Raiders linebacker Blake Martinez retires during the season

In one of the most bizarre National Football League retirement announcements in some time, Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Blake Martinez of Tucson, Arizona announced his plans to retire on Thursday at the age of 28 according to Michael Baca of nfl.com. The reason why this retirement announcement is so strange is because it came during the 2022 National Football League regular season and after Martinez had an exceptional game on Sunday as he led the Raiders in solo tackles (eight) and combined tackles (11) in a narrow 27-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The bottom line is Martinez was playing football at a very high level. He had started two of the Raiders games this season at linebacker. The reason for Martinez’s decision was so he could focus on family and future passions. As a result, he joins a list of high profile players who retired under the age of 30.

In four games for the Raiders this season, Martinez had 20 combined tackles (14 solo tackles and six assisted tackles). In the four games Martinez played, the Raiders had a record of one win and three losses. Their only win was a 38-20 victory over the Houston Texans on October 23.

Martinez played seven NFL seasons. He was with the Green Bay Packers from 2016 to 2019, the New York Giants in 2020 and 2021, and the Raiders in 2022. In 84 games, Martinez had 706 combined tackles (442 solo tackles and 264 assisted tackles), 39 tackles for a loss, 18 quarterback hits, four interceptions for 31 yards, 22 pass deflections, three fumble recoveries and 13 sacks. In the 2017 regular season, he led the NFL with 144 tackles.

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Martinez’s interceptions in his career were for four yards in a 26-10 Packers win over the Chicago Bears on October 20, 2016 (intercepted Bears quarterback Matt Barkley), for three yards in a 31-28 Packers loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on November 26, 2017 (intercepted Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger), for 22 yards in a 23-20 Packers win over the Detroit Lions on December 29, 2019 (intercepted Lions quarterback David Blough), and for two yards in a 23-20 Giants win over the Washington  Redskins on November 8, 2020 (intercepted Redskins quarterback Alex Smith). Martinez’s fumble recoveries came in a 35-14 Packers win over the Chicago Bears on September 28, 2017, in the same game as the interception with the Packers against the Steelers in 2017, and in a 37-34 Giants loss to the Dallas Cowboys on October 11, 2020.

In the postseason, Martinez played in five postseason games with the Packers and had 24 combined tackles (17 solo tackles and seven assisted tackles) and one tackle for a loss. He played his college football at Stanford and was the Packers’s fourth round pick, 131st overall, in the 2016 NFL Draft).

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