Jonathan Augustus Martin (born August 19, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal. Martin was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers. After retiring from professional football, Jonathan Martin became an entrepreneur, and founded two real estate start-up companies in central Texas.
Early life and education
Martin's father, Gus Martin, is a Harvard University graduate and a professor of criminal justice administration at California State University, Dominguez Hills. His mother, Jane Howard-Martin, is also a Harvard graduate and is a corporate lawyer for Toyota. Martin has a total of nine relatives who graduated from Harvard including his grandfather, a professor in international development, and his maternal great grandfather, one of a dozen black students there in the 1920s.
Martin attended John Thomas Dye School in the Los Angeles area and for high school, he attended nationally ranked Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California. He was an all-section and All-Mission League selection as a senior in 2007 and earned All-Mission League honors as a junior in 2006.
Regarded as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Martin was ranked as the No. 44 offensive tackle prospect in the class of 2008, which was highlighted by Mike Adams and Matt Kalil. Martin originally committed to play for the UCLA Bruins. However, after getting cleared academically by Stanford University, he de-committed from UCLA and committed to the Cardinal on January 11, 2008.
College career
At Stanford University, Martin majored in classics. As a redshirt freshman in 2009, Martin started 11 of 13 games at left tackle. He was one of two freshman starters on the offensive line, along with left guard David DeCastro. Despite its inexperience, the Cardinal offensive line allowed a Pac-10-low seven sacks on the year, enabling Stanford's freshman quarterback Andrew Luck to lead the conference in passing efficiency at 143.47. On the ground, Cardinal running back Toby Gerhart rushed for a school-record 1,871 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2009. Martin was an honorable mention All-Pac-10 selection and a second-team freshman All-American by CollegeFootballNews.com.
In his sophomore year, Martin started all games at left tackle and was named a first-team All-American by Scout.com. Fellow linemen DeCastro and center Chase Beeler also received All-America recognition, as the Cardinal offensive line allowed just six sacks on the season, the second fewest in the FBS behind only Air Force. Quarterback Andrew Luck led the Pac-10 in passing efficiency for the second year in a row.
With Jonathan Martin anchoring the left tackle position, the 2010 Stanford Cardinal Football Team ended the regular season 11-1 and defeated Virginia Tech 40–12 in the Orange Bowl for the first BCS bowl victory in program history.
As a junior, Martin again started all games and earned All-America honors by Scout.com and the Walter Camp Foundation.
Professional career
2012 NFL Draft
On January 3, 2012, Martin announced he was declaring for the 2012 NFL Draft. He was regarded as the No. 3 tackle prospect in the 2012 NFL Draft, behind Matt Kalil and Riley Reiff. He was projected to be a late-first or early-second round selection.
At the 2012 NFL Draft, Martin was selected in round 2, with the 42nd overall pick by the Miami Dolphins. Despite playing mostly at left tackle in college, the Dolphins drafted him to play at right tackle.
Miami Dolphins
During his rookie season, Martin started at right tackle from the beginning of training camp and struggled early in preseason with giving up sacks and penalties. On October 2, 2012, Martin was fined $10,000 for illegal clipping, a standard fine imposed on a player for the common foul of blocking an opponent from behind and below the waist. In December 2012, Martin was moved over to left tackle to take over for Pro Bowler Jake Long, who had been placed on injured reserve with a torn triceps. Martin had started the first 12 games of the season at right tackle, ranking 63rd out of the 69 NFL tackles who had played at least 300 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus’ grading system.