Playing career Zeke Martin

1 playing career

1.1 texas
1.2 north texas
1.3 pro football
1.4 records

playing career
texas

in 1944, martin freshman football player @ university of texas, backing legendary bobby layne on team s roster, school s, thin due world war ii. before second game of season, layne injured , martin replaced him @ quarterback against #4 randolph field. randolph field fielded team of college all-stars texas , martin had difficulty competing with. threw 12 passes 170 yards , 1 touchdown, threw school record 5 interceptions in game texas lost 42–6. next week, layne in lineup, martin threw touchdown pass in 20–0 win on oklahoma, last in longhorn jersey. few days after oklahoma game, martin re-entered united states coast guard maritime service.

martin did not return university of texas, spent intervening years involved in world war ii , amateur sports. in spring of 1946, played center field amateur denton bears of brazos-trinity baseball league, 1 of many amateur leagues form after world war ii. following winter, on smu basketball team, did not play much.

north texas

after 4 years, martin discharged merchant marines in 1947 , enrolled @ university of north texas, play football future nfl pro-bowler ray renfro. school known north texas state teachers college , change name north texas state college in martin s senior year. @ unt four-year letterman, played quarterback, defensive , punter , twice made all-conference team quarterback.

in 1947, started out #3 quarterback on team, eventual became #2 quarterback backing fred mccain. north texas, fresh off first ever bowl win, won lone star conference title second year in row , went 10–1 in regular season. beat favored university of florida, in gainesville, , regular season blemish 12–0 loss defending southwest conference champion arkansas. eagles made second straight bowl appearance, time @ salad bowl in phoenix, arizona against nevada. in game down 13–6 late in 4th quarter when martin threw have been game-tying touchdown pass, ball went right through hands on intended receiver, , eagles lost. though no official statistics exist season, martin threw @ least 3 touchdown passes @ least 46 yards.

with mccain s graduation, martin took on starting quarterback in 1948. there no official statistics available martin in 1947 or 1948, according media reports, threw 755 yards, 2nd best in conference, , rushed 32. 3 games left, had 5 touchdowns , scored 1 more in last game total of 6. team went 6–4 year, , martin able revenge on randolph afb 1944 outing @ texas leading north texas 86–0 victory on them.

in 1949, north texas first year in gulf coast conference, martin led conference in passing , made all-gulf coast conference team. went 71 of 179, 1,416 yards , 18 touchdowns , had average punt distance of 38.9 yards. north texas went 8–4 season.

after strong 1949 season, martin considered candidate little all-american team in senior year. put solid numbers, , in october leading passer among small college quarterbacks. end of season, had completed 68 passes 1106 yards , 6 touchdowns. not all-american did make all-conference team second year in row. eagles went 7–2–1 , co-champions of gulf coast conference. against tennessee-chattanooga, martin engineered come-from-behind touchdown driving, scoring 12-yard pass in closing seconds win 19–14. , following week against houston, again marshaled 4th-quarter come-from-behind drive, throwing 3 straight complete passes, including game-winning touchdown put north texas 16–13.

martin graduated in 1951 with, officially, 2,522 passing yards on career, includes last 2 years because no official records exist before 1949. including reported yards 1947 , 1948, threw @ least 3,323 career passing yards, enough school record @ time , 8th all-time @ north texas. using official , reported numbers, graduated career leader in touchdown passes @ least 33, , sits @ 6th in school history. both records lasted until end of 1960s.

in addition football, martin played tennis , basketball north texas. inducted north texas athletic hall of fame in 1989. candidate north texas all-century football team.

pro football

martin drafted redskins in 23rd round of 1951 nfl draft 268th pick, s unclear if ever signed contract or attended camp them.

he signed play professional football hamilton tiger-cats of interprovincial rugby football union, precursor canadian football league. played in 2 games team in september of 1951, cut on october 1, league deadline trimming foreign-born players on roster down seven. @ 1 point, couch carl voyles had considered martin team s #1 quarterback, need limit americans resulted in cut. nonetheless, martin paid full season of play.

records

ut – interceptions, game (5), tied todd dodge, bret stafford , garrett gilbert
unt – passing yards, career (3,323), surpassed steve ramsey in 1969
unt – touchdown passes, career (33), surpassed ramsey in 1969

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