Vaughn Martin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Martin with the San Diego Chargers in 2011 | |||||||||
| No. 92, 90, 72 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | April 18, 1986 Lucea, Hanover, Jamaica | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 297 lb (135 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | London South Collegiate Institute (London, Ontario, Canada) | ||||||||
| University | Western Ontario | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 2009: 4th round, 113th overall pick | ||||||||
| CFL draft | 2011: 5th round, 39th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Vaughn Martin (born April 18, 1986) is a Jamaican-born Canadian former professional football defensive tackle. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL draft, the first Canadian university football player drafted by an NFL team as an underclassman. He played university football at the University of Western Ontario.
Martin was born in Jamaica and raised in Toronto and London, Ontario with his mother and sister. He attended London South Collegiate Institute, playing football for head coach Chris Marcus, and later Mike Stenning.[1] He also attended The Kiski School under coach Marcus Muster for a short time before transferring. He competed as a linebacker, defensive end, defensive tackle and fullback in high school, recording 90 tackles with five stops behind the line of scrimmage in 2004. The three-time starter was rated one of the top 12 defensive ends in Ontario by All-Star Football and Weir's Magazine. He also received a two-star prospect rating from Rivals.com.[2]
Prior to beginning his collegiate career, Martin competed for two summers with the Forest City Thunderbirds in the Central Ontario Football League. He also was a member of Team Canada, playing in the 2006 NFL Global Junior Championship in Detroit. He was named to the NFL Global Junior Championship X All-Tournament Team after helping Team Canada to a perfect 5-0 record, including five shutouts.
University career
Martin turned down scholarship offers from the University of Toledo, the University at Buffalo, and Ohio University to enroll at Michigan State University in 2006, but failed to qualify due to academic transcript issues. He then enrolled at Milford Academy, a preparatory school in New York. He later returned home to Ontario, where University of Western Ontario assistant coach Mickey Donovan along with special teams coach Chris Marcus — Vaughn's high-school coach and mentor — convinced him to enroll.
Martin joined the Western Ontario Mustangs football team and saw action at defensive tackle and end during his first season. In 2008, Martin performed mostly at defensive tackle earlier in the year, but he also at defensive end. In 12 games, he collected 36 tackles (22 solos) with 3.5 sacks, 7.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage and 13 pressures. He returned an interception for a touchdown, registered a safety, caused a fumble and recovered two others. He also played fullback, where he scored twice on a pair of 3-yard rushing attempts, finishing with 10 yards on four carries.