Special teams is often an overlooked aspect of the game, but for a lot of players in the NFL – regardless of experience – it's their way onto the 53-man roster and onto the field on gameday. For Detroit Lions wide receiver Tay Martin and edge rusher Eric O’Neill, special teams presented exactly that.
Martin has had an interesting journey in the league since coming out of Oklahoma State in 2021 and signing with the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent following the 2022 NFL Draft. He bounced around a couple times, making stops in Tennessee (2024) and Washington (2025) before spending the 2026 season in the UFL with the Columbus Aviators. Fast forward just over three months from the Aviators' last game, Martin's holding a game ball in Detroit's locker room after the Lions' Week 1 victory over the New Orleans Saints for his play on special teams.
"I've been playing special teams my whole life," Martin said of how his experience has helped him take on this role in Detroit. "So, just carrying that background to here (in Detroit) and continuing to get better, continuing taking a lot of reps at gunner, kickoff, you name it, it translates out there on the field."
Against New Orleans, Martin came up with three solo tackles. On two punts, he tackled Barion Brown at the Saints' 14-yard-line after a short gain of just two yards, then took Brown down again at the same spot for no gain. Both drives resulted in Detroit getting the ball back without a New Orleans score. Martin also tackled the Saints' wide receiver on a kickoff at the 21-yard-line.
This was the start of Martin accomplishing his goal for the 2026 season: Making at least one tackle per contest. In Week 2 at Buffalo, he and linebacker Trevor Nowaske combined to tackle wide receiver Greg Dortch after a Jack Fox punt.
Martin knows that showing up on special teams helps the team win games, which is Detroit's ultimate goal at the end of the day. Becoming a top special teams player in the NFL, something Martin hopes he accomplishes, means he did his part in helping the Lions win the field position battle.
"This is what I work for. I get the chills every time, I kind of blackout every time (I make a play), so I kind of got to come back to Earth, so to speak," Martin said. "Just a lot of emotion and that adrenaline rush of 'I want to do it again.' Hard work pays off."
O'Neill knows better than anyone that hard work pays off. Each day during training camp, he had to find ways to stand out to the coaching staff.
"The kid came in and he had the longest odds of anybody … if you looked at the depth chart, (O'Neill) was No. 5 behind four at a big end and he ain't the biggest guy in the world. Now he's on our 53 – and he earned every second of it," run game coordinator and defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers said on Wednesday. "The guys you play with here, they're going to be tough, they're going to do things right … and (O'Neill is just) the epitome of that."
O'Neill had flashes during camp and the preseason on defense, but his road to making the 53-man roster was special teams. That's not something he was accustomed to coming out of college.
At Rutgers in 2025, he started all 12 games on defense and finished the season with 52 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, three passes defended and one interception returned for a touchdown. Now with the Lions, who he signed with on May 12 as an undrafted free agent, O'Neill plays in a different phase of the game that he hasn't been a part of since high school.
"I never played special teams in college or anything, so when I got out there … I didn't really know what was going on, but we have great special teams coaches … helping us throughout camp and the spring," O'Neill said. "When it got time to the season, I felt like I played special teams for the past five years. I was ready to go."
There are still nerves for the rookie edge rusher no matter what his role is, but thankfully for O'Neill, who plays both on kickoff and kick return, all it takes is one hit to shake it off.
"I'm thinking, 'Just do it.' Because the first play, it's like you have so much adrenaline, but you haven't hit anyone yet, you haven't done anything, so you're a little tight almost," O'Neill said. "So, I'm just like, 'Just do it, just hit him as hard as you can, I promise you won't regret it,' and the past two games it's worked because I came out with my best punch."
O'Neill approaches every rep as if it's his last. He knows what it took to make the roster and he knows there's someone fighting for his spot just as he did.
Whatever opportunities he has – on special teams or as a rotational player on defense – O'Neill wants to capitalize and stay hungry no matter what. He said he doesn't need a grand story of being an undrafted free agent who makes the team and becomes a star. He just needs an in to play the game he loves, and that's exactly what special teams was for him.
"It's been everything for me because I'm sure without special teams, I don't think I would've made the team," O'Neill said.
"People on the outside looking in don't really look at that. There were probably a lot of people that were surprised that I made the roster or suited up for gameday, but there's also a lot of people that look past special teams and that's what really opened up the whole opportunity for me to be a part of this team."
