Retired BYU head trainer George Curtis told the Fresno Bee last year that "there were several of us who suspected (Brad was addicted) after the season."

"I was closest to this situation, and I can assure you BYU and the staff did everything right for Brad."

Curtis, who has Parkinson's disease, which limits his ability to speak, did not respond to e-mail questions.

An all-conference performer who as a junior had attracted attention from pro scouts, Martin's play declined his senior year. He wasn't invited to any post-season all-star games, nor did an NFL team draft him.

In February 2004, Martin sued BYU over responsibility for medical bills incurred as a result of his car accident. He contended the university allowed him to play football despite his injuries and provided him with an "abundance" of pain pills. The lawsuit was settled out of court.

The end

Martin never put his life together off the field.

"I told Brad once, 'You seek drugs with the same intensity that you played football with,"' Robert Martin said. Drug addiction led to two failed marriages and legal trouble, including jail time for prescription fraud.

"It was a miserable six years until he passed away. He hated himself. He was embarrassed," Ellen Martin said.

Martin called his parents about a month before he died. It was about 2 a.m. He was hurting and crying. They talked for three hours until he fell asleep.

The autopsy showed nothing in his system that wasn't supposed to be there, his parents said. He quit breathing. His heart stopped pumping. His respiratory system failed.

No one found him for a week. The Martins had his body cremated because it was so decomposed.

Martin chose to play football at BYU over UCLA so his grandparents could watch him play. A headstone etched with BYU #10 inside a football sits next to their graves in the American Fork Cemetery.

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E-mail: romboy@desnews.com