Three of a Kind: The Jack Martins of Alabama
Names are a funny thing. With 350 million people in America, you’re bound to come across a few with the same name, but at a certain level it becomes notable.
For instance, take Michael Jordan and Michael B. Jordan. One is a legendary basketball player who dabbled in baseball, acting, and now management. The other is a beloved actor.
Or take Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson, who set NFL records, and Georgia Southern’s Adrian Peterson, who set FCS football records.
Rarer still? Three people with the same name… all involved with major FBS programs… all in the same state.
Let me introduce you to the three Jack Martins of Alabama. We’ll start with the oldest.
This Jack Martin was born in Gainesville, Georgia in October 2000. His family moved to Dothan at some point, and he joined Northview’s football team as a kicker and punter.
Coming out of high school, he was named the nation’s 16th-best kicking prospect by 247Sports and a top-50 prospect by ESPN. He signed with Troy.
Martin handled kickoff duties his freshman year, averaging 53 yards a kick and hitting 23 touchbacks. The next season, he picked up punting as well, averaging 46 yards a punt with a long of 66 and increasing his kickoff average to 56 yards per kick.
At the 2021 spring game, Jack Martin the kicker warmed up on the field, and another Jack Martin stepped onto it.
“After introducing myself, people shot looks at the other Jack to make sure he still had his pads on ready to play,” the second Jack Martin said.
Jack Martin No. 2 is a Pike Road native, born two years after the punter.
A photographer and videographer, Martin the creative came to Troy to get a degree in communications.
He’s been behind the camera at nearly every Troy event the past two years. You’ve seen a lot of his work on social media.
“We actually met at T-Day 2021, which was my first day at Troy,” Martin the photographer said about meeting Martin the kicker. “It felt like the collab of the century by far.
“The amount of weird looks I got after introducing myself was hilarious. Some people thought I was the punter who randomly decided to change professions. It was a really good time.”
(Jack Martin did not take these pictures of Jack Martin, unfortunately)
As one Jack Martin joined the Troy Athletics Department, the other was on his way out. In fact, the photographer’s first day in Cardinal was the kicker’s last.
About a month after T-Day, Jack Martin jumped into the transfer portal. He landed in Tuscaloosa on May 15, 2021.
The carousel of Jack Martins had only begun. At the same time, in the same special teams room, a punter by the name of Jack Martin was also preparing a trip through the transfer portal.
Jack Martin No. 3 was born about two months after Jack Martin No. 1, down in Mobile.
He joined the team at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, under head coach Earnest Hill and special teams coach Jeff Banks. In that time, the Yellow Jackets went 35-5, winning a state title his freshman year and losing to Hoover in the title game the next two seasons.
Bama’s 247 site has a great account of the moment he got the call from coach Nick Saban:
“Martin was actually at a Mardis (sic) Gras parade and had to step into Pollman’s Bakery so that he could talk on the phone.”
As a Mobile native, it’s important to me that you know that is the most Mobilian story I’ve ever heard.
Martin the Mobilian joined the Tide in 2019, collecting a ring in 2020, but missing out on playing time. After that season, South Alabama canned Steve Campbell and hired Kane Wommack… who hired McGill head coach Earnest Hill.
No one will really know whether the wheels were in motion at that point, but in hindsight, the message couldn’t have been more clear. The carousel spun one more time.
Barely two weeks after one Jack Martin joined the Crimson Tide, the other punter reunited with his high school coach.
This Martin sat out last season, but with another three years of eligibility and both Jag starters returning, he may stick to the grind another year.
The first Jack Martin, the Crimson Tide kicker, got some playing time last season. He yet again increased his average kickoff length, this time to 59.1 yards. He also got on the board for the first time, with a 29-yard field goal in a 59-3 rout of New Mexico State.
Given the crowded kicking room at Bama, and his seniority as the oldest punter on the roster, he may get the starting gig this coming season.
Finally, the photographer is entering his sophomore season at Troy, and you’ll see plenty of his photos on our Twitter feed (and his) come football and basketball season.
The three Jack Martins are all young men with a ton of promise. They’re all three examples of learning to work with the hand you’re dealt.
If their work ethic matches their talent… it won’t be long before they’re kings.
