When LSU senior safety Ronald Martin began his senior season, he never imagined a career year would be in his future.
Martin was named a Jim Thorpe Award Semifinalist on Oct. 27 with a team leading seven pass breakups and team lead tying two forced fumbles. But after multiple setbacks in his junior campaign a year ago, he thought this moment would never come.
“Honestly, no [I didn’t think this would ever happen],” Martin said. “I was going through a lot, and I had a lot on my mind and didn’t really know what was going on, but it’s a blessing.”
The White Castle, Louisiana, native began his junior campaign as the starting free safety for the Tigers, replacing NFL first-round draft pick Eric Reid, after showing promise at the position throughout the 2012 season.
Martin, a natural strong safety who shifted to free safety because of former Tiger Craig Loston, showed glimmers of hope at his new position in 2013.
The 6-foot-2-inch, 220-pound safety produced his best outing of the season in a 27-24 loss to Ole Miss on Oct. 19, 2013. The then-junior recorded 12 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the defeat.
Martin followed his then career game the next week with an interception against Furman, earning his first interception of the season.
But Martin didn’t know the game would also be his last of the season.
During the 48-16 blowout against Furman, Martin suffered a stress fracture in his right foot. After sporadic play against Alabama two weeks later, the injury forced him out of pads for the remainder of the season.
The season-ending injury came just eight weeks after his father died of lung cancer, putting Martin in a tough place as he watched the Tigers finish out the season without him.
“I was just missing the game a lot,” Martin said. “I missed being out there and having fun with those guys and I was anxious to do that again.”
Football played a major role in Martin’s life. It helped distract Martin from his father’s recent death, but with his position ripped away, Martin struggled to cope.
“He was down,” said sophomore wide receiver Travin Dural. “He had a bunch of things going on with him off the field and had some personal problems.”
Martin said the support of his teammates was the biggest help for him while he struggled to get back on his feet and he leaned on his teammates whenever he needed them most.
“[What helped me most was] my support staff, and staying on foot and being on task with what God has planned for me,” Martin said. “I just kept my trust in him and just kept moving forward.”
Sophomore cornerback Tre’Davious White and teammates stuck by Martin’s side during the injury and helped him get his mind back to football. White said Martin is a strong-minded guy, and once he had the support of his teammates, he had no choice but to pick himself up.
The injury began to motivate him and he did anything he could to get an edge in his quest to resume his collegiate career, Martin said.
“It kind of lit a fire under me,” Martin said. “I was like, ‘Man you got to get back out there. You got to work hard and keep improving to get back out there.’”
Martin didn’t take any time off. He began studying the game by spending most of his time in the film room taking notes and getting himself mentally prepared for when he would eventually step back onto the field.
With Martin’s senior season on the horizon, he wanted to make a statement.
“Being that this was his last season, I know he had it in his mind that he had to do well, and he had to go out with a bang and make everyone remember that he was a great player,” Dural said.
Martin said during his time on the sideline, he saw the game from a fan’s perspective, which helped him visualize the situation and role he would play if he were in the game.
His hard work and preparation presented itself when the offseason rolled around. Martin was put back into his natural position at strong safety and his success began to skyrocket.
“You could see it in the spring. He was flying all over in the spring and he continued it all through the summer and it kept continuing in the fall,” Dural said.
He had two interceptions in a spring scrimmage and earned the Mike Miley Leadership Award and the Most Improved Award for his hard work in the offseason.
The biggest impact of Martin’s increased football IQ was his ability to become a leader in the Tigers’ secondary. While many of his teammates are quick to label Martin as a quiet, laid-back guy, his ability to lead by example is what set him apart coming into camp.
“He’s a great leader for us,” White said. “He’s a guy who knows everything about the defense, what everybody’s supposed to do. And he’s sort of the quarterback for us back there. He’s a guy you can talk to. He watches a lot of film, so he already knows a lot of guys’ tendencies before they even do what they do.”
Junior defensive back Jalen Collins said Martin’s greatest characteristic as a leader is his ability to get everyone in the right spots and act like a quarterback out on the field.
“[His best quality as a leader is] just trying to instill the same work ethic that he has in the rest of us and the younger guys,” Collins said. “Making sure we’re on top of everything we need to be on, getting the film when we need to be, making sure we know the checks, know the plays and we’re all on the same page.”
Martin since has carried his offseason play into the season, having a career year to cap off his four-year stint with the Tigers. He’s tied for the team lead with two interceptions, both of which have come in the fourth quarter, and also tallied 48 tackles on the year.
Freshman wide receiver John Diarse was taken aback by Martin’s rebound ability through the offseason, and had only one word to describe the veteran leader’s perseverance.
“Fighter,” Diarse said. “I say that because it’s his relentless effort on every play. He may get beat on a route one play and I swear he comes back the next play and acts like it never happened. That’s the type of mindset we all have to have, it’s always next play.”
Martin’s endless fight to overcome the loss of his father and season-ending foot injury a year ago has brought him into the Jim Thorpe Award discussion, and Martin takes the recognition as an honor and opportunity to better himself heading into the final month of the season.
“It’s an honor man, it’s a blessing,” Martin said. “Just following in those guys’ footsteps that came here before like [former LSU defensive backs] Patrick Peterson, [Morris] Claiborne, Tyrann Mathieu, all those guys. I’m just going to keep working to try and keep the legacy alive.”