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Today in Patriots History
A Wild and Crazy JAG
A Wild and Crazy JAG
Happy 51st birthday to Steve Martin
Born May 31, 1974 in St Paul, Minnesota; hometown Jefferson City, Missouri
Patriot defensive tackle, 2002; uniform #90
Signed as an unrestricted veteran free agent on April 3, 2002
Pats résumé: one season, 14 games (five starts); 17 tackles, one TFL, one pass defensed, zero sacks
No relation to the wild and crazy comedian, the Patriots signed the 6'4", 320 lb 27 year old journeyman three weeks prior to the 2002 draft. A fifth round draft pick by the Colts in 1996 out of Missouri, the six year veteran was viewed as a being a two-down player; superior against the run, and average versus the pass. Instead he turned out to be a freelancer who failed to buy into the concept of 'do your job'.
Steve Martin played in 14 games with five starts while with the Patriots, but was unhappy with his decreased role and playing time - and let that be known to the New York press prior to an upcoming game against his prior team, the Jets. Aside from his not keeping these matters in house, more egregious was the fact that this was coming on the heels of a critical late season loss to Tennessee, in which the Patriots allowed 238 yards rushing to drop to 8-6. The combination of a bit too much mouth-running and not enough run-stuffing led to a swift pink slip, as Bill Belichick cut Martin while the ink on those newspapers was still wet.
#34 DB Tebucky Jones, #98 DE/DT Anthony Pleasant and #90 DT/NT Steve Martin
Martin played in 127 games with 51 starts over nine NFL seasons, constantly moving from one team to the next. Perhaps that annual lack of retention by other teams should have been a warning. His longest tenure was his first, two seasons plus a month in Indy. After that Martin played with the Eagles for a year and a half, then one season or less with each of the Chiefs, Jets, Patriots, Texans and Vikings.
Aug 3, 2002:
Pats sign free agents Steve Martin and Ryan Phillips; Waive two others -- Patriots.com
Martin, 27, joins the Patriots after recording a career year with the New York Jets last season when he started 15 of 16 games and record 75 total tackles, including 2.5 sacks. The six-year veteran was originally drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the fifth round (151st overall) of the 1996 NFL draft out of Missouri. The 6-foot-4-inch, 319-pound defensive tackle participated in 30 games over three seasons with the Colts before being waived during the 1998 season. He was claimed off waivers by the Philadelphia Eagles and started three of the final 13 games. In 1999, he started 15 of 16 games for the Eagles and recorded 60 tackles, including a pair of sacks. In 2000, he signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs and appeared in every game. Last year, he was released by the Chiefs and signed with the New York Jets on Sept. 2, 2001. In six seasons, he has started 38 of 87 games and combined for 222 tackles, including 6.5 career sacks.
Dec 20, 2002:
Belichick addresses Otis Smith injury, Steve Martin release -- Patriots.com
But the more questioned move was the release of Martin, a seventh year player who had started five games for the team earlier in the season, but saw his playing time diminish as the season went on and the team struggled in stopping the run. Martin signed with the team in April to bolster the run defense after spending last season with the Jets and recording 78 tackles.
"With Steve Martin, we just felt like it was time to move on with that one," Belichick said. "It wasn't working out, so that was the reason for that decision yesterday."
When questioned on the timing of the move and the fact that it came late in the week before the 15th game of the season, Belichick answered with a fairly generic "do what's best for your team" response. Martin had not worked out as a run stopper and never seemed to fit into the Patriots defensive system.
Reached late Thursday, Martin echoed the fact that he never really worked into a comfortable role of the Patriots. "I never felt like I really gelled," Martin said. "I didn't think they wanted me to be their guy. They wanted me to be an insurance policy. I never really felt like I was one of their guys."
Friday, Martin's now former teammate and fellow defensive lineman Anthony Pleasant said it was a situation where Martin never adjusted into Belichick and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel's system.
"To fit here you have to adjust to what they want you to do," Pleasant said. "That's not necessarily what you might think is best for you. Whatever technique is called, you have to do it. I wouldn't say he was doing his own thing, but he wasn't doing exactly what they wanted him to do."
Steve Martin Career Game Log | Pro-Football-Reference.com
Get Steve Martin Career game log for regular season and playoff games on Pro-football-reference.com.
www.pro-football-reference.com
Pro Football Archives -- Steve Martin Player Profile
Pro Football Archives -- Steve Martin Transactions
Steve Martin (defensive tackle) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
