Taylor Martinez
Personal information | |
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Born: | Corona, California, U.S. | September 15, 1990
Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) |
Career information | |
High school: | Centennial (Corona, California) |
College: | Nebraska (2009–2013) |
Position: | Quarterback |
Undrafted: | 2014 |
Career history | |
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Taylor Todd Martinez (born September 15, 1990) is a former
High school career
Martinez played his senior year of high school football at Centennial High School in Corona, California, where he was a teammate of Vontaze Burfict and Will Sutton. At Centennial he passed for over 3,000 yards, including 28 touchdowns with a 61 percent pass completion. Taylor also rushed for 750 yards with 12 touchdowns. Martinez received multiple awards for his performance and led Centennial to a state championship win and a perfect season (15–0).[1] Centennial High School finished the 2007 season with a 13–2 record and ranked 24 by USA Today.[2] The undefeated 2008 Huskies team won a California Interscholastic Federation state championship and finished the season ranked No. 2 in the nation by USA Today.[3]
Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | 40‡ | Commit date |
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Taylor Martinez QB |
Corona, California | Centennial High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 176 lb (80 kg) | 4.31 | Aug 22, 2008 |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A | ||||||
Overall recruiting rankings: ATH), 44 (CA )
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Sources:
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Martinez committed to the
College career
2009
Martinez was redshirted for the entire year.
2010
After a three-way position battle, Martinez emerged over sophomore Cody Green and senior Zac Lee for the majority of the 2010 season as the University of Nebraska's starting quarterback. In October, Martinez was named as a semi-finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award.[6]
Three impressive performances by Martinez came on the road with games against
In November Martinez received the 2010 All-Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year award. The Cornhuskers reached the Big 12 Championship Game to face Oklahoma (12–2, ranked No. 6 nationally in the AP College Football Poll by season's end) on December 4 as they finished 6–2 in conference play and first place in the Big 12 North Division under the direction of head coach Bo Pelini. Unfortunately, a twisted ankle Martinez suffered back on October 30 in a 31–17 home win over Missouri wound up being a lingering injury.[10] Oklahoma edged Nebraska, 23–20, as Martinez struggled to get on track while completing 12-of-24 passes for 143 yards. The Sooners defense kept the Husker ground game in check as Nebraska managed just 145 yards off 43 rushes.[11]
Martinez finished the season completing 116-of-196 passing attempts for 1,631 yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 13 games. The 6–1, 205-pound redshirt freshman ran 162 times for 965 yards while running forward and scoring 12 touchdowns.[12] Nebraska went 10–4 and was ranked No. 19 and No. 20 by the Coaches and AP Polls respectively.[13]
2011
With a preseason No. 10 ranking for the redshirt sophomore starting quarterback, Martinez responded with early season successes and a 7–1 start as the University of Nebraska joined the Big Ten for the first time in the school's history after the realignment of many conferences had changed the college football landscape—which began to take place during the summer of 2010.[14] On October 1, Martinez and Nebraska traveled to Madison, Wis. to face AP No. 7 nationally ranked Wisconsin and quarterback, N.C. State transfer Russell Wilson. With 12:45 left to play in the 2nd quarter, Nebraska led 14–7 off 1-yard touchdown runs by Martinez and Rex Burkhead. After that, Wisconsin continued to pull away and won by the score of 48–17. Wilson finished 14-of-20 passing for 255 yards with two touchdowns. Martinez had 20 rushes for 61 yards and completed 11-of-22 passes for 176 yards against the Badgers.[15]
Martinez and his teammates rebounded from the Wisconsin loss, however, by recording the biggest comeback win in
Martinez and Nebraska had their first experience in the Big Ten as they finished 5–3 in the conference. The 6–1, 200-pound redshirt sophomore led Nebraska to a 9–4 record as the Cornhuskers were nationally ranked No. 24 by the AP College Football Poll.[18] Martinez's statistics for the season had him completing 162-of-288 passes for 2,089 yards with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The spread option quarterback ran the ball 188 times for 874 rushing yards and scored nine touchdowns in 13 games.[13] Martinez's Cornhuskers were invited to play the nationally ranked No. 10 South Carolina Gamecocks (10–2) in the Capital One-Citrus Bowl on January 2, 2012, in Orlando, Florida.[19] Nebraska lost the game, 30–13.
2012
Leading up to the 2012 season, Martinez was heavily criticized by fans and media for his awkward passing motion and tendency to turn the ball over.
The season opener against
One of Martinez's best games of 2012 came at Michigan State on November 3. Michigan State was 5–4 heading into the game, but featured the best defense statistically in college football at that point in the season, including the best run defense in the Big Ten. Martinez ended the day with the second best rushing performance of his career with 205 yards on 17 carries. Despite throwing 3 interceptions, Martinez was able to make important throws late in the game. Down by 3 with no timeouts and only 1:20 left, Martinez led an 80-yard drive that included a 38-yard completion to Kyler Reed on 4th and 10 at the Nebraska 40-yard line, and the game-winning touchdown pass to sophomore WR Jamal Turner with :06 seconds left.[24] Martinez received Player of the Week honors in the Big Ten for his performance. During the game, Martinez passed former Heisman winner Eric Crouch as the all-time leader in total yardage at Nebraska.
Martinez helped lead another comeback the following week against Penn State, where he rushed for 105 yards and threw for 171 more with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Martinez had another fine passing performance in the next game against Minnesota when he completed 72% of his passes for 302 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions.
