When many Dallas Cowboys fans expected them to look at Johnny Manziel in the 2014 NFL Draft, Jerry Jones decided to land a brawny Notre Dame guard named Zack Martin. The career that followed made him one of the greatest players in Cowboys history and a rock-solid starter for 11 seasons.
However, with his body starting to fail him and his play having taken a slight decline from the All-Pro lock standard he set for himself, Martin knew that the end of his career in the pros was approaching. That time every Cowboys fan was afraid of has officially come, as Martin has decided he has played his last NFL snap.
Martin has reportedly informed the Cowboys that he will retire after an 11-year career that will eventually earn him a gold jacket in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. While this may have been expected to some degree, that doesn't make it any less sad.
Cowboys guard Zack Martin retiring after tremendous 11-year career
Martin made nine Pro Bowls and nine All-Pro teams (seven of which were First-team nods) in his 11 seasons with the Cowboys. The only two seasons in which he wasn't an All-Pro were when he was limited to 10 games thanks to injuries. When Martin was healthy, he was the best guard in the game, bar none.
Martin's seven First-team All-Pro nominations tied Randall McDaniel and John Hannah for the most in NFL history by a guard. However, Hannah and McDaniel played 13 and 14 seasons, respectively. Martin could have passed them with a bounce-back season in 2025.
From the day he stepped into that Dallas facility, Martin epitomized what it meant to be a Cowboy. Anything less than him coasting into the Hall of Fame at the first possible opportunity is a grave injustice.
Martin is not only one of the greatest Cowboys ever, but he is one of the best players to have ever played in the NFL irrespective of position. While he never got to play in a Super Bowl, he left the game with a lifetime's worth of memories that will never fade away.