“When they picked me up, I felt like the bottom half of my leg was just dangling,” varsity linebacker and senior Vincent Martinez said. “When I felt that, I knew, ‘Oh, this is bad.’”

Going into the preseason of his senior year, Martinez prepared himself for what he thought was “[his] season.”

“I felt the best in my body I’ve felt in my life and this was going to be the season I [could] make something happen, maybe even have an opportunity to play in college,” Martinez said.

In his freshman year, Martinez was diagnosed with ‘jumper’s knee’, also known as patellar tendinitis. To help strengthen his knee and reduce pain, Martinez dedicated himself to focusing on his workouts, physical therapy exercises and improvement as an athlete to make this last high school season his best.

“Because [of] all the off-season workouts, I was really trying to get stronger, so my knee problems wouldn’t stop me,” Martinez said. “My knees felt good, I didn’t really have pain [and] I felt like I was at a good weight too.”

While the off-season began with high expectations, those hopes quickly faded.

“On the second day of school during practice, we were doing seven on seven. A ball was getting thrown my way, and I went up to make the play on the ball,” Martinez said. “As soon as I jumped, I felt an instant shot of pain, and I knew something was wrong.”

Originally assuming it was a “flare-up” from his knee condition, he hoped it wasn’t severe. But as the moments passed, it became clear that this wasn’t a routine injury.

“[When] I fell on the ground, it felt different. I’d never felt pain like that before,” Martinez said. “I went to bend my knee while on the ground, and I felt something move or shift down my leg.”

His teammate and close friend, senior quarterback Will Hazen, was one of the first by his side.

“At first, I thought he got a cramp or something, because I know what it looks like,” Hazen said. “He was just kind of rolling, and I’ve seen a bunch of our players get cramps, so I assumed that’s what happened.”

As Hazen approached, he realized the situation was much worse.

“I ran over to try to help him, and I saw [how] his leg was completely limp,” Hazen said. “He was screaming in pain, and it was just horrible to see, to be honest. I could tell immediately—it was bad.”

The coaches rushed Martinez off the field, recruiting Hazen and a few other teammates to help transfer him onto a golf cart.

“[The coaches] took me to the training room, and they laid me down,” Martinez said. “Coach Kunz made a knee immobilizer, [putting] a cardboard box and then two poles around my leg to keep my knee still.”

Still unsure of the severity of his injury, Martinez was taken to the hospital for diagnosis. At Baylor Orthopedic Clinic, Martinez discovered that he had ruptured his patellar tendon and torn his medial pattelofemoral ligament, a key ligament in the knee.

“I’ve never been through something that just changed [my] life like that, so I didn’t really know what to think at first,” Martinez said. “I was in shock.”

Meanwhile, Vincent’s sister, senior Mialeena Martinez had to learn about the injury at school.

“It was truly chaotic, being the second day of school,” Mialeena said. “One of my friends on the football team, told me ‘yeah your brother is dead,’ which caught me completely off guard. Then he said, ‘No, he’s not dead, but he’s hurt pretty bad. My mind was honestly going 1000 miles a minute. I kept asking myself what it could be and if he could even walk.”

Mialeena left school early to wait for her brother and mom at home, unaware how to help and what to do.

“When I saw Vincent with his knee immobilizer for the first time, it broke my heart knowing how much this one injury was going to change his life,” Mialeena said.

After the injury, Martinez reached out to his coach for guidance.

“I called Coach Jones and told him what it was because he’s been through a lot of injuries like that,” Martinez said. “He told me [that] it was going to be a long recovery, but that [I] just have to stay positive.”

The team showed their support for Martinez, reaching out to him and even giving him a signed football with their names on it.

“At the end of practice, we always have our little practice talk with the coaches,” Hazen said. “Instead of just a talk, we all prayed, because that was the worst injury any of us [had] ever seen.”

When doctors confirmed the diagnosis, Martinez was told that he needed surgery. He got an MRI that same week, and the following Tuesday, was brought in for his procedure. Mialeena reflected on how serious that day was for the whole family.

“The day of his surgery is one of the only times I could say I have seen my brother cry,” Mialeena said. “Seeing him in that state felt like I was watching a different version of him. The most mentally tarnishing aspect for him was not being able to play football—he was so excited for this year.”

During his first few weeks of recovery, Martinez had to adjust to being home and relying on others. Mialeena helped out in every way she could.

“His injury affected my daily routine in almost every aspect,” Mialeena said. “After his surgery, he needed help showering, getting changed, getting food, getting into bed, cleaning up—quite literally almost everything. I pushed back everything I had to do to fit Vincent’s needs first.”

Hazen visited Martinez often during those first few weeks post-op.

“I’d go over to his house after school and hang out with him,” Hazen said. “He couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t get up, go out and be with friends or anything like that. Spending time with him was really important for me, because [we’ve] been friends since the first grade.”

The visits from his friends acted as “distractions” for Martinez.

“Most of the time I would just be alone,” Martinez said. “When people came over, it gave me a chance to be normal and have the aspect of [hanging] out with my friends again.”

As Martinez began physical therapy, progress came slowly.

“The recovery is usually six months,” Martinez said. “The doctor told me I have to focus on my range of motion with my knee [to] learn to walk again.”

As recovery continued, Mialeena saw both the physical and emotional toll it took on her brother.

“Physically, I think Vincent felt like he was chained to a wall,” Mialeena said. “He wanted to move. Before his injury he was always out with his friends, and then out of nowhere he couldn’t walk. Even though he didn’t show it much, I know a part of him was torn to pieces.”

Once he realized the seriousness of what happened, it became even more apparent to Martinez how much the sport meant to him.

“I fell in love with football mostly by watching the NFL.” Martinez said. “I’ve been playing since eighth grade. The raw discipline and showing how strong of a person you [are] to go to practice every day was a big part of why I loved it.”

Although he can’t play, Martinez stays involved with the team, supporting from the sidelines and helping in any way he can.

“I try to be there for the team, talk to teammates and motivate them,” Martinez said. “Especially for these next couple games against Heights High School and Lamar High School—telling them to take care of their bodies so we win these games.”

Now, nine weeks post surgery, Martinez has adjusted to school life. He works for at least 1-2 hours daily on his physical therapy exercises, pushed himself to catch up on school work and adapted to his new limitations.

“I hope that Vincent can look at this from an inspiring perspective, knowing that he persevered through such a mentally exhausting time, and he did it with a strong outlook—wanting to overcome the injury, not bringing himself down,” Mialeena said. “He is such a hard worker in everything he does. When he feels like he can’t, he makes sure that he is able to, somehow, someway, not letting anything stop him.”

Looking towards the future, his final year in high school and college in sight, Martinez is excited for a “new life ahead.”

“I want to major in psychology, [and] hopefully eventually become a psychiatrist,” Martinez said. “One blessing that [the injury] has given me is time to work on college applications. Now that I don’t really have to focus on football, I try to put time into other things.”

Reflecting on his own experience, he empathizes with athletes in similar situations to himself.

“It’s a big mental game,” Martinez said. “Don’t be alone in your thoughts—try to distract yourself and focus on your recovery. Take it as a chance to focus on other parts of life.”

His perspective on his injury has changed completely, looking at it not as a setback, but as a redirection.

“Stick with the plan and be patient. It’s all gonna come the right way,” Martinez said. “Take the injury as God’s way of putting your focus on something else, and try to find the positives in life.”