Former New York Giants inside linebacker Blake Martinez, 28, has announced his retirement from the NFL, as per his Instagram account.
Martinez was most recently with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Martinez played for the Giants from 2020 through this summer when the team surprisingly released him. He was signed to to a three-year, $30 million deal in March of 2020 after playing four seasons for the Green Bay Packers as a 4th round draft pick out of Stanford in the 2016 NFL draft.
Martinez was one of the NFL’s most prolific tacklers during his short career and tied for the league league in tackles (144) in 2017 with Buffalo Bills linebacker Preston Brown and Cleveland Browns linebacker Joe Schobert.
Martinez became a defensive captain with the Giants in 2020, starting all 16 games and led the team in tackles with 155. He tore his ACL in Week 3 of the 2021 season and as it turns out, never played for the Giants again.
He has cited the reason for his retirement as “seeking other interests.” Martinez recently sold his Pokemon card collection at auction which reportedly went for $672,000.
Martinez finishes his NFL career with 84 games played, 706 career tackles (39 tackles for loss), four interceptions and 13 sacks.
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