Football, Baseball
Favorite athlete: Darren Sproles
Favorite team: Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Comeback win over Souderton
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My freshman year I was put in to punt, and I kicked it backwards.
Music on playlist: Lots of J.Cole, Drake, Meek Mill, and Jack Johnson.
Future plans: Play college sports and eventually play in the NFL. If not possible, become a Financial Advisor.
Words to live by: “Leave the past in the past and focus on the present”
One goal before turning 30: To have a high-level job and hopefully have traveled the world a bit.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’ve been coaching youth sports for 4 years now.
By Mary Jane Souder
Roll back the calendar to Sept. 20, 2024.
The site is Quakertown’s Alumni Field, and the Panthers – who once trailed visiting Souderton 28-0 in the annual 309 Bowl - had already done the improbable, rallying to make it a 34-29 game. Still, the situation looked hopeless when Quakertown fielded a pooch punt at their own 20 with 17 seconds remaining, no timeouts and 80 yards to go for the win.
That’s when the impossible happened.
Brady Martin – with four touchdown passes already to his credit – completed a pass to Matt Thomas at the 32. A late hit by the Indians added 15 yards on the play, and the Panthers were now at their own 47 with 12 seconds remaining, setting the stage for a Hail Mary that – 43 yards later – Thomas hauled in at the Indians’ 10. Martin spiked the ball with two seconds remaining, leaving the Panthers with one last play.
Out of a Souderton timeout, Martin capped the comeback by finding Thomas in the back of the end zone, giving the Panthers a 35-34 you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it win.
It was a performance that was vintage Brady Martin, who also excels on the baseball diamond and will never shy away from the big moment.
“I’ve been blessed to have been in a lot of high-pressure situations in my life with sports,” he said. “Since QMFA (Quakertown Midget Football Association), we’ve been in the big games – two years in a row we were one win away from going to Florida.
“And baseball is all eyes are on you every single time you’re up to bat. This is going to sound kind of cliché, but I don’t really feel the pressure as much as some others might because I’m used to it a little bit. And I work so hard. I think I can just go out and just play. It’s just second nature to me, but that game – those are the games when you’re eight years old you’re literally mimicking in your backyard just messing around.”
“He’s built for those moments,” Quakertown coach George Banas said.
In just two years behind center, Martin has rewritten the Quakertown program record books. He holds the single season passing record of 2,013 yards set in 2024 when he also had the single game passing record (363 yards). He is the first in program history to pass for 2000 yards in a season. He holds the single season completion record of 150 (also 2024) and single game completions with 23 (at Upper Dublin in 2024).
Even more remarkable, Martin is second only to Will Steich, a three-year starter, in passing yards with 3,823 and completions with 289.
“Honestly, he’s the best quarterback in the area and he’s way underrated,” Banas said.
Martin’s first team All-SOL Continental Conference selection this fall confirms that opposing coaches also consider the senior quarterback among the very best.
Quakertown’s Iron Man
In many ways, Martin is Quakertown football’s version of Chuck Bednarik.
The duo played six decades apart, and Bednarik had a 14-year Hall of Fame career playing for the Philadelphia Eagles while Martin’s resume includes a four-year varsity career at Quakertown High School, but it’s a safe bet Bednarik – who earned the nickname ‘Concrete Charlie’ – would have loved the Panthers’ senior captain.
Bednarik is considered the last modern era football player to play both offense and defense, and Martin did the same during his years at Quakertown. Two-way players are hardly unusual in high school, but this year Martin took it to another level, closing out the season by playing every single down in games except PATs.
“Brady is not your typical quarterback,” Banas said. “If you look at every other quarterback on every other team, some may play some defensive snaps, but nobody’s as heavily involved as Brady is.
“When we went against Bensalem, we spied their running back (Aidan Mayfield) with Brady. Not only do you have to be the quarterback that remembers every play and what everybody has to do on every play, throw the ball and this and that, and then you’re going to go on the defensive side of the ball, and you’re in charge of locking down probably one of the best players in our district, and he did it. He did it without hesitation. He doesn’t want to come off the field.”
For Martin, who has never missed a game, watching from the sidelines when there’s a need is not an option.
“I pride myself in being a game changer, and I pride myself in being conditioned – being the most conditioned, being the smartest on the field, being the strongest on the field, being the toughest on the field,” he said. “The team needed me in those spots, so I played in those spots.”
Back to the beginning
Martin was all but born with a football in his hands and started playing flag football when he was five, starting baseball around the same time. He tried basketball one year but says that wasn’t his type of game.
