Skates, Spikes, and Sidelines

It was announced today by Jon Machota of The Athletic, that Zack Martin of the Dallas Cowboys would undergo season-ending surgery done on his ankle. He sustained the injury against the Houston Texans on November 18 during their primetime Monday Night Football game.

Martin was drafted by the Cowboys with the 16th pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. Little did the Cowboys know, they had drafted a future first-ballot NFL Hall of Fame player. The right guard would go on to protect his quarterback in one of the most dominant offensive lines of the 2010s. Lining up next to Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, and later on, the young star Tyler Smith. They would protect the box which led to multiple 1300+ yard seasons from running backs Demarco Murray and Ezekiel Elliot.

In his 11 seasons with the Cowboys, Martin only had 21 accepted penalties called on him. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In over a decade of lining up in a three-point-stance, he only had seven holding penalties called (only five accepted). To put that into perspective, Landon Dickerson of the Philadelphia Eagles (a top ten ranked guard by PFF) committed six holdings alone in 2022. The kicker? Zack Martin has as many first-team all-pros and Pro Bowls (7 each) as holding calls on him, but still MORE that have been accepted. Unfathomable consistency.

To think November 18th may have been the last time Zack Martin suited up for a football game is heartbreaking. Star on his helmet or not, greatness was observed for over a decade.