The COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of Americans to work from home, and Houston Texans center Nick Martin was no different.
The 27-year-old offensive lineman grabbed some workout equipment from the team’s workout studio before the NFL closed all team facilities in the spring. Martin took home the sled.
“I like the sled,” Martin said. “That was one of the biggest things. It’s really good work for the quads, the legs and then you can — it’s good o-line work, right? You put weight on it, it’s like a drive block. I think it’s one of the best conditioning you can do.”
What Martin appreciates about the sled is its ability to emulate a block. However, the former 2016 second-round pick didn’t have a backyard to setup the sled, which forced him to do all of his work in his front yard where his neighbors could see.
“The neighbors were giving me some looks,” said Martin. “We had a couple walking a dog stop, like, ‘what are you doing? You play ball?’ I was like, ‘yeah, I play ball.’ ‘Who for?’ ‘The Texans.’ They were like, ‘all right, keep grinding.’ But yeah, it was pretty funny. I got some looks.”
Coach Bill O’Brien has seen the growth in leadership from Martin throughout the offseason.
“He’s a rock,” said O’Brien. “He’s in there every day. He’s a guy we can depend on to do the right thing. He’s always out there doing whatever he can in order to put the offense in the best position to be successful. He’s doing a really good job and his play continues to get better each and every year.”
As long as the Texans are able to defend their AFC South title and advance further in January than they ever have in team history, Martin won’t mind any funny looks from the neighborhood.
