FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- From October to April, Ross Martin was a corporate executive by day, NFL wannabe by night.
After failing to make the New York Jets' roster last summer as a free-agent kicker, Martin began to work in IBM's Manhattan office in the sales division. Actually, he landed the job the spring before, during his final semester at Duke, but the company agreed to postpone his start date as he pursued his NFL dream.
That didn't work out on the first try, so Martin jumped into the Monday-to-Friday rat race, saving football for after hours. When he was finished at work, he returned to his midtown apartment, changed out of his suit and tie, grabbed his bag of footballs and took the subway uptown to Harlem River Park on 128th Street. The popular park has FieldTurf, a football goalpost and lights on its 9-acre property.
Martin made the trek three times a week on the Lexington Avenue subway line, kicking by himself under the lights as traffic buzzed by on the congested Harlem River Drive. You might say he took a train to train.
"I went on Google maps to look for a public park," Martin said the other day at Jets training camp. "As you probably know, Manhattan is sparse for public space."
And uprights.
The subway kicker maintained his routine through the fall, re-signed with the Jets in January and took a leave of absence from IBM in April, allowing him to join the team's offseason program. Now he finds himself in a heated competition with veteran Chandler Catanzaro, an Arizona Cardinals castoff. They're both trying to replace longtime kicker Nick Folk, one of the victims of the offseason roster purge.
"They told me from the very beginning they're going to play the best player at every position," Martin said. "I only had one goal from months and months ago: It's a competition and every kick matters; I'm here to win the job."
Martin impressed the Jets last summer on the practice field, but he imploded in the first two preseason games, missing two field goals (39 and 54 yards) and an extra point. Still, they saw enough potential to bring him back for another shot. Martin, 24, who grew up in Ohio and became a record-setting kicker at Duke, never thought of giving up.
"From the minute I got cut last year, I never stopped working, I never stopped staying ready," he said. "At the kicker position, you never know when that call is going to come. When it does, you better be ready."
Except for one kickoff (a touchback), Martin didn't get any chances Saturday night against the Tennessee Titans. Catanzaro got two shots -- a successful PAT and a 55-yard miss (wide left) on a field goal.
Chances are, Martin's number will be called in the second preseason game.
So far, Martin has outkicked Catanzaro in practice, but the job will be determined by how they perform under the lights, as Jets coach Todd Bowles likes to say.
"You're not going to make every single kick," Martin said, "but I think I've done pretty well so far."
The Lexington Avenue subway doesn't stop at MetLife Stadium, but it definitely was part of his route to the NFL.
