Not Just Talk

People always have something to say about A.J. Martinez.

Fans in the stands marvel at his speed, scouts in the press box gawk at his athletic ability, and friends, coaches and teammates are awestruck by his confidence.

And because success at defensive back requires all three attributes, it’s no wonder Martinez, a senior at Huntington Beach Edison High, is one of the top defensive backs in Southern California.

Last year, he tied a school record with eight interceptions and helped Edison reach the Southern Section Division I quarterfinals. He also punted, averaging more than 40 yards per attempt and kicking one 73 yards in a victory over Los Alamitos.

Martinez had not played organized football experience before his freshman year but impressed his coaches enough to start for the varsity as a sophomore.

His skills spill over to other sports. He batted .424 and had a school-record 29 stolen bases for the Division II champion Edison baseball team and ran a 100-meter dash in 11.1 seconds as a freshman on the track team.

Yet for all the talk about Martinez, he is uneasy talking about himself.

“I don’t want people to see me as a cocky kid,” he said. “I kind of don’t try to talk about myself. If they bring it up, I try to change the subject. If they talk about football too much, I talk about girls or something.”

Trouble is, it seems to crop up an awful lot. In social situations, friends continually bring up his speed--he ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash during a scouting combine earlier this year.

At school, teachers continually asked him about the key play in the Southern Section Division II baseball championship, when he scored on a suicide squeeze from second base . No joke, it was a play designed around his speed.

When teammates and coaches pass by before practice, they greet him as “Superstar.”

“I feel weird when people want to talk about that stuff,” Martinez said. “I don’t know what to say.”

With everybody else doing the talking, it might follow suit that the attention would go to his head. And it has, according to Edison Coach Dave White, who said that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Most good athletes have a little bit of arrogance,” White said. “Especially at defensive back. You’re on an island out there, and if you’re not sure about your abilities, you better be someplace else.”

Martinez acknowledges he can sometimes come across as bigheaded, but said it’s a product of the numerous accolades thrust upon him.

“People always want to talk about that stuff, and I’ll talk about it for a while,” he said. “Maybe they see that as cocky, I don’t know.”

Whether his on-field achievements and goals have manifested as healthy confidence or brash arrogance, either way, teammates say it’s an asset.

“Some people look at it as a negative and to a point, it can be,” Edison cornerback Marcus McCutcheon said. “But at corner, if there’s any doubt in your mind the receiver is going to take advantage of it.”

This year, Martinez will play some on offense as a receiver and running back, but defensive back will be his primary responsibility.

McCutcheon said his teammate is still learning but has a natural ability to read quarterbacks and cover receivers, a rare skill for someone of such limited experience.

“Right now he’s probably a better athlete than he is a football player,” said McCutcheon, the son of former Ram running back Lawrence McCutcheon and brother of Cleveland Brown defensive back Daylon.

“That’s because he hasn’t been playing all that long. He’s good now, but he’s going to get a lot better.”

McCutcheon, who also is one of the top defensive backs in Southern California, and Martinez give Edison one of the best secondaries around. Because of their presence, Charger coaches are comfortable stacking their defensive line and playing man-to-man coverage in the secondary.

“We dare people to throw,” White said. “We put eight guys in the box to shut down the run, so they have to throw. Some years you can’t do that, but when you have A.J. and Marcus back there, you might as well.”

With confidence such a strong suit for Martinez, it might be expected that he’s a trash talker on the field. Not so, according to Martinez.

Each time he lines up opposite a receiver for the first time, he knows he will probably spend the next 48 minutes chucking, bumping, bruising, hounding and harassing that player. So instead of augmenting his physical attack with a verbal one, Martinez offers only one piece of conversation. “I say, ‘Hi,”’ Martinez said.

That’s it? Hi?

“Yeah,” Martinez said. “That’s it. That’s all the talking I do.”

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