By Tom Krasniqi

It was a homecoming that Doug Martin won’t soon forget.  He had an estimated 60 family members and friends in the stands at the Oakland Coliseum for Sunday’s game.  What they witnessed was the greatest single game performance ever by a Bucs running back. 

Martin rushed for a team-record 251 yards and 4 touchdowns in Sundays’ 42-32 win over the Raiders.  I asked Martin if there was point in the game when he thought that he was doing something special.  “Probably after the third touchdown”, Martin says after flashing a big smile.  That third score was a 70-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

The talk in the locker room on Monday was all about Martin’s legendary performance.  Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy says he was barely getting a breather in between a couple of Martin’s long touchdown runs.  “I looked up like ‘Is he going again’…it was amazing what he was doing”.  Jeremy Zuttah got the start at left guard for the injured Carl Nicks and said Martin is a pleasure to block for.  “Doug is a special player.  He’s only 8 games into his NFL career so we’re all excited to see where he’s going to take it.  He just keeps getting better every game”.

Bucs rookie cornerback Leonard Johnson was teammates with Martin at the Senior Bowl and says he’s not surprised at what Martin did.  “Doug is awesome, man”, says Johnson.  So, what makes Martin tough to stop?  “Low center of gravity…runs really low.  He’s really aggressive and has really good moves in the open field”.

Martin is such a warm, humble kid and very likable too.  I asked him if he could’ve scripted a better homecoming.  He smiled.  “Couldn’t have scripted a better one.  It happened perfectly”.  Yes, it did.