One Final Shot
Michael Vergane
Wednesday April 25, 2001
Occasionally you will get a rag-to-riches story like Jim Tarle. He began the spring of 2000 kicking indoors at the Memorial Coliseum for the Jacksonville Tomcats. By the fall of 2000 he is still driving to work in Jacksonville, but he is parking on the other side of the parking lot and kicking for the Jacksonville Jaguars at Alltel Stadium.
Tarle’s story is the exception to the rule. Many times the story ends when the player realizes that it is time to move on with the rest of his life. That is what happened to John ‘Tweet’ Martin of the Memphis Xplorers.
I first saw Tweet play in 1995. Being a football junkie, I will usually drive anywhere within reason to catch a game. When the Canadian Football League invaded the USA, Memphis was my closest destination to see the CFL. So, I made the 9-hour drive to see the Memphis Mad Dogs play the Toronto Argonauts on July 29th, 1995.
It was a brutally hot and equally humid night in Memphis. Players were dropping from dehydration and the play on the field proved that out. Toronto won a very non-descript game, 10-7. Yet no touchdowns were scored (three field goals and a rouge, beats a field goal and two safeties). Yep, only in the CFL!
On that night for the Mad Dogs a University of Memphis (then Memphis State) product by the name of Tweet Martin was getting an opportunity to start at running back due to the injury to the starter.
On the Mad Dogs 2nd possession, Martin took the handoff up the middle for a nice gain and was gang tackled by the Argonauts. But then, something happened to Tweet.
“I think one of their defensive linemen grabbed my leg and then they fell on me”, said Martin. “The force of it collapsed my knee. I heard it snap but at first I thought I broke my ankle. I grabbed for my ankle but I didn’t feel any pain there. Then when I laid back, the knee started throbbing.”
That finished his ‘95 season in the CFL – reconstructive surgery followed and Tweet ended his CFL career with 34 carries for 160 yards and one touchdown.
The Memphis Mad Dogs may not have been successful on the field (they folded after one year) but Martin’s teammates were a cast of characters that are familiar to NFL fans and af2 fans alike.
The starting running back that Tweet replaced that evening in Memphis was former NFL running back and now Arkansas Twister Head Coach, Gary Anderson. The starting wide receiver was New Orleans Saint wideout Joe Horn. The Mad Dogs middle linebacker is now Memphis Xplorers Offensive coordinator, Danton Barto. And the Mad Dogs backup QB is the starting quarterback for the Xplorers, Keith Benton. He also happens to be Tweet Martin’s cousin.
“It’s like everywhere he has been at – I’m coming with him”, said Tweet. “I’ve gotten used to him being on my team. He’s always been in my ear telling me to pick it up when I’m down. He’s a great motivator and he’s very outspoken.”
Tweet Martin and Keith Benton have been crossing paths all of their lives. Tweet went to Miami Dade High School and Benton went to neighboring Homestead. After high school, Benton went to star at Memphis State where he left as the all-time rushing QB for the Tigers. Tweet soon followed in ‘92 enrolling there after two successful years at The College of the Sequioas, JC.
It is now 2001 and Tweet Martin is 29 years old. He has not played football since sustaining a severe knee injury in the CFL in ‘95. His old teammate from the Mad Dogs, Danton Barto, gives him and Keith Benton a call a couple of weeks before the season opener asking them if they are in football shape and if they would like another shot at professional football with the af2 Memphis Xplorers. They both say yes, and it is back up to Memphis and a crash course in Arena Football.
In the season opener, Tweet plays Offensive Specialist and kick returner. He gets his feet wet in the Arena game returning six kicks for 60 yards and catching two passes for 8 yards from his cousin, Keith Benton. However, it was one of the passes me missed for a touchdown that gave him his biggest lesson in the Arena game.
“You have to know how to run your routes indoors. My cousin threw me a bomb. I’m running my route hard looking for the ball not thinking I’m inside and that I only have a certain amount of space”, said Martin laughing. “I ran straight through the wall and it flipped me over. It was fun.”
The Xplorers lost that debut game to Tennessee Valley. The following week in practice, Martin hurt his hamstring. He made the trip to Quad City, but was unable to go at game time. That was the last time he dressed in an Xplorer uniform.
When he returned to Memphis, he was forced to make a decision between football and his full-time career back home.
According to Xplorer Media Relations spokesperson, Sam Kelly, Martin’s employer was unwilling to give him an extended leave of absence through the summer. Tweet decided he had a good career back home and didn’t want to risk it. Amongst his responsibilities with the Homestead Job Corps was to teach under privileged children football and sports.
For two weeks Tweet Martin proved to himself that he could still play professional football. Even if he didn’t get to get to play in front of a home crowd in Memphis, he enjoyed it. “Even tonight standing here on the bench (in the Quad Cities) I could here the crowd behind us yelling, “We love Tweet! We love Tweet!”, said Martin.
I know that back in the Miami area he will continue to hear those chants. This time from the children that he will be working with.
Michael Vergane was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2002.
