By John Turney
Roderick D. Martin, the hard-hitting right outside linebacker who spent his entire 12-year NFL career with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, passed away on April 18, 2026, at the age of 72. The Las Vegas Raiders announced his death the following day, stating in a release, "The Raiders Family is deeply saddened by the passing of Rod Martin, a standout linebacker and key player on two Super Bowl championship teams..."
No official cause of death has been publicly disclosed.
Born on April 7, 1954, in Welch, West Virginia, Martin played college football at USC before being selected by the Raiders in the 12th round of the 1977 NFL Draft. As the story goes, head coach John Madden called his friend John Robinson, then head coach at USC, looking for overlooked talent in the later rounds. Robinson replied that Rod Martin was better than anyone still available. Madden listened—and the Raiders got a steal. Martin’s draft stock was not as high as might have been expected because at that time he weighed in at about 208 pounds.
It was not a bump-free road to Raiders stardom, however.
He showed well enough in the 1977 training camp that the San Francisco 49ers were willing to give up a draft pick for him. He was with the 49ers for a couple of weeks before being waived. It wasn’t until December that the Raiders re-signed him, and beginning in 1978 he was on his way. That year he played both outside linebacker and filled in at both inside linebacker spots (Mike and Rover in Oakland's terminology) when starters went down.
The year after is when Martin (maybe around 218 pounds by them) quickly developed into a versatile and productive starter at linebacker. He excelled against the run, showed reliable coverage skills, and was a dangerous blitzer. Over his career, he recorded 56½ sacks, forced 14 fumbles (with 10 recoveries), intercepted 14 passes, and scored six defensive touchdowns plus two safeties.
Perhaps most importantly, he was a key part of two Raiders Super Bowl championship teams: Super Bowl XV (1980 season) and Super Bowl XVIII (1983 season).
His most famous performance came in Super Bowl XV against the Philadelphia Eagles, when he picked off Ron Jaworski three times—still, after 45 years, an NFL record for interceptions in a single Super Bowl game. Many argued (us included) that he should have been named MVP of that contest.
At least the performance got him on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and given the stature of that magazine at the time, it is something.
More than a coverage backer and more than a blitzer, he was an every-down linebacker who was on the field in the Raiders' nickel (Bandit) and dime (Pirate) packages. He would be a star in today’s NFL given his skill set, as an ideal off-ball linebacker in probably a Lavonte David-type role, we’d surmise.
The 1976 All-Conference first teamer helped USC finish 17th in the final AP poll in 1975 and second in 1976. The Trojans played in the 1975 Liberty Bowl and the 1977 Rose Bowl.
Martin earned significant individual recognition during his prime. Here is a thumbnail list of them:
1982: First-team All-Pro (NEA); also Second-team All-Pro
1983: UPI AFC Defensive Player of the Year; multiple All-Pro selections (including NEA and Sporting News) and second-team on the AP team; All-AFC (UPI, PFW)
1984: Consensus First-team All-Pro (AP, PFWA); All-AFC (UPI); Pro Bowl
1985: Second-team All-AFC (UPI); Pro Bowl alternate
It could be argued that his outstanding performance in Super Bowl XV jumpstarted his postseason honors, as we can that that his all-star run began in 1981 and continued through 1985. However, he was just as good in 1979 as he was in those other years, but the NFL was deep with outstanding outside linebackers at the time, and beating out Hall of Famers Jack Ham, Robert Brazile, Ted Hendricks, and others was a tall order. So he likely had to wait his turn to get invites to Hawaii and votes for All-Pro. In that 1979 season, Martin totaled 115 tackles with 11.5 of them behind the line of scrimmage, not counting his eight sacks.
In all, during his twelve seasons he played in 165 games (147 starts), made 996 total tackles (751 solo), recorded 56.5 sacks, picked off 14 passes, fell on 10 loose balls, and had eight defensive scores, including four pick-sixes and two scoop-and-scores.
Perhaps even more impressive were his playoff performance numbers.
In 12 games (11 starts), Martin was in on 69 tackles, 52 of them solo. Two of those were on special teams in a playoff game in Baltimore. He had the three interceptions in the Super Bowl and was credited with four other pass breakups. He recorded four sacks in playoff games, forced three fumbles, and recovered one. The man with giant hands—Lyle Alzado once said it was like shaking hands with a cow, comparing Martin’s mitts to an udder!—was a big-time player in big-time games.
Despite all that, Martin never received any serious Hall of Fame consideration. He appeared on the preliminary list three times as a modern-era candidate and has received no attention as a senior candidate either. Maybe that should change.
Martin was the classic late-round success story: undrafted-caliber talent who became a cornerstone of one of the most physical and successful defenses of his era.Rod Martin will be remembered as one of the great low round draft gems in NFL history, a clutch performer on the biggest stage, and a reliable force for the Silver and Black throughout the late 1970s and 1980s.
Rest in peace, #53.
His defensive stats, per NFL Gamebooks.
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