Former Nebraska quarterback details split with Cornhuskers, frustration over how Scott Frost handled injury

On paper, Adrian Martinez left Nebraska as one of the program’s top quarterbacks, holding several Cornhusker records. But the truth is, Martinez left Nebraska a disgruntled quarterback, one that concealed and played through a broken jaw for several weeks.

Martinez holds 16 school records at Nebraska, and he tallied 10,792 yards of total offense across four seasons with the Cornhuskers, a school-best tally. He was also the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener in Nebraska history and the first three-time captain in school history. However, after starting 11 games last season, throwing for 2,863 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, Martinez suffered a shoulder injury that ended his season — a season that probably should have ended earlier than that.

Martinez recently appeared on the Athletes Unfiltered Show and revealed that he broke his jaw midway through the 2021 season. He ultimately decided to play through it, explaining that it’s just the type of player he is.

“I was willing to do it for the team and for what we were trying to accomplish. I felt like it was a necessary sacrifice,” Martinez said. “And that meant after games taking the bands out and trying to stay as disciplined with it as possible and keeping it as low-key as possible. Not very many people could know about it.”

The broken jaw was a significant injury for Martinez, one that affected his everyday life. For interviews, he said he had to take out the rubber bands in his mouth meant to keep his jaw shut. He also had to keep his smiles small and in check to avoid revealing the screws in his mouth. And it made it tough for the Fresno, CA native to eat, too, as he described on the show putting steak in a blender just so he could eat it.

Martinez wanted to keep the injury under wraps until after the season. That way, he figured, other teams wouldn’t know the extent of his injury, perhaps protecting himself in games. But before the Nov. 6 Ohio State game, Nebraska head coach Scott Frost mentioned the injury to the broadcast crew, who then mentioned the injury on air. Frost was forced to provide further explanation in the postgame press conference, and Martinez’s status took a turn.

“One of our media guys came up to me and was like, ‘Hey, just so you know, Coach Frost just addressed your broken jaw and it’s out officially now.’ And I was a little shocked,” Martinez said. “Obviously, we had just lost the game and that wasn’t something I was necessarily prepared to talk about, and had any knowledge was going to be revealed. So it was definitely a surprise to me, but I found out right then, and then seconds later I was on the podium.”

Martinez had kept the injury such a secret that even some closest to him had not a clue; when Gus Johnson mentioned it on air during the Ohio State game, he received a flurry of angry messages from family members.

“My grandparents didn’t even know,” Martinez explained. “My grandma’s texting me like, ‘Hey, you have a broken jaw.’ Like, ‘Yeah, yeah. Sorry you had to find out over a (expletive) broadcast on FOX, or a press conference postgame.”

All in all, it made for an interesting final season for Martinez. He left Nebraska a record-holder in several areas, but he was unable to finish the job he started. It was frustrating to him.

Ultimately, Martinez — a former four-star recruit according to the On3 Consensus — decided to take his talents to the NCAA Transfer Portal after the season. Not because of how the broken jaw was handled, but because he “needed something different” and because he “truly felt that it’d be better for both (him and Nebraska).” He transferred to Kansas State, opting to stay in the Big 12.

“I was able to accomplish a lot, and coming back for a fifth year, just didn’t necessarily feel right to me,” Martinez explained. “And that’s just business.”