My Favorite Notre Dame Football Player of All Time: Zack Martin

Zack Martin is currently one of the best interior offensive lineman in the NFL, and has been since he entered the league in 2014. For most Notre Dame football fans who followed his career in South Bend, that couldn’t be any less surprising.

I’ve always had a soft spot for offensive lineman. That sentiment probably stems from playing offensive line throughout my pee-wee, high school, and college career. Nonetheless, I’ll never shy away from giving the big boys up front for Notre Dame football some recognition.

When it comes to picking a favorite Notre Dame player, naturally I favored guys who played up-front and put their hands in the dirt (or turf). When I first started watching Notre Dame football and becoming a more serious fan in the mid to late 2000s, I remember watching guys like Sam Young and John Sullivan. They were the original hog mollies up front that I noticed and followed as they were eventually drafted and began their pro careers.

Given the rich history of offensive lineman from Notre Dame — especially during the Brian Kelly era — there are a handful of guy who easily could be my favorite player. However, former left tackle Zack Martin stands alone as my all-time favorite player to wear the gold helmet.

When it comes to the Mount Rushmore of offensive lineman for Notre Dame, it would be hard to argue that guys like George Connor, Aaron Taylor, or Quenton Nelson wouldn’t be a lock on that list. That fourth spot would spark some debate, but to me, it would go to Martin — a somewhat underrated player of the Brian Kelly era who was an anchor up front for four consecutive years.

One of the aspects I admired most about Martin was the trait he is known for, and that’s longevity. From 2010 – 2014, he played or started in every game for the Irish, all 52 — a team record for career starts by an offensive lineman. Over that span, the Irish went 37-15, including the undefeated season of 2012 and National Championship appearance. Fittingly, Martin capped off his career with a 29-16 win over Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl, where he was named the game’s MVP — becoming the first offensive lineman since 1959 to receive that distinction in a college bowl game.

I was in high school while Martin played for Notre Dame, and every Saturday during the fall — after playing a game of my own the night before — I could always count on seeing No. 70 jogging onto the field for an offensive series and shut down whoever he was lined up across from him.

Outside of his consistency and style of play, how Martin was viewed by his teammates stood out the most to me. Being named a captain for any program says a lot about your character and how your teammates view you as a player, leader, and person — and earning that distinction for Notre Dame just means more.

The fact that Martin was named a captain twice (only the 18th player to earn that honor in school history) speaks to the type of person and player he was. It was something I admired and tried to embody myself as a football player and person.

While Martin might have not earned the type of praise and hype that guys like Nelson, Stanley, or McGlinchey got, he will always be considered one of the best offensive lineman in Irish history. It still blows my mind that after his senior season, Martin didn’t make one All-American list. During his career with Notre Dame, Martin was only named a 2nd team All-American after the 2012 season.

That’s irrelevant now, as Martin has grown into arguably the best guard in professional football — right in front of fellow Irish-alumni Quenton Nelson. Martin has been selected to the Pro Bowl every season he’s been in the league, while also earning First Team All-Pro honors three times.

When it comes to the overall package of talent, ability, NFL success, and the type of person that embodies Notre Dame football — on top of the fact that he’s an offensive lineman — it’s hard for me to pick anyone else as my favorite Notre Dame football player of all-time.