West Virginia defensive lineman Sean Martin is hard to miss.
Martin, who stands at 6-foot-5, and just about 300 pounds is certainly hard to miss. However, for those spotting Martin, he will be sporting a different jersey number this season. Martin is transitioning from No. 91 to No. 5, honoring his late friend.
A native of Bluefield, Martin dealt with loss of one of his closest friends and high school teammates back in 2019.
Tony Webster, who wore the number five jersey for the Bluefield Beavers, was one of Martin’s best friends as well as his teammate.
“It’s permanent because in 2019, I lost one of my closest friends, Tony Webster. He had a brain aneurism. So, I’m doing it for my coach, his family, the town of Bluefield, and Tony, just to represent him my last year,” Martin said.
Martin took to social media following the loss of Webster in 2019.
“I’m gonna miss you little bro,” Martin said in an Instagram post in January of 2019. “Life without you bro gonna be made hard. I’m never gonna forget the fun and bad times we had. You kept everybody together through everything we went through. I know you resting man. But I love little bro. I’ll never forget you.”
The number five which Webster wore was more than a number. Martin said that number was earned by who practiced the best.
“In high school, whoever practiced best got to wear number five in game.,” Martin said “Since I played o-line and d-line, I never got the chance to wear it. I asked Coach [Neal] Brown if I could wear it my last season, he said yes.”
Martin approached Webster’s dad last month when Bluefield was playing in the West Virginia state championships for boys basketball. His dad has been an assistant coach for both basketball and football at Bluefield, and was thrilled to hear Martin was switching numbers.
“I went to the state tournament game, think the first week of March. I saw him there and he asked me about the number change and he was excited about that. Even though they lost, he was happy that I’m doing it,” Martin said.
Now, whether Martin is rushing the quarterback off the edge, standing on the sidelines, or wrecking havoc across the field, the number on the front and back of Martin’s jersey will be a new one, but one with a greater purpose.
