Tay Martin spent four years bouncing around the NFL, barely playing while mostly clinging to practice squads with the Washington Commanders, Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers.
So when the opportunity came for Martin to join the UFL this spring, he looked at it not as a step down but as a chance to finally get on the field.
“There was no [swallowing] pride for me cause I love playing ball,” Martin told the Free Press on Sunday, Aug. 16. “I can go play ball in a parking lot over there, it’ll be the same. So any time you get a chance to put on them pads, bro, you don’t take that for granted.”
Martin caught 42 passes for 483 yards and two touchdowns in 10 games with the Columbus Aviators this spring.
He played in more games than he had in his four NFL seasons combined (seven). He had his most catches since his final college season at Oklahoma State (80). And when the Aviators’ season ended, he had more NFL suitors than he ever had in his life.
Martin worked out for the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints before signing with the Detroit Lions in June, one of four UFL receivers the Lions brought in near the end of OTAs.
An under-the-radar signing at the time, Martin has played well consistently enough this summer – both as a receiver and on special teams – that he has a real chance to break camp with a roster spot when teams cut to 53 players next week.
“Tay Martin makes plays every day,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said last week. “He’s intriguing on offense, but he makes special teams plays every day. And that’s important to us.”
Martin saw limited time on special teams in the UFL because of his role on offense, but he played about half the special teams snaps in each of the three games he played with the Commanders last season. He made one tackle on kickoff, when he knifed past the linebacker responsible for blocking him in an October win over the Los Angeles Chargers to haul L.A.’s return man down inside the 25-yard line.
Martin said his special teams prowess – he’s repped as a second-team gunner and with the first team on kick return and kick coverage with the Lions this summer – is due in part to his prep career as a two-way football player and standout on the basketball court.
Martin originally committed to play basketball at the University of New Orleans as a freshman in high school and later planned to play both basketball and football, where he was a receiver and defensive back, at Tulane. Eventually, he decided to go football-only at Washington State, but not before he starred as a slashing wing on AAU basketball teams with Mitchell Robinson of the Boston Celtics and Jared Butler, a draft pick of the New Orleans Pelicans who’s now playing overseas.
“I was dunking on people,” Martin said. “Playing defense, that high motor guy. Kind of like a Russell Westbrook in a way. Tremendous high motor. Just wanted to get to the rack and make some plays.”
On special teams, that’s been Martin’s M.O., too.
Campbell first raised Martin’s name as a candidate for a back-end roster spot last week when he talked about how important special teams would be to earning a job as the Lions’ No. 5 or 6 receiver. On Saturday, Aug. 15, he mentioned Martin again when asked which receivers stood out in the Lions’ preseason opening loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Tay Martin showed up again,” Campbell said. “Blocking, made a one-on-one catch, separated, special teams he forced a penalty and that was just one play on special teams. He made more than that. In the return units and the cover units.”
Martin said special teams is “where it’s going to end and that’s where it’s going to start with me” making the roster, but he’s proud of his evolution as a receiver, too.
His time in the UFL helped him grow as a pass catcher.
“That was big for me,” he said. “A lot of reps. Gaining my confidence back, getting out there and just making plays.”
And after making a contested catch for a first down on the Lions’ only touchdown drive against the Bengals, the Lions rewarded him by giving him first-team reps on offense with Jameson Williams sidelined in practice Sunday.
Campbell has said the battle for the fifth and perhaps sixth receiver spots are among the most competitive in camp. Cedric Wilson Jr., Tarik Black, Tom Kennedy, Dominic Lovett and others have popped at times in practices or games.
Martin said he’s not focused on winning a roster spot for now. With two preseason games and a little less than two weeks left in camp, he’s just out to make more plays.
“Keep working, keep doing what I’m doing, keep them blinders on,” he said. “That’s it. Don’t listen to the outside noise, bro. I’ve been in this position before, so that’s why it’s kind of hard for me to feed into a lot of that. So I just kind of wait till it happens.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Lions WR Tay Martin used UFL as launching pad for roster spot
Reporting by Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
