Although he was the first Black football player at North Carolina State University, Dr. Marcus L. Martin will be the first to admit that he didn’t exactly make an indelible impression as a student-athlete.
“Typically, when we had a large lead or when we were losing badly, that’s when I got to play,” Martin recalls of playing as a walk-on for the Wolfpack in the mid-to-late 1960s.
Even in terms of racial progress, Martin — who currently serves as vice president and chief officer for diversity and equity at the University of Virginia — doesn’t think of himself as a trailblazer in collegiate sports.
“I walked on the team because I wanted to play football and be part of a team,” Martin says.
Being the first Black player at N.C. State came at an exacting price. Rival team members and spectators hurled racial slurs at him. Some opposing players tried to spit on him and kick him.
Despite the racial animus that Martin ran into on the field, he had his sights set on goals far beyond the stadium.
“It was my determination to get the education and not be a burden to my family from the financial perspective,” Martin says.
