National Football Foundation

Dan Martin’s strong leadership skills have earned him recognition as the recipient of the Northeast Region Chapter Leadership Award.
 
Martin played football on a state championship team at Notre Dame High School in West Haven, Conn. He went on to play at the University of Vermont, where he was elected team captain and named to the All-New England and All-Yankee conference teams. In 2007, Martin was inducted into the UVM Hall of Fame. After his stellar collegiate career, Martin enrolled in the Army where he served as an Airborne Ranger in Vietnam, earning three Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. Following the Army, Martin returned to Connecticut, and he took a job at Chromium Process Company where he worked for 35 years. He also became active with the NFF and started officiating football games.
 
Martin has been a member of the Casey-O’Brien/New Haven Chapter for more than 40 years. In 1979, he served as chapter president, and for the past 36 years he has been the chairman of the chapter’s scholar-athlete selection committee.
 
“Being the chairman of our chapter’s Scholar-Athlete Selection Committee, I have enjoyed the interaction with the high school coaches, school administrators, guidance counselors, parents and players,” said Martin. “I am amazed at not only the character of each individual but how outstanding these scholar-athletes really are.”
 
The Casey-O’Brien/New Haven Chapter recently celebrated their 54th Annual Scholar-Athlete Banquet, honoring 30 scholar-athletes and distributing $10,000 in scholarships. Much of the chapter’s success can be directly attributed to Dan Martin’s leadership.
 
“Football has been instrumental in building my character and who I am today,” said Martin. “The game teaches many valuable lessons such as teamwork, self-discipline, sportsmanship and leadership. These traits are a requisite to a successful adulthood.”
 
Dan and his wife Carol have a daughter and reside in Shelton, Conn.