Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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IRISH ECHOES JIM LEFEBVRE 42 MAY 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED O ver 11 NFL seasons (2014-24), Dallas Cowboys guard Zack Martin made 162 starts and played 10,562 snaps. In that entire time, he was called for a total of seven holding penalties, while making the Pro Bowl nine times and being named first-team All-Pro seven times. The former Notre Dame second-team All-American (2012) recently announced his retirement from pro football. It was a career that will likely earn a call from Canton one day for the kid from St. Mat- thew Grade School and Bishop Chatard High School in Indianapolis. Years of sweat and toil produced a level of excellence on the field. Yet, what most stands out after a couple of decades of football are the relation- ships. Upon his retirement from the NFL, Martin penned a retrospective es- say for The Players' Tribune entitled, "Thank You, Football." In it, he reflected on what mattered most to him. "When I think back on what this game has meant to me, the wins and losses all kind of blend together," Martin wrote. "I had a couple pancakes I'll remember very fondly. But if you asked me right now to think of what the word football means to me, I'd probably think of something to- tally random. Just a little moment of ca- maraderie and brotherhood, in the mid- dle of a grueling training camp or spring ball routine where all you can think about when you're pushing the sled is how good it's going to be when you're out on a boat with your buddies and 100 miles away from your O-line coach. "To me, that's football. Me, Tyler Eif- ert, Chris Watt, Dan Fox and Tommy Rees, out at the lake, talking about how the season is going to be, and everything we're going to accomplish. I feel like God put those guys in my life for a reason. "Those times are so priceless. So much of football is just pure suffering. Espe- cially as a lineman. You spend 95 percent of your day getting beat up, or pushing a sled, or getting your ass handed to you by your O-line coach. The thing that gets you through it — the thing that really makes you love it — are all the times that you spend laughing (or bitching!) with your buddies when it's over." Martin especially credits his friend- ship with Eifert with changing his life. Eifert's sister Morgan became Mrs. Zack Martin, "who has been such a huge part of this journey." There were many highlights when Martin and Eifert played for the Fighting Irish. None bigger than the overtime vic- tory against Stanford in 2012, en route to the national championship game. "The Stand," Irish fans will remember it. "Rushing the field with my team- mates in the cold and the rain and the mud was a 10/10 feeling," Martin re- called. "But the 11/10 feeling was after we'd showered and changed and walked across campus to the family tailgate lot. Seeing my mom and dad and Morgan and all our friends and just reminiscing about the game in the pouring rain, you never forget those moments. "You feel like you're floating. That's why you play the game. For that hot dog and a beer with your dad, talking about all the little moments from the game and just going, 'Man … that was awesome.'" Martin came back for his fifth season at Notre Dame in 2013, which allowed him to play with his younger brother Nick. "He was our center that season, and it was such a surreal feeling getting to be in the huddle with him'" he noted. "Just looking across at him with his classic goofy grin on his face, thinking, 'Same as when we were kids. Not a care in the world.' It was just awesome." Martin had special praise for Irish of- fensive line coach Harry Hiestand. "He's probably had as big of an impact on my football life as anyone. When he came in as our O-line coach, he changed everything for me. I've never met any- one with more conviction." BRANDON WIMBUSH NAMED TO FORBES "30 UNDER 30" Brandon Wimbush was one of the most heralded quarterbacks in the na- tion when he came to Notre Dame from St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City, N.J., Membership In Notre Dame Brotherhood Leads To Success, On And Off The Field Former Irish lineman Zack Martin (2009-13) made the Pro Bowl nine times and was named first-team NFL All-Pro seven times with the Dallas Cowboys, but memories and friendships forged at Notre Dame mean more to him than anything else. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND