Marty Lyons
No. 93 | |||||
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Position: | Defensive tackle, Defensive end | ||||
Personal information | |||||
Born: | Takoma Park, Maryland, U.S. | January 15, 1957||||
Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||
Weight: | 269 lb (122 kg) | ||||
Career information | |||||
High school: | St. Petersburg Catholic (St. Petersburg, Florida) | ||||
College: | Alabama | ||||
NFL draft: | 1979 / Round: 1 / Pick: 14 | ||||
Career history | |||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||
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Player stats at NFL.com | |||||
Martin Anthony Lyons (born January 15, 1957) is an American former professional
Early years
Lyons grew up in Pinellas Park, Florida and attended St. Petersburg Catholic High School.
College career
Lyons attended the University of Alabama, where he played for coach
Professional career
Lyons was drafted by the New York Jets in the first round (14th overall pick) of the 1979 NFL Draft. The following round, the Jets selected East Central Oklahoma State defensive end Mark Gastineau.
The two joined
The Jets made the playoffs again in
Lyons was involved in one of the best-known plays in NFL lore. During the Jets' 14-13 victory over the Buffalo Bills at the Meadowlands on October 5, 1986, Lyons attempted to sack Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly and then started to punch him repeatedly after the ball was thrown for an incompletion. Lyons was flagged for a personal foul by referee Ben Dreith for "giving him the business." Dreith mistakenly assessed the foul against number 99, which was Gastineau's number, instead of calling Lyons' number 93.[3]
Lyons missed playing time during the 1987 season when his wife, Kelly, and son, Martin Anthony "Rocky" Lyons Jr., were involved in a serious traffic accident in Alabama.[4] Later the same season, during a Monday Night Football game, Lyons blocked former Alabama teammate and Hall of Famer Dwight Stephenson in what Dolphins players and coaches labeled a 'cheap shot' that ended his career.[5] Dwight Stephenson himself claimed it was a clean block, explaining that he caught his leg as he went down, and never blamed Lyons for the injury.
Seasons | Games | Starts | Sacks | FR | Yds | Sfty |
11 | 147 | 135 | 45 | 8 | 10 | 2 |
Personal life
While a player with the Jets, a series of events — the birth of his eldest son, the passing of his father, and the passing of a little boy to whom Lyons had been a
Lyons is currently the Jets radio analyst and chairman of the Marty Lyons Foundation. He has been enshrined in the State of Alabama Hall of Fame (2000), Long Island's Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame (2001) and Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame (2002), Maryland Sports Hall of Fame (2004), the Tampa Bay Sports Club Hall of Fame (2007), and the College Football Hall of Fame (2011).[7]
Lyons received his bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama during winter commencement exercises on December 10, 2016.
Lyons and his wife, Christine, have three children named Jesse, Megan, and Lucas. Rocky, his only child from his first marriage, is a physician in Alabama.
References
- ^ Rick Rush (March 1979). "You Better Pass". Archived from the original on August 26, 2011.
- ^ Cimini, Rich (September 6, 2008). "Jets defense looking to regain glory days of Sack Exchange". New York Daily News.
- ^ Bickley, Dan (January 18, 2006). "NFL officials aren't as bad as they seem". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
- People Magazine.
- New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
- ^ "Marty Lyons Named 2011 Heisman Humanitarian Recipient" (PDF) (Press release). Heisman Trust. November 14, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 6, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
- ^ Gould, Izzy (December 28, 2011). "Alabama news and notes: Crimson Tide returns to practice Wednesday". AL.com.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from the NFL, or Pro-Football-Reference.com, or databaseFootball.com
- The Marty Lyons Foundation
- Virtual Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame Archived February 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine