For Sean Martin, the No. 5 holds significance.
Martin made the decision to switch to that number ahead of his final season with the Mountaineers as a way to honor one of his close friends from high school.
“In 2019 I lost one of my closest friends, Tony Webster,” Martin said. “He had a brain aneurysm. I’m doing it for my coach, his family, the town of Bluefield and his family to represent him.”
Webster was a teammate of Martin’s at Bluefield High School until his untimely passing in January of 2019. He was only 17-years old at the time and wore that number until it was retired.
It’s a direct way for Martin to honor his fallen teammate and he informed Webster’s father that he was going to make the move while watching the Beavers at the state tournament in March.
“He asked me about the number change, and he was excited about that. Even though they lost he was excited that I was doing it,” Martin said.
With that settled, Martin has shifted his entire focus to putting together a strong final season and so far so good. Martin is currently in one of the best stretches of football in his career to date after overcoming an unspecified issue that affected the way he could practice last season.
One of the things that had escaped Martin throughout his career has been consistency with his play but that has not been an issue this spring. And one of the people that know him the best has seen it first hand with his position coach AJ Jackson as Martin has embraced a more vocal, leadership role.
“If I passed out right now Sean would be able to take over the coaching side of the room right now,” Jackson said. “The consistency piece has showed up since January and I think he’s in the best mental space I’ve seen him since I’ve been there.”
While he isn’t the most talkative person, he has embraced leading by example and has been forced to step outside of his comfort zone to help those around him improve as well.
One of the things that Martin has embraced is the competition with another in-state native across from him left tackle Wyatt Milum. The two square off on the field but Jackson points out that it’s even more rewarding that the pair have been watching film together and discussing football away from it.
“He’s probably going to be the best payer I play against this season so trying to get as many reps as I can but also coaching up the younger guys that got in,” Martin said.
Physically, Martin has grown into his body and understands how to use it to be more effective not only as a pass rusher but against the run as well.
“He’s got a lot of length and his size and weight now he’s really powerful. He’s one of the strongest guys,” Brown said. “Now it’s starting to click how to use his length and he’s starting to show he can be a dominant player at times.”
And now with a new number and a lot to play for in his final season in Morgantown, Brown believes that there is potential for Martin to have his best season yet in the program.
“As the year goes not just being an NFL player but maybe potentially an early round pick,” he said.