“I’ve always been a fan of football,” he said. “I’ve been watching it since I was young. Literally, one of the first pictures we got around the house, I had a football in my hand already and Eagles pajamas on in the
hospital. I kind of was born into it. The whole family loves football.”
Martin came by his love of the game honestly. His dad (Brandon Martin) played football, his grandfather played football. His father was also a quarterback.
“It never really was an option for me to be something else,” Martin said. “If I had a bad game, I was throwing the football out in the backyard, always working on the fundamentals. It didn’t matter if I wanted to do it or not. We were out there throwing the football.
“In the moment, it wasn’t the most fun. I just wanted to relax and maybe play with friends or something, but that benefitted me a lot now that I’m seeing it.”
As a freshman, Martin was called up to the varsity.
“I got told literally that I was getting moved up to go to heat week in August the Sunday before it started,” Martin said of his move to varsity. “I was playing in Georgia for baseball. I got back from Georgia, and literally Sunday night, my dad goes, ‘You’re going to heat week tomorrow.’ My first reaction was - I am nowhere near in shape to go into that, but I got through it.”
Martin made it through heat camp and saw time on defense as a freshman. As a sophomore he was a fixture in the lineup, playing mainly cornerback.
“What makes it so different is that Brady can play pretty much every skill position on the field, and you don’t feel like he’s out of place,” Banas said. “On defense, we could have easily played him at D-end, outside linebacker, inside linebacker, corner safety. On offense, he can really play every position. He’s been starting on defense since his sophomore year.”
As a junior, he had a record-setting season at quarterback and also was a force on defense at safety, positions he held for two years.
This year, Martin added the title of captain to his resume, following in the footsteps of those who have gone before him.
“Vince (Micucci) was a great leader,” Martin said. “He was a big one just because he was such a vocal leader. It was nice to take bits and pieces from him. Then you had guys like John Eatherton, who was also a mix of vocal and just went out and worked. He was more of a lead by example guy. I’ve had some good leaders in front of me. And being on varsity four years, I got to pick a lot of people to just combine and just be a good teammate in general.”
A bright future.
A star on the baseball field as well as the gridiron, Martin – a four-year varsity player - is a standout center fielder.
“He’s a special kid, and he’s a high achiever on and off the field,” Quakertown baseball coach Jon Pallone said. “He’s a guy that loves to compete at everything he does. He wants to win the game, he wants to get the highest grade in class, and even down to beating his friends in high school shenanigans.
“He has his priorities right. He surrounds himself with good people, and he sees a challenge as an opportunity. He makes his teammates around him better and never gives up.”
Martin has received college interest in both sports with one school offering him an opportunity to compete in both, but he has not made a final decision
“it’s a good dilemma to have,” he said. “I’m leaning more towards no than a yes (to playing both sports) because of what I want to do with my major.
“College is going to be a change just to begin with, and baseball and football are two sports that are complete opposites. You really got to focus on one when you’re in one season and one in the other. Football is all about getting strong, strong, strong and baseball is more mental and technique.”
An excellent student with a GPA of 4.02, Martin is planning on majoring in finance. He is hoping to make his final college choice prior to the start of his senior baseball season.
Off of the gridiron and diamond, Martin is eager to give back to the youth.
“It started with (quarterback) Will Steich as far as helping out with the youth program and the 7v7s with the youth program,” Banas said. “And then Vince Micucci did it and then Brady did it. He’s in a long line of really outstanding young men and quarterbacks that we’ve had here.”
For the past four years, Martin has coached the football team of his younger brother (Elliot).
“They do a 7-on-7 every summer and I call all the plays for them, write all the plays,” he said. “I tell them what we need to do and how we need to do it. I love coaching young kids. I would love to coach somewhere just to stay in football.”
Listening to his coach tell it, Martin would be a perfect fit.
“He’s been phenomenal helping out with our youth program,” Banas said. “Any time I say, ‘Hey, we’re doing this – do you want to do it?’ ‘Yeah, definitely.’
“He even helped out with our middle school the last several games of the year. Because my one son (Hayes) and his brother (Elliott) were playing on. His dad is actually one of the coaches. He was able to help call plays and get us into some different sets of situations which really helped. He doesn’t hesitate to help out - he jumps right in.”
And then Banas paid his senior captain the highest compliment.
“He’s like the boy next door,” the Panthers’ coach said. “This is the kind of kid you’d want your daughter to bring home and marry. He’s just a great kid.”
