Vernon Lewis Martin (May 2, 1920 – May 9, 1949) was a college and professional football player. He was the starting quarterback for the University of Texas in 1941, leading them to the school's first ever #1 ranking and the cover of the Nov 17, 1941 Life Magazine. He was drafted in the 2nd round of the

1942 NFL Draft The 1942 National Football League Draft was held on December 22, 1941, at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago. Two members of the draft class have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Bill Dudley, the first overall selection by the Pit ...

by the Pittsburgh Steelers and played one year of professional football.

Early life

Vernon Martin was born in Amarillo on May 2, 1920. He played football at Amarillo High School and was a part of the Sanies 1936 undefeated State Championship team. He also was on the basketball team.

College football

Martin started college at the University of Texas in 1938 playing on a freshman team that went 2-1. He was a starter at the beginning of the 1939 season, but was badly injured in the second game of the year against Wisconsin. He suffered an internal injury, and was rushed to the infirmary. He spent 10 days in the hospital and missed the rest of the season. Martin recovered and was the starting quarterback, also known as the blocking back at the time, of the Texas Longhorns in 1940 and 1941. In 1940, the Longhorns went 8-2, but the highlight of the year came in the Thanksgiving Day upset of #2 Texas A&M. A&M was undefeated and the defending National Champion and the upset was such that the 13 Longhorns who played that day, of which Martin was one, were known at the time as "The Immortal Thirteen." The Longhorns came into 1941 a highly regarded team, and it was perhaps the most impactful squad in the history of the program. It was the first Longhorn team to reach #1 in the rankings, produced the first consensus All-American, won the first

Golden Hat Golden hats (or gold hats) (german: Goldhüte, singular: ) are a very specific and rare type of archaeological artifact from Bronze Age Europe. So far, four such objects ("cone-shaped gold hats of the Schifferstadt type") are known. The object ...

as part of the annual game with Oklahoma, and was the team that inspired the red candle hex rally prior to Texas A&M games.

Pete Layden John Peter Layden, Jr. (December 30, 1919 – July 18, 1982) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Browns. He also played as quarterback, running back, cornerback, kick returner, punt returner, and punter for ...

was the fullback, who in the offense of the time did most of the passing and ball-handling, but Martin called most of the plays. The Longhorns won their first six games, by lopsided margins, to earn the #1 ranking and were then featured on the cover of Life magazine. They immediately suffered a 7-7 tie to Baylor and a 14-7 loss to TCU, mostly due to four injured starters, to drop to #10 before again upsetting Texas A&M who was again ranked #2 at the time. They finished the season with a 71-7 drumming of Oregon and at the end of the game, Martin caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Layden for Martin's only touchdown of the year. Texas finished the season ranked #4, the first time Texas ever finished the season ranked, and Martin was named second team All-Conference. Martin also made Wirt Gammon's All-American Blockers team that year. The 1941 Longhorns were considered the greatest Texas team ever at the time.

Pro football and military service

Following the season, Martin was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2nd round of the

. He played blocking back for the Steelers in 1942, catching several passes and scoring two touchdowns. He later joined the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and become a

Flight Officer The title flight officer was a military rank used by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and also an air force rank in several Commonwealth countries, where it was used for female officers and was equivalent to the rank of flig ...

stationed in

Shamshernagar Feni is a district located in southeastern Bangladesh. It was a part of the Greater Noakhali, Comilla, Chittagong and Tripura. , the district's estimated population stood at 1,437,371, making it the ninth-most populous district in Chittagong Divis ...

, India, flying airlift missions over

the Hump The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew military transport aircraft from India to China to resupply the Chinese war effort of Chiang Kai-shek and t ...

. In June 1945, the AAF announced plans to form seven football teams and in August, Martin was selected to ship out to Berry Field in Nashville to play for the Air Transport Command Rockets that year. Playing in an all-service league, the Rockets went 2-3-2 and finished ranked #11 in the Williamson Service Rankings. Martin died in 1949 in a car crash in Memphis.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Vern 1920 births 1949 deaths American football quarterbacks Players of American football from Amarillo, Texas Texas Longhorns football players Pittsburgh Steelers players United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers Road incident deaths in Tennessee Military personnel from Texas

Early life

College football

Pro football and military service

References

Further reading

External links