NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Victor Martinez didn't know English when he immigrated from Monterrey, Mexico to Nacogdoches in 2022, and he barely knew American football.
When he came to the school, he joined something he was familiar with, their soccer team. Martinez had been kicking soccer balls since he was young, playing for clubs in Mexico, and Alfredo Guzman, the junior varsity soccer coach and kicking coach for the football team, took notice.
"He didn't know the [football] at all, and we brought him in, we asked him if he wanted to play. He said, 'Yeah', and so ever since then, man, it's been amazing to have him here," Guzman said.
It didn't take long for the soccer skills to translate. Martinez quickly became the teams starting kicker, and became their special teams player of the year in his first ever season with the pigskin, but it was the games impact off the field that mattered much more to him.
"Well, it was hard. The beginning, it was really hard because I'm someone that I don't talk too much and in Spanish, but in English, it's worse. Football helped me to have friends," said Martinez.
And those friends were just as happy as he was to hear he had received an offer to kick at Howard Payne University.
"I couldn't believe it, because it was something like how you saw, like in pictures or movies or something like that," said Martinez.
His coaches were just as proud as everyone else.
"Just amazed me. A kid coming from a different country, had no idea what he was getting into, and year two into football, he's, getting offered. So that's a great opportunity for him, and I'm happy for him," said Guzman.