Taylor Martinez

Classroom

Martinez is on track to graduate from Nebraska this December with a degree in ethnic studies. In addition to his classroom skills, Martinez also creates iPhone apps as one of his hobbies.

Character

Martinez is one of only seven players in Nebraska’s 124-year history to be a two-year captain, as he was chosen in both 2012 and 2013. As a starting quarterback, he has led the Huskers to three seasons of at least nine wins, and berths in conference title games in 2010 and 2012. He has played through several injuries to start 39 games at quarterback at Nebraska entering his senior year. He was also instrumental in leading Nebraska to four comeback from double-digits second-half deficits during his junior season.

Community

Martinez has been active in outreach efforts during his career, volunteering on several local hospital and hospice visits, including St. Elizabeth’s Burn Center, and also helping out with the Dimensions Early Education Center. Martinez also assists in Uplifting Athletes, a national nonprofit organization that aligns college football teams with rare diseases. The team raises money for pediatric brain cancer research. The program was created by Husker football players after spending time with Jack Hoffman and Isaiah Casillas in recent years. Hoffman’s run during Nebraska’s 2013 Spring Game won the ESPY for Best Sports Moment of the year.

Competition

Martinez is in his fourth season as a starter for the Husker football program and will be the first quarterback in school history to start four straight season openers. He holds more than 30 school records, including career total offense, passing yards and touchdown passes.  Martinez is one of the nation’s top dual-threat quarterbacks, as he has thrown for 6,591 career yards while also rushing for 2,858 – which is the highest total of any active college football player, regardless of position – entering 2013.  As a junior, he guided Nebraska offensive to a Big Ten-best 460.8 yards per game, while leading the conference in passing efficiency, as Martinez totaled 2,871 passing yards and 23 TDs, while also rushing for 1,019 yards and 10 scores to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors from the league coaches. He is one of only 12 player in FBS history to throw for 6,000 yards and rush for 2,500 yards in a career and is on pace to be only the second player to reach 9,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards for a career.  Martinez had four games with 200 or more passing yards in 2012, including three games with 300-plus yards. He also topped the 100-yard rushing barrier five times as a junior, including a 200-yard day at Michigan State. He started all 13 games as a sophomore, guiding an offense which was 15th nationally in rushing. As a redshirt freshman in 2010, Martinez was a semifinalist for the Davey