Former Lehigh Acres high school football player awaits NFL draft

On Friday night, former Lehigh Senior High School football player Jartavius “Quan” Martin has a good chance of being a second- or third-round draft pick for the NFL.

Martin is laser-focused on a future career in professional football. He began to believe he could make that dream come true while playing at Lehigh Senior High School.

“I’ve been playing football since I was 5, so, I mean, the dream has always been there,” Martin said. “Seeing different guys from my city go to the NFL, and I’m like, ‘Dang, man, that’s definitely something I want to do.'”

Martin went to work and made it clear he was willing to pay the price to be great. That work first paid off during his years at the University of Illinois, where he first got the attention of Big 10 opponents, then NFL scouts.

Martin says his mission is to silence anyone who doubts his ability to play defensive back at the highest level.

“It was me doing a lot of the surprising to other people,” Martin said. “I always been an underdog, under-the-radar guy. But when it was my time to shine, I went out and let the world know.”

Martin had one-on-one meetings with 10 different teams and made an impressive showing at the scouting combine. He says he wanted to show he’s “a tough, smart, dependable player, man. A player who can pretty much do it all.”

The NFL hopeful has spent the last several weeks working out at X3 Performance and Physical Therapy, located at 14651 Jetport Loop in south Fort Myers, to stay ready when his name is called.
At this point, Martin’s years-in-the-making dream is just a matter of when and where.

“This week, I’ve been dreaming about a whole bunch of different scenarios happening, but this weekend it’ll definitely come true,” Martin said.

Most draft experts expect Martin to be drafted sometime Friday night in the second or third round. He plans to spend the evening with his family, waiting for the dream phone call that will change his life.