Kamal Martin
Kamal Adrian Martin (born June 17, 1998) is an American football inside linebacker for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota.
No. 54 – Green Bay Packers | |||||||||||||
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Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born: | Burnsville, Minnesota | June 17, 1998||||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||
Weight: | 240 lb (109 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school: | Burnsville (Burnsville, Minnesota) | ||||||||||||
College: | Minnesota | ||||||||||||
NFL Draft: | 2020 / Round: 5 / Pick: 175 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
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Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
Career NFL statistics as of Week 16, 2020 | |||||||||||||
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Player stats at PFR |
Early life and high school career
Martin was born and grew up in Burnsville, Minnesota and attended Burnsville High School, where he played quarterback and safety on the football team. He was named first team All-State by the Associated Press as an all-purpose performer after completing 63 of 117 passes for 877 yards and nine touchdowns with one interception and rushing 400 yards and eight touchdowns on offense and recording 79 tackles, two forced fumbles, one interception and 13 pass breakups on defense.[1]
College career
Martin played mostly as a reserve linebacker as a freshman, playing in all 13 of Minnesota's games with one start and 10 tackles and one interception.[2] He became a starter going into his sophomore season and finished the year with 42 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, one interception, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.[3] As a junior he made 59 tackles, including tackles 3.5 for loss, and two passes broken up in twelve games but did not play in the team's bowl game due to a violation of team rules.[4] Martin's senior season was cut short after eight games due to injury, but he was named honorable mention All-Big Ten after making 66 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.[5]
Professional career
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | |||||||||
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6 ft 2 7⁄8 in (1.90 m) |
240 lb (109 kg) |
34 in (0.86 m) |
10 1⁄8 in (0.26 m) | |||||||||
All values from NFL Combine |
The Green Bay Packers selected Martin in the fifth round (175th overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft.[6] He signed his rookie contract on July 9, 2020.[7] On September 2, 2020, it was reported that Martin had undergone surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and would be out for at least six weeks.[8] The Packers placed him on injured reserve on September 7.[9] The Packers activated him off injured reserve on October 24, 2020.[10] He made his NFL debut the following day against the Houston Texans, recording six solo tackles (including one for loss) during the 35-20 victory.[11] Martin was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on November 3, 2020,[12] and activated six days later.[13] On November 29, 2020, Martin recorded his first career sack on Mitchell Trubisky during a Week 12 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football.[14]
References
- Schardin, Tom (July 26, 2019). "Big final season ahead for former Blaze". swnewsmedia.com.
- Ruane, Blake (April 24, 2017). "Ranking the Top 10 Minnesota Football players". TheDailyGopher.com. SB Nation.
- "Gophers linebacker Kamal Martin expects turnaround". Star Tribune. August 9, 2018.
- "Gophers linebacker Kamal Martin suspended, doesn't make trip to Detroit". Star Tribune. December 26, 2018.
- "Gopher linebacker Kamal Martin's emotional ride continues into NFL Draft". West Central Tribune.
- "2020 NFL Draft: Packers select Minnesota LB Kamal Martin in fifth round, No. 175 overall". packers.com. April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- "Packers sign LB Kamal Martin". packers.com. July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
- Demovsky, Rob (2 September 2020). "Source: Packers rookie Kamal Martin has surgery on knee, to miss at least six weeks". ESPN.com. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- "Packers announce roster moves". Packers.com. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
- "Packers announce roster moves". Packers.com. October 24, 2020.
- Kruse, Zach (26 October 2020). "Packers 'really encouraged' by debut of rookie LB Kamal Martin vs. Texans". PackersWire. USAToday.com. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- "Packers place two players on reserve/COVID-19 list". Packers.com. November 3, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
- Williams, Charean (November 9, 2020). "Packers remove Kamal Martin, Jamaal Williams from COVID-19 list". NBCSports.com. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
- "Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers - November 29th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-12-02.