Mike Martin (defensive lineman)

Michael Brendan Martin (born September 1, 1990) is an American football defensive end for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Titans in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines from 2008 to 2011. At Michigan, Martin recorded 172 tackles and appeared in 49 games, including 37 games as the Wolverines' starting nose tackle. He was selected as a second-team All-Big Ten Conference player by both the coaches and media in 2011 and received the same recognition from the coaches in 2010. In high school, he was the state Gatorade Player of the Year in football. He was also a two-time Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) state wrestling champion as well as a two-time MHSAA state shot put champion.

High school career

Martin attended Detroit Catholic Central High School in Novi, Michigan, where he was a multi-sport athlete competing in football, wrestling and track and field. In football, he recorded 206.5 tackles for Catholic Central and was selected as the Gatorade Player of the Year in Michigan for 2007. Though he only took up wrestling as a junior in high school, he won Michigan's Division I state heavyweight wrestling championship in both 2007 and 2008. He was also a two-time state champion in the shot put, and his 2008 throw of 63 feet, 9 inches came within three inches of breaking the all-time state record set by T.J. Duckett. As a freshman, Martin played alto saxophone in the school marching band during varsity games in addition to playing on the freshman football team. During his sophomore year he was ranked as the No. 1 junior dog handler for the American Kennel Club. As a football recruit he was ranked as the 7th, 8th and 12th best defensive tackle in the nation by Rivals.com, ESPN, and Scout.com, respectively.