Injuries, meds doomed BYU football star

It appears Brad Martin died midstride between his bedroom and the laundry room in his Salt Lake house.

That he left this earth on the move isn't surprising. He could never take anything lying down. He lived an all-or-nothing life.

Nowhere was that more evident than on the football field. Teammates and family members describe the Brigham Young University linebacker as a fierce competitor. He hated losing, and he hated missing a game.

Still, Robert and Ellen Martin were surprised to see him in Cougar Stadium warming up for a game against Arizona State the day after a car accident rendered him unconscious, put seven stitches in his forehead and left him with severe whiplash.

In fact, Robert Martin, a physical therapist, told his son in no uncertain terms to sit out the game.

"I told Brad, 'Son, you are not to play football tomorrow,'" he recalled.

"OK, Dad," he replied.

Robert Martin threw what his wife described as a royal fit when they saw number 10 on the field.

Martin, a senior co-captain, made six tackles as BYU held the 14th-ranked Sun Devils to one touchdown in a 26-6 win on a balmy September evening in 1998. He told his parents after the game team doctors cleared him to play.

Already known for his toughness, Martin earned added respect from his teammates that day. Former teammate Rob Morris , now an Indianapolis Colts linebacker, noticed Martin wasn't right during morning walk-through before the game.

"Martin (was) running his own defense. He's going the wrong way on the blitzes. He's doing everything wrong," Morris said after the game. "And (then) this guy comes out and plays a full game. He's one of the toughest guys I've ever met. He had my respect before this, but he's really got it now."

As tough as he was, there was one fight he couldn't win.

Martin died alone in Sugar House sometime around Memorial Day 2006 after an eight-year battle with drug addiction that started with that neck injury and a bottle of painkillers.

"He was very special to us," his father said. "He really had everything going for him."

The spiral

In the days following the Arizona State game, Martin started experiencing neck pain and severe headaches. Though he never had surgery for the injuries, the BYU medical staff prescribed Lortab, a prescription painkiller that contains the addictive narcotic hydrocodone.

Three weeks later, Martin, who checked in at 6-feet-1 and weighed 240 pounds, told team doctors the pills didn't seem to work. According to his parents, the reply was "you're a big boy. You need to take more."

"They just kept giving them to him," Ellen Martin said. "At that rate, within a month the kid had a problem."