Nikai Martinez embracing opportunity at MSU

EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – As Michigan State junior defensive back Nikai Martinez took the field in front of 70,000 fans before the Spartans’ season opener against Florida Atlantic, he couldn’t help but think of the opportunity ahead of him.

“When I walked out I was like, okay, this is what I asked for,” Martinez said. “This is what I prayed for. This is what I had these long nights talking to my family about and it’s here but I can’t stop and just be satisfied. There’s still more work to be done.”

Martinez transferred to Michigan State this summer after spending the first two seasons of his college career at the University of Central Florida. Martinez, who grew up in Apopka, Fla. just outside of Orlando, was something of a hometown hero at UCF. He was a four-star recruit who had foregone other offers to stay home and try to build something with the Knights’ new head coach at the time, Gus Malzahn.

Malzahn had first recruited Martinez when he was a freshman in high school and Malzahn was still the head coach at Auburn.

“So when [Malzahn] came to UCF he kind of made me a priority, like he called me before he even moved into his first house,” Martinez said.

It was that pre-existing relationship that helped convince Martinez to do something he hadn’t really given much thought to up until that point; stay home and play for UCF.

“It’s so crazy to even think about that I was at UCF because I never went to a UCF game my whole life there,” he said. “Like I never thought about UCF. Even when Coach Malzahn first got there I was like no, I’m not staying in Orlando. So I still sit back and think like, even my family will talk about it like ‘bro you were really at UCF! Like you’re playing for my hometown!’ But I wouldn’t trade it. I was able to be home and go home back and forth and be around family for those first two years. I feel like that was a blessing that not everybody had a chance to do.”

Martinez played in every game as a freshman for the Knights. He started every game as a sophomore last fall and compiled 54 tackles and three interceptions.

But after spring ball heading into his junior year, he decided to enter the transfer portal. He had helped UCF make the transition to the Big 12 and seized the opportunity to play in front of his hometown. With those goals accomplished, he was ready to find a new home where he’d have the best chance of developing into a pro prospect.

“I felt like it was just time for a new scenery, a new opportunity to be able to just showcase my talents more on a bigger stage, I would say,” he said. “[Actually], I would not even say for a bigger stage but just a better opportunity to get my name called on Sundays and get to the next level.”

Martinez wanted to go somewhere he would be pushed and coached hard by people who know what it takes to get to the NFL. After listening to the pitch from Michigan State’s new defensive coaching staff, he felt like he found the right fit.

“I feel like Coach Rossi and Coach Blue Adams, when I came on my visit they were straight up with me, like this is how it’s going to be and more like ‘[are] you going to be here or not?’ So they set it out for me, they told me what it was. [They said] you’re not going to like me, you’re probably not going to like me, you’re probably not going to like how I coach. But if this is your goal to get to the next level then we can help you and the whole time that’s what I was looking for.”

So Martinez came to Michigan State this summer. Without the luxury of spring ball in the Spartans system, he quickly went to work to catch up on everything he needed to know about the defense. By week one he felt ready, and as the smoke machines paved the way for him and his teammates to run out of the Spartan Stadium tunnel, those thoughts about the opportunity ahead came to the front of his mind.

Then, he took the field and started his MSU career with a bang.

Early in the second quarter, Florida Atlantic quarterback Cam Fancher threw a pass deep to his right that sailed over the head of his receiver and right into Martinez’s waiting arms. Martinez took off the other way, weaving his way for a 41-yard return that set up the MSU offense with great field position. A few plays later, the Spartans scored their first touchdown of the new season.

“It’s definitely a confidence booster,” Martinez said of the interception. “I was talking to my family, I was telling them I’m going to get a pick first game, and we’re about to go versus a Florida team, like I have to! I have to show Spartan nation I’m here to play. I’m going to be the guy that we need.”

Leaving his home state of Florida to move across the country wasn’t a sacrifice Martinez anticipated making to chase his NFL dream, but he said that week one interception provided an early sign his bet on himself is paying off.

“For me to take that next step and just be like okay, you say this is what you wanted? You’ve got to take sacrifices. It might not be everything you wanted but for the majority it’s going to help you in the long run. So just being able to take sacrifices and betting on me regardless of who’s with me and who’s not, I know I got me and I know who I am and I know whatever I put my mind to, I can do it.”

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