Cowboys’ Zack Martin bids farewell in retirement speech: ‘I gave it everything I had’
From the very beginning of his retirement press conference on Wednesday, Zack Martin looked back.
“Football has been a part of my life since I was 7 years old. It shaped me, challenged me and gave me my purpose.”
Twnety-seven years later, Martin stepped away from the game as one of the most accomplished interior offensive linemen in Dallas Cowboys and NFL history, having earned seven first-team All-Pro honors, nine Pro Bowl nods and a spot on the 2010s All-Decade Team.
From being a model of consistency to a model of reliability in his career, his stat of only having seven holding penalties called in 11,784 offensive snaps could stand alone among the most mind-boggling achievements in the history of NFL offensive line play.
For him, it’s something that makes him crack a laugh.
“I laugh when people tell me that stat all the time,” Martin said. “Those were just the accepted ones. I think I got a few third-and-longs that were declined, but I’ll take it.”
His retirement comes after 11 seasons with the Cowboys that saw him go from the guy Dallas drafted instead of Johnny Manziel as a rookie to one of the best players in franchise history as a veteran.
“I did not make this decision lightly, it came after a long thought and prayer,” Martin said. “But the time has come for my football journey to reach its end. As I step away from the game, I do with a full heart. I gave it everything I had.”
With his family, teammates, coaches and Cowboys employees in attendance, Martin gave his final goodbye to the only organization he ever knew in his NFL career. Despite feeling sour about finishing his career on the injured reserve list for an ankle issue he suffered last season, he retires with only one regret: that he never won a Super Bowl.
Aside from that, he’s more so focused on the future with his wife and three kids.
“I really haven’t gotten too deep down that rabbit hole yet,” he said about what’s next for him after football. “I don’t see myself not in the football world in some capacity. What that may be, I’m not sure. But for right now, I’m just going to hang with the family and coach some little league games or something like that.”
While his playing career is technically over, two accomplishments await before a bow can be put on what Zack Martin achieved in the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor around AT&T Stadium typically requires a player to be put into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but owner Jerry Jones indicated that the team will make an exception for one of the best to ever wear a star.
“They would mean a great deal,” Martin said. “When I came into the league, none of that stuff was on my radar. I was just trying to get here and make sure I didn’t screw it up...Those things get brought up and you start thinking about them a little bit. Absolutely, it would be a great honor one day if those things happened.”
With his kids in tow and his wife next to him, Martin departed The Star in Frisco on Wednesday with, as he said, a full heart. Even if he feels like there may have been some juice left in the tank, he left grateful for the journey he had.
“I’ve been fortunate to live out a dream that so many can only imagine.”
