K-State football players finally learn what it’s like to catch a pass from Adrian Martinez
When Adrian Martinez transferred away from Nebraska, his throwing arm was in a sling. When the senior quarterback enrolled at Kansas State a few weeks later, he was unable to grip a football as his body continued to heal from shoulder surgery. And when the Wildcats held their first spring practice, he was little more than a spectator.
Even when he participated in drills, Martinez was limited to handing the ball off to a running back or pitching the ball to a teammate ... with his left hand.
The chances of him completing a pass to anyone in a K-State uniform before summer workouts seemed far fetched. But he managed to beat the odds. When his rehab process was deemed ahead of schedule, he was cleared to start throwing at the bitter end of spring practice in April.
At long last, K-State receivers learned what it felt like to catch a pass from the team’s presumptive starting quarterback. It was a moment that senior wide out Phillip Brooks won’t soon forget.
“He can throw,” Brooks said Tuesday during a Catbacker Event in Salina. “It was at the end of spring ball when I caught my first pass from him. I ran an out route, and when I turned the ball was right there. I was like, ‘Ohhhhhhhh!’ It was exciting. Then I caught a post from him. He was making plays.”
Brooks, and the rest of K-State’s receiving corps, spent the majority of spring practices working with returning quarterbacks Will Howard, Jake Rubley and Jaren Lewis. But they spent enough time with Martinez to notice a few things.
“He has a strong arm,” Brooks said. “I can already tell you that.”
Those words will come as welcome news for any K-State football fan who might have been worried about Martinez as he raced against the clock to recover from a nasty injury he had suffered on his right shoulder while he was playing for the Cornhuskers.
He is more or less on the same rehab timetable that Skylar Thompson followed last year as Thompson recovered from a similar injury. Thompson practiced on a limited basis during the spring and then led the Wildcats to eight victories in the fall.
When K-State coach Chris Klieman last spoke with media, he said Martinez had been cleared to throw on his own under the supervision of medical staff. Klieman thought it would be a while longer before Martinez was ready to take aim at moving targets.
Perhaps Martinez is already healthy enough to lead Collin Klein’s new-look offense and build on the eye-popping stats (8,491 passing yards and 45 touchdowns, 2,301 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns) he produced during his four seasons at Nebraska.
“The last couple practices he was able to get some throws in,” Klieman said on Tuesday. “He is just now getting his rhythm and timing and taking snaps and getting accustomed to Coach Klein’s offense.”
That shouldn’t take long for a veteran passer like Martinez.
He is already ahead of schedule.
“The captain’s practices that the kids do in the summer will be really important,” Klieman said. “Just to try and catch up on all the K-State football time he missed in the spring. Adrian is a really good player and he has played an awful lot of football. Now he’s just got to play in our system. He’s done a really good job of learning what we’re doing. Now he can apply it on the field.”
This story was originally published May 17, 2022 at 6:00 PM with the headline "K-State football players finally learn what it’s like to catch a pass from Adrian Martinez."