A few years ago, BYU running back LJ Martin’s entire family traveled from their home in El Paso, Texas, for a vacation in San Diego, the land of beautiful beaches, near-perfect weather, amusement parks and enticing golf courses.
Martin packed his PlayStation game console, and spent a lot of the week indoors.
“I was playing video games all the time,” the rising senior told the Deseret News on April 3. “My mom (Genevieve) got mad at me. … I’ve never been interested in doing whatever, what other people think I should be doing.”
That’s one of the reasons why he didn’t enter the transfer portal after his sensational junior season, and after he decided that he would stay in college for another year instead of entering the NFL draft.
“No matter where I could have gone, I would probably be doing the same thing,” he reasoned. “So why not just be here with great people and just play great football.”
According to The New York Times, a top-flight running back in the transfer portal could command anywhere between $400,000 and $900,000 in NIL deals and revenue sharing income in 2026. Martin would certainly be considered at the upper end of that classification as the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
He led the league last year with 1,305 yards on 236 carries, and scored 12 touchdowns. He was No. 11 nationally in total rushing yards and No. 12 in rushing yards per game (100.38).
Was NIL a factor in Martin’s return?
Although BYU players are cautioned by BYU officials and their agents to not discuss specifics of NIL contracts and the like — offensive lineman Bruce Mitchell said it is a “taboo subject” in the locker room, even — it is safe to assume that Martin isn’t making more than $500K this coming season, a source confirmed.
Asked during an interview in the press box at LaVell Edwards Stadium — the first time Martin had ever been in that room — the former Stanford commit said that NIL payments haven’t really changed his life.
College athletes began getting compensation for endorsements, social media, etc., in the fall of 2021 and Martin’s first season at BYU was in 2023, but he said the increased compensation didn’t come his way until a couple of years after that.
“Coming in, you just got what you got,” he said. “It was never really a concern of mine, because I hear most of the time you make your money in the NFL, and that’s kind of where you get paid to play professionally, so I wasn’t really worried about that.
“It hasn’t changed my life a whole lot,” he continued. “I pretty much live the same as I would if I was just getting my (scholarship and expenses) stipend.”
Later that day, Martin acknowledged to BYUtv’s BYU Sports Nation that the only “significant” purchase he has made is the LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon building set.
Has Martin recovered from shoulder surgery?
Martin also caught 36 passes for 255 yards in 2025, and had a career-best 32 carries for 222 yards in BYU’s 26-14 win at Cincinnati. He sustained a shoulder injury in the first half of a game on Oct. 25 at Iowa State, but played through it until the end of the season before undergoing surgery in December of 2025 and missing the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
He did not participate in spring practices, but on April 3 he said he was “feeling great” and thanked BYU’s support staff, medical staff, athletic trainers “and all the people who have been doing a great job of getting me right.”
Martin said he expected to be 100% recovered by mid-May and officially cleared to return to contact drills in early June.
“I was definitely a little bit timid (in the first Texas Tech game),” he said. “It felt like it was still a little (tender) to me then, but I got my confidence back in the TCU game. Then the Cincinnati game is where I really got my confidence back.”
LJ Martin’s goals for 2026 season
Martin’s given first name is John, which is also his father’s name. When he was younger, his family called him “Little John” instead of John Jr., and then just “LJ.”
“My parents are the ones that started to call me LJ,” he said. “Ever since I was little, that was my name. I learned my name was really John a long time after they were calling me LJ.”
Now, big things are expected of the fourth-year senior, who almost certainly will be the preseason Big 12 offensive player of the year, especially since new Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s future is in doubt.
While acknowledging that “it would be cool” to repeat his Big 12 individual honors, Martin said his main focus won’t be on acquiring any personal accolades.
“The goal is to win as many games as possible,” he said. “With football, so much can happen and nothing is for certain. I am just grateful for the opportunity. That’s just how I’ve always been, even last year. … I just want to get through the whole season (healthy), and just play hard.”
What about his place in BYU history? Martin is No. 9 on BYU’s career rushing yardage list, with 2,541 yards.
The all-time leader is Jamaal Williams, with 3,901, so Martin needs 1,361 yards to pass Williams, who played from 2012 to 2016.
He needs 914 yards to pass Harvey Unga (3,455) for second place all-time. Unga is now BYU’s running backs coach.
The school rushing records “are not a main focus of mine,” Martin said. “If it happens, it happens. I will just go out there and give it me all and see what happens. A lot of things are out of my control. I will just go out there and play football, which is really what I love.”
For what it is worth, Unga has been telling Martin since the day the quiet teenager arrived in Provo that he would pass him on the list.
“I never really paid attention to it, but now that it is within reach, it is pretty cool,” Martin said. “I guess it is just kind of what happens when you play a lot.”
A rare four-year college star
Much has been made this spring of BYU basketball star Richie Saunders, and how the Riverton native stayed all four years at the same school. That’s not common, especially in this day and age of NIL and the transfer portal.
Martin’s case is just as remarkable, maybe even more so because he is not from Utah and not a member of the faith that supports and operates BYU, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Asked what has kept him in Provo, Martin referred to the people such as Unga, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick and head coach Kalani Sitake.
“They are kind of why I came here out of high school. There are just good people around here,” he said. “I am surrounded by great people. Coach Harvey (Unga) is someone you would want to be your father figure.
Coming out of high school, I wanted that, knowing I would be away from home,” he continued. “Just having guys like coach Kalani as great father figures, and what they have been able to do for me, that’s kind of what kept me here.”
