| No. 83, 84 | |||||||||
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| Positions | Wide receiver Return specialist | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1965-05-14)May 14, 1965 (age 60) San Diego, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 163 lb (74 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Jean Ribault(Jacksonville, Florida) | ||||||||
| College | Boston College | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1987: 4th round, 95th overall pick | ||||||||
| Expansion draft | 1995: 29th round, 57th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
Playing | |||||||||
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* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Kelvin Brian Martin (born May 14, 1965) is an American former professionalfootball player who was awide receiver in theNational Football League (NFL). He was selected by theDallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the1987 NFL draft. He wonSuper Bowl XXVII with the Cowboys against theBuffalo Bills, giving him his only Super Bowl title. He playedcollege football for theBoston College Eagles before playing ten seasons in the NFL from 1987 to 1996 for the Cowboys,Seattle Seahawks, andPhiladelphia Eagles.
AtJean Ribault High School in 1982, he made first-team All-City and All-Conference, while leading all Jacksonvillewide receivers in catches (47), yards (746) andtouchdowns (7).
Martin accepted a scholarship to play forBoston College, where he was a three-year starter and is recognized as one of the topwide receivers in school history.
In 1985, he was named as an All-Eastwide receiver, had a career-high 172 receiving yards againstUniversity of Pittsburgh, and was key contributor in Boston College’sCotton Bowl win. He also caught the winningtouchdown pass in the final seconds ofBoston College 27-24Hall of Fame Bowl victory overUniversity of Georgia in 1986.
As a punt return specialist, he led the nation in yardage in 1985 (510). He set Boston College records for career returns (79 for 1,012 yards), single season yardage (510), single game yardage (166), and scored fourtouchdowns on punt runbacks.
In 2000, he was Inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame. He still holds the careertouchdown receptions record with 28, remains second in career yardage (2,337 yards) and fifth in receptions (133). Overall, he scored 194 career points.
Martin was drafted in the fourth round of the1987 NFL draft (95th overall) by theDallas Cowboys, after dropping because of concerns over his size and speed.[1]
He was used mostly as a punt and kickoff returner as a rookie after missing the first 8 games with injury. Nicknamed "K-Mart", by his second season he was named the starterwide receiver alongsideMichael Irvin and finished third on the team with 49 receptions.[2] In1989, he led the team in receptions (46) and receiving yards (644), even though he was placed on theinjured reserve list on November 21, with a left knee interior cruciate ligament injury.[3] The next year, he repeated as the team leader in receptions (64) and receiving yards (732).
With the arrival ofAlvin Harper in1991, he was limited to a third down role and as a punt returner, where he ranked third in theNFC with an 11.6 average. Against thePhiladelphia Eagles, he returned a punt 85 yards for a game-winning touchdown in a 25–13 win and also set a franchise record with 124 total punt return yards in a game.
Martin caught 32 passes for 359 yards and threetouchdowns, while also finishing second in theNFL with a 12.7 punt return average during the1992Super Bowl championship season. His six-yard touchdown reception in the closing minutes of the NFC Championship game sealed a 30-20 Dallas victory over the favored San Francisco 49ers. He participated inSuper Bowl XXVII and did not have any receptions in the game, but returned 3 punts for 35 yards and 4 kickoffs for 79 for a total of 114 yards, the same number of yards thatMichael Irvin had with his 6 receptions in the game.
After the season, the Cowboys couldn't resign him because ofsalary cap considerations, so he declared forfree agency, leaving as the franchise all-time leader in punt-return yardage with 1,803 yards and the tenth leading receiver (212 receptions, 2,703 yards and 8 touchdowns). He also led the team in punt returns in five different seasons, tying the record held byBob Hayes.
Martin signed with theSeattle Seahawks as an unrestricted free agent in1993 and had his best statistical season with 57 receptions for 798 yards and 5 receivingtouchdowns (led the team). He was also the team punt returner and ranked 10th in theAFC with an 8.4 average.
In two years with the team, he registered 113 receptions, 1,479 yards and sixtouchdowns. He was left unprotected for the1995 NFL expansion draft.[4]
He was selected by theJacksonville Jaguars in the1995 NFL expansion draft, but was later released to reach the 95-man roster limit.[5]
After his release he signed as afree agent with thePhiladelphia Eagles,[6] and appeared in nine games during the1995 season, catching 17 passes for 206 yards. He was placed on theinjured reserve list on December 13,1995.[7]
Martin re-signed with the Cowboys in1996, catching 25 passes for 380 yards. He retired at the end of the season, finishing his career with 367 passes for 4,768 yards, 15touchdowns, 261 punt returns for 2,567 yards and 76 kickoff returns for 1,453 yards.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1987 | DAL | 7 | 0 | 5 | 103 | 20.6 | 33 | 0 |
| 1988 | DAL | 16 | 7 | 49 | 622 | 12.7 | 35 | 3 |
| 1989 | DAL | 11 | 11 | 46 | 644 | 14.0 | 46 | 2 |
| 1990 | DAL | 16 | 16 | 64 | 732 | 11.4 | 45 | 0 |
| 1991 | DAL | 16 | 0 | 16 | 243 | 15.2 | 27 | 0 |
| 1992 | DAL | 16 | 1 | 32 | 359 | 11.2 | 27 | 3 |
| 1993 | SEA | 16 | 14 | 57 | 798 | 14.0 | 53 | 5 |
| 1994 | SEA | 16 | 15 | 56 | 681 | 12.2 | 32 | 1 |
| 1995 | PHI | 9 | 1 | 17 | 206 | 12.1 | 22 | 0 |
| 1996 | DAL | 16 | 1 | 25 | 380 | 15.2 | 60 | 1 |
| 139 | 66 | 367 | 4,768 | 13.0 | 60 | 15 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1991 | DAL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1992 | DAL | 3 | 0 | 4 | 33 | 8.3 | 12 | 1 |
| 1996 | DAL | 2 | 0 | 5 | 61 | 12.2 | 18 | 0 |
| 7 | 0 | 9 | 94 | 10.4 | 18 | 1 | ||
He was aspecial teams andwide receivers assistant coach atJacksonville University in 2000.[8] He left to coach thewide receivers andspecial teams for theUniversity of North Texas in 2001 and 2002, before resigning from the team[9] following his arrest on drug charges.[10]