Nebraska finished the regular season at 10–2, and headed to the Big Ten championship for a rematch with unranked, 7–5 Wisconsin. Nebraska was a 10-point favorite heading into the game. However, a bad defensive performance by the Cornhuskers led to a 70–31 loss.[25] After the loss, the Huskers went on to lose to #7 ranked Georgia in the Capital One Bowl 45–31.[26] Martinez threw for 204 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 2 interceptions (including a late-game desperation throw).
The 2012 Cornhuskers finished the season at 10–4 and Nebraska was ranked No. 25 in the final
Martinez had broken many QB records at Nebraska and headed into the 2013 season as one of the top dual threat QBs in the country. Many sports analysts thought that if he continued to work with Steve Calhoun to improve his passing game in the offseason, he could have been a Heisman trophy candidate in 2013 barring injury.[28]
2013
Martinez suffered a debilitating injury close to the ball of his left foot affecting the second and third toes. The injury occurred during the first week of the season against Wyoming. The specifics of Martinez' 2013 injury were revealed in January as a "...plantar plate tear of the second metatarsal phalangeal joint."[29] The injury occurred on a running play in the middle of the fourth quarter during the Wyoming game[30] and was aggravated during the Southern Miss game. He played again in the UCLA game, but the pain came back during the second half.[29] The last game of his collegiate career was against Minnesota (a 34–23 loss). Playing aggravated the injury. It was reported in November recovery would not be full until February or March 2014.[31][32]
Statistics
Season | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |
2009 | Redshirted | ||||||||||
2010 | 116 | 196 | 59.2 | 1,631 | 10 | 7 | 138.8 | 162 | 965 | 6.0 | 12 |
2011 | 162 | 288 | 56.3 | 2,089 | 13 | 8 | 126.5 | 189 | 874 | 4.6 | 9 |
2012 | 228 | 368 | 62.0 | 2,871 | 23 | 12 | 141.6 | 195 | 1,019 | 5.2 | 10 |
2013 | 69 | 110 | 62.7 | 667 | 10 | 2 | 140.0 | 40 | 117 | 2.9 | 0 |
Totals | 575 | 962 | 59.8 | 7,258 | 56 | 29 | 136.3 | 586 | 2,975 | 5.1 | 31 |
Professional career
Philadelphia Eagles
Martinez signed with the Philadelphia Eagles on May 12, 2014, as an undrafted rookie free agent. The Eagles already had Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez and Matt Barkley on their roster, but the team reportedly planned to use Martinez as a wide receiver or defensive back. However, he failed his physical, and his contract was voided two days later.[33][34]
References
- ^ "#3 Taylor Martinez". Huskers.com. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ "Miami Northwestern crowned Super 25 champion", USA Today, December 26, 2007
- ^ "Fort Lauderdale's Aquinas finishes season atop Super 25", USA Today, December 22, 2008
- ^ "Taylor Martinez". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
- ^ "Taylor Martinez". Scout.com. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
- ^ Sherman, Mitch (October 26, 2010). "Bo: Martinez will only improve". Omaha World-Herald. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
- ^ "Nebraska 56, Washington 7". HuskerMax.com. September 18, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
- ^ "Nebraska 48, Kansas State 13". HuskerMax.com. October 7, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
- ^ "Nebraska 51, Okla. State 41". HuskerMax.com. October 23, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
- ^ "Hail Helu:Senior Smashes NU Record, No. 7 Tigers". Huskers.com. October 30, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ "Oklahoma 23, Nebraska 20". HuskerMax.com. December 4, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ "2010 Nebraska football statistics". HuskerMax.com. January 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
- ^ a b "Football Stats – Nebraska Cornuskers 2011". Nebraska.Rivals.com. January 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ Peloquin, Matt (July 23, 2012). "Conference Realignment". CollegeSportsInfo.com. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ "Wisconsin 48, Nebraska 17". HuskerMax.com. October 1, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ "Nebraska 34, Ohio State 27". HuskerMax.com. October 8, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ "Northwestern 28, Nebraska 25". Nebraska.Rivals.com. November 5, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ "2011 NCAA Football Rankings – Postseason". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ "Capital One Bowl – Nebraska Cornhuskers vs South Carolina Gamecocks". WFTV.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ Hinton, Matt. "Writer". CBS. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
- ^ McKewon, Sam. "QB Martinez sets sights on 70% completion rate". Omaha World Herald. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
- ^ "Taylor Martinez throws 5 TDs as No. 17 Nebraska wins opener". ESPN. September 1, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- ^ "Taylor Martinez rallies Huskers from 17-point deficit vs. Badgers". ESPN. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- ^ "Late TD pushes Nebraska past Michigan State". ESPN. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- ^ "Wisconsin whips Nebraska, reaches Rose Bowl". ESPN. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- ^ "Aaron Murray sets Georgia best in Capital One Bowl win over Nebraska". ESPN. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- ^ Chris, Johnson (July 29, 2013). "Nebraska's Martinez enters senior season with plenty at stake". SI.com. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- ^ "Big Ten 2013 Heisman Watch". ESPN.
- ^ a b Sherman, Mitch (January 22, 2014). "Taylor Martinez eyes March pro day". ESPN. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
- ^ Sipple, Steven M. (January 30, 2014). "Martinez says he's set to pursue NFL career". JournalStar.com. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
- ^ The Associated Press (November 11, 2013). "Taylor Martinez's dad: QB's Nebraska career likely over". USA Today. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- The Omaha World Herald. Archived from the originalon December 14, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- ^ AP (May 12, 2014). "Taylor Martinez joins Eagles". ESPN. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
- ^ Florio, Mike (May 14, 2014). "Report: Taylor Martinez fails physical with Eagles". NBC Sports. Retrieved May 15, 2014.