Each of the past two summers, Joe Martarano has left the Boise State campus to play professional baseball. This summer, and while the rising redshirt junior is not giving up the stick-and-ball sport entirely, the linebacker’s focus will be solely on football ahead of the start of summer camp in early August.
“I’m a junior now and I think it’s time to pick a sport and be a leader here for my team,” Martarano (pictured, No. 7) said according to the Idaho Press-Tribune. “I’m not giving [baseball] up; I’m putting it on hold.
“My (other) dream is to play in the NFL, so if that doesn’t work out, maybe after two years I can try to give baseball another shot and see how it goes.”
In the 2014 Major League Baseball amateur draft, Martarano was a 22nd-round pick of the Chicago Cubs. He’s spent the last two summers at the club’s spring training facility in Arizona, and played a total of 18 games at the Low-A level of minor league ball in Eugene, Ore. According to the Press-Tribune, Martarano hit .275 with four doubles, a triple, five runs scored and 13 RBIs.
On the football side, Martarano started four of 13 games for the Broncos last season. His 53 tackles were tied for fifth on the team.
Given the fact that his focus will be on football this summer, Martarano will be penciled in as a starter heading into camp.