NFLE`s Martos Wants a Chance in the AFL
Lee Zakow
Saturday July 7, 2001
Part of the fun of the week is being with fan clubs (should have seen the Barcelona Dragons marching band stepping out through the red light district – what a panic!!!) and checking out the rumor mill – who is NFL caliber material, who will be cut, who will be Arena-bound. But one of the best stories I found during the week doesn’t involve any of the above.
During media day at the Amsterdam ArenA (that’s right, A-r-e-n-A), I got to talk to many of the National players; one of whom I’ve known for a while – the mighty mouse, Marco Martos. The speedy WR of the Dragons had a couple of interesting things to say about the marketing of the game – outdoor style – in Mexico. Then our discussion turned to his wanting to continue playing ball in the States or Canada after the season.
He wasn’t assigned to either the Raiders or the Cowboys, the two participants in what has almost become an annual game in Mexico City. Instead he expressed his desire to go to Canada. I asked him why he hadn’t considered the indoor war. After all, with his speed, he’d be a natural. And he has made some tough catches over the years in tight spaces. Last week he almost came down with a Jarious Jackson bomb at the back of the endzone.
I asked him about the Avengers because of L.A.’s Latino market. He said, “I’d love to play for them.” I wrote Casey Wasserman, the team’s owner on his behalf, but hadn’t heard anything. Next up was New Jersey and next on my list are the Dragons.
Granted its tough to come in at the 2/3 mark of a season and pick up a new game and a new offense, but Martos, I’m sure, can do it. After all, he’s got an MBA from McGill University in Montreal, which is not the easiest of schools to get through. What I don’t understand is why a team in a city with a large Hispanic base – Los Angeles, Florida (Miami), New Jersey, New York, wouldn’t snap up a guy like Martos.
He’s a hero to a lot of kids in Barcelona, and one of my fondest memories of him is catching a swing pass at the two-yard line against the London Monarchs and turning it into a 98-yard TD run. He told me he’s more than willing to get into the marketing/front office aspect of the game he loves, and like so many of his fellow Mexicans, he has a passion for all things sports, be it the NFL, soccer or anything else. It would be a slam-dunk for the Arena League too, as I’m sure they view both Monterrey and Mexico City as future AFL cities. Martos would open a very big door for them.
To me, this makes a lot of sense. He may be an offensive specialist now, but a poster person for the Mexican market? It’s too good to be true in a league that sometimes needs it.
Lee Zakow was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2001.
