Longtime Raiders linebacker Rod Martin, whose three interceptions in Super Bowl XV helped secure the franchise’s second championship, has died.
The Raiders announced Martin’s death in a statement on Monday but did not specify a cause of death. He was 72 years old.
Martin spent all 12 of his NFL seasons in silver and black, playing in 165 games and starting 147. He was a two-time Pro Bowler who earned first-team All-Pro honors in 1984 after being named a second-team All-Pro the year prior. In the statement announcing Martin’s death, the Raiders called him “a beloved member of the Raiders family and a favorite of Raiders fans everywhere.”
Though Martin grabbed 14 interceptions during his career, none were as significant as his hat trick against the Philadelphia Eagles during the Oakland Raiders’ 27-10 win in Super Bowl XV. Martin still holds the record for most interceptions in a Super Bowl, and his performance in that game propelled the 12th-round pick to the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett took home Super Bowl MVP, but it was Martin’s show that night. Voters reportedly submitted their ballots for the award shortly before his third interception, but the decision never sat well with him.
“How can the person who intercepted those passes not be named the MVP?” Martin complained to the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke in 1993. “I still can’t understand it. … We could have at least shared the award, and I think Jim even feels the same way.
“I don’t know if the record will ever be broken,” he added. “But I know it will not be broken by a linebacker.”
Martin said the perceived snub only made him play harder. Three years later, in Super Bowl XVIII, he and the relocated Los Angeles Raiders took back the Lombardi Trophy. Martin didn’t have any interceptions that game, but he made a sack and scooped up one of his 10 career fumble recoveries. The underdog Raiders went on to trounce Washington 38-9.
Whenever the ball got into Martin’s hands, he had a knack for turning a defensive shutdown into an offensive spark. In all, he returned interceptions for 225 yards and four touchdowns, scoring on nearly a third of his picks. He brought his fumble recoveries back for 122 total yards over his career, and two went for touchdowns.
Sacks weren’t an official stat until Martin’s fifth season, but in true Raiders fashion, he was a hard-hitting force in the backfield, too. Pro Football Reference puts his total sack count at 56.5, along with a safety.
After his retirement in 1988, Martin returned to his alma mater and took a job as a programmer in USC’s Information Sciences Institute. He is survived by his wife, Devin Martin, and daughters Jessica and Jade.