Detroit Lions' Sam Martin out to be 'the best Sam I can be' after 2 down seasons
Dave Birkett
Sam Martin wants nothing to do with the past. Not the four standout seasons he had to start his NFL career —when he mostly punted at a Pro Bowl level — nor the 1.5 seasons since, when nothing seemed to go right.
Martin suffered a serious offseason foot injury in 2017 that cost him half the year and he hasn't been the same punter since.
He showed noticeable regression upon his return two years ago, when he averaged a career-low 43.4 yards per punt in 10 games, and last year he still was dealing with some lingering effects from the injury.
Martin netted just 39.2 yards per punt last season, and the Lions' early-season struggles in the punt game led to special-teams coordinator Joe Marciano's dismissal.
Now reunited with his first NFL position coach, John Bonamego, who was hired as Marciano's replacement in January, Martin is a prime candidate for a bounce-back year.
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He's kicking the ball well in offseason workouts. He's settled in his personal life, dating Olympic gold-medal gymnast Nastia Liukin. And he said he feels "great" from a health standpoint.
"I had a really good offseason of preparation coming into here, so I feel good," Martin said. "Can always be better, though. In the kicking game you can never be perfect, so I'm just constantly chasing that and just being the best Sam I can be, and that's kind of where I'm at right now is just every day getting better."
A relative unknown out of college at Appalachian State, Martin landed in Detroit in large part based on the recommendation of Bonamego, the team's special-teams coordinator in 2013-14.
Bonamego traveled the country working out punters before the 2013 draft and fell in love with Martin's leg and demeanor. The Lions made Martin a fifth-round pick that April, and Martin said Wednesday that Bonamego played a big part in him realizing his potential early in his career.
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"He definitely (helped mold me)," Martin said. "He was a great coach. Having him back is good, especially trying to get myself back on track. It's great having him here and he knows how I operate, he knows how my mind works, he knows how I kick so he's great to have next to me."
Bonamego, who spent four seasons as Central Michigan head coach, said last week that he's been impressed with how Martin has developed in his NFL career, even if he's regressed statistically.
"He's grown a lot," Bonamego said. "I think he had the one year where he was injured. I'm not sure how healthy he was this year, but we're going to try to do everything we can to get the best we can out of him. It starts with communication and expectations, so we talk just like we talk with all the players in terms of what standards we're going to set, what's the objectives, what we expect from him, and we'll hold him to a high standard just like we do every player."
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Martin has his own standards to uphold, too, and it's possible, if he doesn't reach them — with a hefty $2.4 million salary on the books for the fall and the strong-legged Ryan Santoso in camp for a second straight year — the Lions could look to replace him sooner rather than later.
A Pro Bowl alternate behind Johnny Hekker in 2016, the last season before his injury when he netted a franchise record 44.2 yards per punt, Martin wants to get back to that level.
He said his focus this spring has been on "building a better foundation for the season" and he's put a stronger emphasis on the preparation he needs to get there.
"At this point, there's no looking back," Martin said. "That's what the first month or so after the season is for, reflect, figure out where you were bad, where you were good, develop a gameplan and then work towards what we're working towards now. So I don't really put much thought into last year anymore. I did enough of that this offseason and right now I'm just super pumped and I feel healthier than I have in a while and I just feel great. Mentally, I'm in a good place."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.