It was a bittersweet day for the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday. Former first-round pick Zack Martin, who spent 11 seasons with the organization, had his retirement press conference.
Countless players that once took the field with Martin were in attendance to show respect to the former first-round pick, including Tony Romo, Travis Frederick, Tyron Smith, Dak Prescott, Ron Leary, and many more. Martin received enormous praise from Stephen Jones stating that he was the right guy for the Cowboys back in 2014 despite the Johnny Manziel buzz. Romo called him one of the two best guards ever along with Hall of Famer Larry Allen. Team owner Jerry Jones saying that drafting him was the best decision he ever made.
The elder Jones also let a certain cat out of the bag, although it was totally expected to happen in the future. He said the Martin would be inducted into the Cowboys' Ring of Honor. Martin spoke on what that means to him after Jones confirmed it.
[It] would mean a great deal. When I came into the league, none of that stuff was ever on my radar. I was just trying to get in here and make sure I didn’t screw it up. They drafted me to play right away and my focus was on, ‘Hey, I’m gonna do whatever I can for the team.’
Obviously, I started having some success and those things get brought up, and you start to think about it a little bit. It would absolutely be an honor to be in there one day.
This was as easy of a choice as it gets. Martin was a first-team All-Pro as a rookie. After 11 seasons, Martin achieved All-Pro status nine times, including seven first-team selections, which equals the amount that Hall of Famers Bob Lilly and Randy White had for the Cowboys. That number also equals the amount of holding calls Martin was flagged for, which is a mind-blowing stat. Martin was extremely reliable as well with starts in all 171 games he played in (162 in the regular season, nine in the playoffs).
Martin carried the torch from the aforementioned Allen and continued to set a standard for offensive line play in Dallas that will be chased by those that come after him for decades. He was that special and rare, and he'll be missed by Cowboys fans and the NFL as a whole.