AURORA — There are plenty of fine apartment complexes on the Front Range, but Deshaun Shewl chose to move into Aurora’s Coyote Ranch Apartments, and doing so changed the life of a man he had not met.
See, Shewl has a 17-year-old first cousin named Chris Martin, who, with the approval of his mom, chose to move in with Shewl this summer. Naturally, Martin would attend Grandview High School, because that’s in the school district where his cousin lived.
Thing is, Martin just happened to be one of the nation’s top-ranked defensive football players. And so, said Grandview coach John Schultz: “I was completely in disbelief. Since when does a 6-5, 248-pound kid just walk into your school?”
And now, Schultz’s outside linebacker is Martin, who has more stars by his name than the Capital Grille.
Schultz grades his defensive players with points — four for a sack, three for a tackle for loss, two for a regular tackle. After the team’s first game, Martin had 30 points.
“Size, speed and athleticism, (he) has all of it,” the coach said of Martin, who has committed to Notre Dame. “He dwarfs people at practice with how fast he plays and how big he plays.”
Hands-on player, and in a big way
Shaking Martin’s hand is like sticking yours in quicksand. Lounging at the apartment Wednesday night, Shewl decided to get out a tape measure. From Martin’s wrist to the top of his middle finger, it was 9 1/2 inches.
“And the doctor said my hands are going to get bigger,” Martin said. “I’ve got strong hands — a Deacon Jones-type slap to the helmet. I’m very violent on the field.”
These hands contributed to 117 tackles as a sophomore for Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, Calif. That summer, Martin visited CU, showed the coaches his highlight tape and was offered a scholarship on the spot. After his junior year in 2008, his plan was to transfer — there was “bad blood” with the coach, Martin said, and people drifting into Martin’s life didn’t have his best interest in mind.
The plan was to attend the prestigious Hun School in Princeton, N.J., but during the summer, the scholarship offer was pulled, and since Martin’s mom had just been laid off from her job, $46,000 in tuition wasn’t exactly sitting around. Seeking comfort and guidance, Martin moved to Aurora to be with Shewl, 28, a brother figure dating to Shewl’s prep playing days in the Oakland area, where Martin was the wide-eyed ball boy they called “Booger.”
“We used to play this game called ‘goal line’ in our little room,” Martin said. “It was the big high school kid versus the little fourth-grader. I had to put his pads on.”
Sitting on the adjacent couch Wednesday, Shewl started laughing: “I would get on my knees and tell him: ‘You got to get past me. Don’t be scared of the contact.’ One time, he just got mad one time because he couldn’t get by and went, ‘Arrrrrrgh!’ And then — ‘Boom!’ “
“That,” Martin said, “was my first concussion.”
This modern American family consists of Shewl, Martin, Shewl’s fiancee and his younger brother, Dimitri, a freshman football player at Grandview.
Listen to Martin, 17, speak for just a few minutes, and you can tell he has perspective beyond his years. But he also admits he’s a goofball — he still watches “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” and gets in trouble with Shewl, trying to pull some juvenile antics that “I learned from him” nearly a decade ago.
“I know when he’s trying to pull a fast one,” Shewl said.
Irish eyes smiling at Martin
With Schultz’s equal-opportunity tough-love coaching and Shewl’s guidance at home (he was once a recruited high-schooler), there is normalcy in Martin’s life. Then again, when schoolmates ask for your autograph, not everything is normal. Such is life for Martin, who is already a celebrity on two campuses.
He committed to Notre Dame last February, so when he arrived for the Irish’s spring game, it was “autograph central.” Even an old lady in a wheelchair spotted him and called him by name.
“She was at least 75,” he said. “She knew my name, my high school, everything.”
On the social networking site Facebook, Martin has about 1,100 friends, but 600 of them are Notre Dame fans.
His plan is to go to South Bend, Ind. He’s committed to coach Charlie Weis. But if Weis is fired, or if the Irish stumble, “That’s when I’d probably start taking visits to other schools.”
Martin’s short list if that happens features USC, Cal, Tennessee and CU. Teams won’t give up on this five-star future star; during one interview, he missed NCAA-sanctioned “call-back messages” from USC, Cal, Tennessee and LSU.
But for now, Martin’s school is Grandview, which plays Cherokee Trail tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Legacy Stadium in a rivalry game.
“You’re going someplace way bigger than us, where everyone’s your size and talent,” Schultz has said to Martin. “We’ve got to get you ready.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
UP CLOSE
A look at new Grandview defensive stalwart Chris Martin:
• Nationally ranked as the No. 2 defensive end by and No. 3 by .
• Transferred this year from Bishop O’Dowd in Oakland, Calif., so he could live with his cousin in Aurora.
• At 6-feet-5, 248 pounds, he runs a 4.65 40-yard dash.
• Has committed to Notre Dame, but could switch to USC, Cal, Tennessee or Colorado if Notre Dame has a bad season.
