Tyron Smith, Dak Prescott reveal special gift for Zack Martin's first entry to Madden 99 club
Dallas Cowboys team leaders Dak Prescott and Tyron Smith presented guard Zack Martin with a special gift to honor his first entry into the Madden NFL 99 club. The quarterback and left tackle pulled out a box with a gold chain and pendant to commemorate the very rare honor for their teammate.
Martin reacted with excitement, and also some skepticism about whether the diamonds on the necklace are real – to which his teammates responded, of course, they are.
“Damn, that’s my first diamond necklace,” Martin said in the exchange.
Martin is the first guard since Larry Allen in 2003 to receive a perfect Madden rating.
The Cowboys’ starting right guard has a 99 rating, joining wide receiver Justin Jefferson, defensive tackle Aaron Donald, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.
Martin is entering his 10th season in the NFL. Last season, he earned his sixth first-team All-Pro title. He also has two second-team All-Pro honors.
Martin entering 10th season with Cowboys
Coming out of Notre Dame in the 2014 NFL Draft, Martin had been a two-time captain for the Fighting Irish. The Cowboys selected him with the No. 16 overall pick in the first round. In his first season, he was the only rookie to make the first-team All-Pro list. He was also the first Cowboys rookie to make it since 1969.
Despite being an integral part of the Dallas offense, the right guard chose to hold out of training camp this summer in Oxnard. He argued that he wasn’t properly compensated after his six-year deal for $84 million began to lose its luster. The team wound up caving before the end of camp, increasing the All-Pro’s salary by $8 million over two years.
“I never wanted to play anywhere else,” Martin told Todd Archer of ESPN after agreeing to new terms. “And that’s when I’d get some anxiety or have a rough day during this thinking about that. That’s what it came down to: I don’t want to play anywhere else… don’t want to play for another organization. I don’t want to move my family and was just hoping that something would get done, and luckily we were able to get together and figure it out.”
With his salary increase, Martin is now the third-highest-paid guard in the league going into the 2023 season. It’s still not as much as Chris Lindstrom of the Falcons or Quenton Nelson of the Colts, but the deal is also fully guaranteed, which is a nice bonus for the almost 33-year-old.