Focus '08: Canadian Speedster Michael Martens

Canada certainly isn’t a hotbed for recruiting when it comes to high school football, but as the sport becomes more and more popular in other countries, players will continue to emerge from our neighbors up north into the collegiate ranks. One of those players for the Class of 2008 could be Sault Ste Marie, Ontario native Michael Martens.

Michael Martens may not bring imposing size to the field at only 5-foot-9, 165 pounds, but what he lacks in that department he makes up for with plenty of two other qualities, speed and athleticism. The St. Mary’s College athlete has been timed at 4.39 in the 40-yard dash, 4.07 in the short shuttle, 6.82 in the three-cone drill and has a 37-inch vertical leap. Add to that solid strength numbers of 270 pounds on the bench, 520 on the squat and a 225-pound power clean and it is easy to see why schools have already started to contact the young speedster.

“The interest I have been receiving at this point has been from LSU, BYU, Georgia, Notre Dame, Clemson, Northwestern, North Carolina State, Syracuse, Rice and finally New Mexico,” Martens stated. “Right now they have just been sending me information to fill out and get back to them as I am only a sophomore, so I have been filling out the questionnaires and sending film to schools.”

Martens plays wide receiver, cornerback and safety for St. Mary’s College and also is an excellent kick and punt return specialist. He played in five games as a junior and caught nine passes for 275 yards and four touchdowns, averaging a gaudy 30.5 yards per catch with a long of 60 yards. On special teams, he returned four punts for touchdown with a long of 76 yards, had a long kickoff return of 90 yards and broke 200 all-purpose yards in one of the five games he played in. His team went undefeated and were league, city, regional and provincial champions, cruising to a 12-0 record. Martens was voted first-team All-Area as a punt and kick returner and was giving the Offensive Player of the Year Award by the Coaching Association. He was third overall in his league for touchdowns, second in receiving yardage and first in all return categories. Again, this was all in five games of playing time. They do not have an equivalent to All-State honors in Canada.

As a sophomore, Martens had only his statistics from the finals where he caught 3 passes for 139 yards, had one receiving touchdown and returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown.

In the classroom, he holds a 4.0 GPA and is awaiting his SAT results.