HOUSTON — Like any little brother, Nick Martin wanted to do what his older brothers did.
And when it came to front-yard football, that wasn’t always easy for the youngest of the four Martin boys.
“It got physical,” said Chauncey Martin, the second youngest of the brothers. “Nick wouldn’t always play, but when he did play, he was always on go, always running, always had the most energy.”
Nick, 21, has enjoyed a breakout redshirt sophomore season as Oklahoma State’s middle linebacker, and with Wednesday night’s Texas Bowl, he has a chance to join the Cowboys’ top-10 single-season tackle list.
He and the Cowboys (9-4) take on Texas A&M (7-5) at 8 p.m. Wednesday at NRG Stadium, with Martin needing just one tackle to enter OSU’s top 10. No one since James Ham in 1985 has cracked that list, with Ham, Leslie O’Neal and John Weimer tied for 10th at 134.
Martin sits at 133 in his first year as a starter, and much has been made of his throwback style of toughness that was born in Beast Texas — the nickname given to East Texas to represent its reputation for producing tough-minded individuals, and especially football players.
But give Nick’s big brothers some credit, too.
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Being the youngest of four boys — four active, competitive, physical boys — Nick had to learn toughness early.
“They would pick on him and tease him, all in love, and he’d get upset about it,” said their father, Michael Martin. “But it made him tougher, and he wanted to be as good as them, so it definitely impacted him.”
When it got dark in the family’s Texarkana neighborhood, those front-yard football games had to move off the grass.
“At nighttime, we’d go play tackle football in the street, because that’s where the light was,” Nick said. “You’d get scrapes, scratches, all that. That’s part of it, man.
“Little things like that instill that grit and toughness in you and that love for the game, because there’s nothing like playing with the people you grow up with.”
The Martin boys were born three years apart, with Brandon, 30, and Ryan, 27, ahead of Chauncey, 24, and Nick, 21. As the two youngest, Chauncey and Nick butted heads the most.
“We’d be at home with my older brother taking care of us when there’s no adults at the crib,” Chauncey said with a laugh. “There was nobody there to discipline you for wrestling or picking on somebody. We were always trying to be the alpha.
“It was a lot of me and Nick bumping heads. My mom used to say we were like oil and water.”
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It got to the point that their mother, Tosha, had to find some safeguards.
“Every day it was us fighting, getting on each other’s nerves,” Nick said. “We would fight so much, my mom got us boxing gloves, so we would at least protect ourselves. But then we started having boxing tournaments throughout the neighborhood.
“But that built that toughness that’s always been instilled in me, and I think it shows up on the football field heavy.”
Chauncey just completed his next-to-last season of college football, playing running back at Harding University in Arkansas, which won the NCAA Division II national championship earlier this month.
Growing up, Chauncey liked defense, too, but it wasn’t as natural for him as it was for Nick.
“Nick, he was like a missile. I guess that’s why they call him that,” Chauncey said of the nickname Nick picked up at OSU this season. “He was gonna go make the tackle. He caused turnovers. He was made to play defense.”
Couple Chauncey’s national title with Nick’s emergence for the Cowboys and it’s been a more-fun-than-usual year for their parents.
“It’s awesome,” their father said. “It’s been exhausting, because I’m running up and down the road, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m so proud of them.”
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Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.
Texas Bowl
No. 20 Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M
KICKOFF: 8 p.m. Wednesday at NRG Stadium in Houston (ESPN)
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