by an NFL team as an underclassman. He played university football at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

Early years

Martin was born in

and raised in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

. He attended

London South Collegiate Institute London South Collegiate Institute (also known as S.C.I., or simply South) is a public high school in London, Ontario, Canada, located at 371 Tecumseh Avenue East. ''South'' is administered by the Thames Valley District School Board. Approximatel ...

, playing football for head coach Chris Marcus, and later Mike Stenning. He also attended

The Kiski School , motto_translation = Guide Us Lord , address = 1888 Brett Lane , town = Saltsburg , state = Pennsylvania , zipcode = 15681-8951 , country = Uni ...

under coach Marcus Muster for a short time before transferring. He competed as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

and fullback in high school, recording 90 tackles with five stops behind the line of scrimmage in 2004. The three-time starter was rated one of the top 12 defensive ends in Ontario by All-Star Football and Weir's Magazine. He also received a two-star prospect rating from ''

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 ...

''. Prior to beginning his collegiate career, Martin competed for two summers with the Forest City Thunderbirds in the Central Ontario Football League. He also was a member of Team Canada, playing in the 2006

NFL Global Junior Championship The NFL Global Junior Championship was played during the week leading up to the Super Bowl, in the same city that is hosting the game. The first game was played in 1997, and only two teams played, Mexico and Europe. Mexico won the first and seco ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. He was named to the NFL Global Junior Championship X All-Tournament Team after helping Team Canada to a perfect 5-0 record, including five shutouts.

University career

Martin turned down scholarship offers from the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...

, the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

, and

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

to enroll at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

in 2006, but failed to qualify due to academic transcript issues. He then enrolled at

Milford Academy Milford Academy is a post-secondary school founded in 1916 as Yale Preparatory School. It has been located in New Berlin, New York since 2004. Although founded as a preparatory school, its current focus is as a school for athletes who have th ...

, a preparatory school in New York. He later returned home to Ontario, where

assistant coach

Mickey Donovan Mickey Donovan is a professional Canadian football coach who is currently the special teams coordinator for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). College career Donovan played college football for two years for the Maine B ...

along with special teams coach Chris Marcus — Vaughn's high-school coach and mentor — convinced him to enroll. Martin joined the

Western Ontario Mustangs The Western Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The school's athletic program supports 46 varsity teams. Their mascot is a Mustang named J.W. and the school colours are purple and white. ...

football team and saw action at defensive tackle and end during his first season. In 2008, Martin performed mostly at defensive tackle earlier in the year, but he also at defensive end. In 12 games, he collected 36 tackles (22 solos) with 3.5 sacks, 7.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage and 13 pressures. He returned an interception for a touchdown, registered a safety, caused a fumble and recovered two others. He also played fullback, where he scored twice on a pair of 3-yard rushing attempts, finishing with 10 yards on four carries.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Martin was not invited to the 2009

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

, but impressed several pro scouts in the spring of 2009 when he participated at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

's Pro Day, where he ran a 4.96 second 40-yard dash at 330 pounds. He also set the 2009 draft class bench press record, lifting 225 pounds 44 times.

San Diego Chargers

Martin became the first

CIS football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...

player drafted as an underclassman when he was picked in the fourth round, 113th overall, by the

in the

. Martin signed a four-year contract with the Chargers in July 2009. Athletic and intelligent—he scored an impressive 38 on the NFL's

Wonderlic Test The Wonderlic Contemporary Cognitive Ability Test (formerly Wonderlic Personnel Test) is an assessment used to measure the cognitive ability and problem-solving aptitude of prospective employees for a range of occupations. It is a proprietary ...

—scouts also report that he has the bulk, strength, and agility to become a

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

Jamal Williams Jamal Williams (born April 28, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a nose tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 1998 ...

. He recorded his first career sack on November 22, 2010, against 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 headquart ...

, sacking quarterback

Kyle Orton Kyle Raymond Orton (born November 14, 1982) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for Purdue, where he started four straight bowl games. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Dr ...

. On May 8, 2011, the

selected Vaughn Martin in the 5th round of the 2011 CFL Draft. His rights belonged to the Alouettes if Martin choose to pursue a career in the CFL.

Miami Dolphins

Martin signed with 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 ...

as a free agent on March 28, 2013. On November 8, 2013, he was released.

Detroit Lions

Martin signed with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

on March 13, 2014. He was released on June 2, 2014.

Kansas City Chiefs

Martin signed with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

in February 2015. He was released on August 30, 2015.

Montreal Alouettes

Martin signed a two-year contract with the

of the

on February 10, 2016. Martin played in seven games during the

2016 CFL season The 2016 CFL season was the 63rd season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 59th Canadian Football League season. Toronto hosted the 104th Grey Cup on November 27. The regular season began on June 23 and ended on November 5. ...

before being released in August, about halfway through the season.

References

External links

Detroit Lions bioSan Diego Chargers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Vaughn 1987 births Living people Jamaican emigrants to Canada Jamaican players of Canadian football Players of Canadian football from Ontario Sportspeople from London, Ontario Jamaican players of American football Black Canadian players of American football American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends Canadian football defensive linemen Western Mustangs football players San Diego Chargers players Miami Dolphins players Detroit Lions players Kansas City Chiefs players Montreal Alouettes players People from Hanover Parish