Fordham
June 28th, 2006, 09:08 PM
Great story imo.
No Stopping Him (http://www.pe.com/sports/highschool/breakout/stories/PE_Sports_Local_D_ie_classic_feature_24.11e62cc.ht ml)
No Stopping Him
Martin has traveled long, hard road to become football all-star
http://www.pe.com/imagesdaily/2006/06-24/martin24b_300.jpg
Jerry Soifer / The Press-Enterprise
Tommy Martin lived in his car for a couple of days at the end of his senior year at Norco High.
10:00 PM PDT on Friday, June 23, 2006
By JERRY SOIFER
The Press-Enterprise
NORCO - Tommy Martin's football scholarship to New York's Fordham University is a certificate of rebirth for the 18-year-old Norco High grad.
It's a chance for Martin to start over after a nomadic youth that took him from his biological parents to foster care to adoptive parents to a brief period of homelessness. It's an opportunity to focus on football and academics without having to work as he did throughout high school.
It's a time for Martin to reduce the anger and sadness that have marked his life.
"Your future is secured for at least four years," said Martin, who accepted the scholarship Friday while on a recruiting trip to the university in the Bronx.
"Nothing is stopping me from anything I want to achieve."
Before moving to the East Coast, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound defensive back will play for Riverside County tonight in the Inland Empire All-Star Football Classic.
Martin is staying with Norco teacher Lou Hatton until he starts practice at Fordham in August. For Martin, the move hopefully will end a chapter of his life that has been filled with adversity. Even if the memories never completely fade.
"I'll always feel some kind of pain, something inside of me that carries over from my past," he said.
"Why is This Happening?"
A few days before he received his diploma this month, Martin spent two nights in his Mustang in the Norco High parking lot. He had bounced from home to home since last winter, when he moved out of the Corona home of his aunt and her husband, who adopted him at age 11.
"I had a million things running through my head," Martin said. "...I've been through so many things in my life. Why is this happening? Is it for a reason?"
It was an unhappy low not befitting a valuable two-way player who helped Norco win the Division 5 title last season.
He had eight interceptions and caught five touchdown passes. He was a first-team defensive back on The Press-Enterprise All-Riverside County and All-CIF Division 5 teams.
Martin worked Monday through Thursday nights during football season, leaving practice early for his job at a Starbucks. Since December, he's worked nearly 30 hours a week as a credit union teller in Riverside.
Martin studied until 2:30 a.m. many nights. He finished with a 3.5 grade-point average to graduate with honors.
His hard work on the field helped him get noticed by Fordham, which was impressed by his 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash.
"He brings an element of speed to our team," said assistant coach Matt Dawson, who said Martin would initially be tried at wide receiver.
"He can make big plays at any time. That's what we're looking for."
There are many people Martin can thank for his development, having received help from sympathetic adults along the way.
Tina Welch, the credit union branch manager where Martin works, hired him at an unusually young age for a teller.
"His service skills, the way he relates to the public -- he's an exceptional employee," said Welch, who sheds tears when speaking of Martin. "He's very intelligent, very professional, completely trustworthy."
Welch also has provided Martin a place to wash his clothes, eat and relax and said she encouraged him to overcome his reluctance to leave Southern California and accept the scholarship to Fordham.
Football bonds also have helped Martin garner support. After graduation, he hugged just about every parent of a Norco football player, especially Wendi Philbrook, whose son, Kirk, was the tight end.
Martin spent last Thanksgiving at the Philbrook home, and Wendi Philbrook said he stayed with the family frequently during his sophomore year.
"A lot of the families of these boys have taken him in and cared about him and given him a sense of family, which he hasn't had," she said.
Unhappy Childhood
What Martin has had is turmoil since before he could remember.
When he was 2½ he was kidnapped by his father, who was carrying a shotgun. Thomas Allen Runge said in a phone interview that he spent time in prison for the incident and later unsuccessfully tried to regain custody of his son.
"As far as I'm concerned, he made the choice," Runge said of Martin.
After Martin's mother, Tina Karpinski, divorced Runge and moved to Oregon, Martin was given the last name of his mother's second husband.
"We lived in a trailer park," Martin recalled. "It was not a good neighborhood."
Martin said he was taken away from his mother at age 9 and put into foster care in part because authorities mistakenly thought his football bruises were signs of abuse by the men in his mother's life.
A message left for Karpinski was not returned.
"I couldn't stand foster care," Martin said. "It was disgusting, living in houses with four or five other kids, nasty smelling houses, dirty seats. Oh my God, it was horrible. I hated it.
"As far as being a foster child, you're treated almost like a package," he added. "There's no respect, no self-dignity. You're pretty much a piece of garbage that they're trying to find a place for."
Debbie Santiago, the sister of Martin's mother, and her husband finally adopted Martin.
"Me being familiar with the system, being a relative, (I) decided the best thing for him was to take him in," Jose Santiago said.
It was a challenge for both sides from the start, with a struggle to bond and increasing tension culminating in a physical altercation between Martin and Jose Santiago.
"It's been hurtful to me that he hasn't bonded," Debbie Santiago said. "I see him hurting himself ... He has a good heart. He really does."
Martin accepts his share of responsibility for the conflict.
"I'm so involved in doing what I think is best without listening to most people," he said. "My dad (Santiago) said I didn't want to be parented because I was too worried about doing what I thought was right. He felt like he didn't have control over what I did."
Working to Overcome It
Despite the estrangement, Martin calls Santiago "Dad." The Santiagos attended Martin's graduation and hugged him afterward.
"You've got to wish him the best," Jose Santiago said. "He's already had it tough. You'd want that for anyone."
At Santiago's urging, Martin started working at 13.
"I've tried to instill in him going to work at a young age, get some pocket change, learn what life is about," he said.
Santiago said spending a lot of money on a CIF title ring was "foolish" but gave Martin $100 to help pay for it.
Said Martin: "This ring is everything in my past that I've overcome, all the hardships I've had, all the trouble I've been through, all the times I've had with my teammates. They're my second family. They mean more to me than my regular family."
Coach Todd Gerhart, who has allowed Martin to spend some nights at his home in Norco, has high hopes for him.
"He's been successful in the classroom, successful socially, successful in the adult world of work, successful with his peers, successful playing football," Gerhart said. "I think he's going to be all right."
No Stopping Him (http://www.pe.com/sports/highschool/breakout/stories/PE_Sports_Local_D_ie_classic_feature_24.11e62cc.ht ml)
No Stopping Him
Martin has traveled long, hard road to become football all-star
http://www.pe.com/imagesdaily/2006/06-24/martin24b_300.jpg
Jerry Soifer / The Press-Enterprise
Tommy Martin lived in his car for a couple of days at the end of his senior year at Norco High.
10:00 PM PDT on Friday, June 23, 2006
By JERRY SOIFER
The Press-Enterprise
NORCO - Tommy Martin's football scholarship to New York's Fordham University is a certificate of rebirth for the 18-year-old Norco High grad.
It's a chance for Martin to start over after a nomadic youth that took him from his biological parents to foster care to adoptive parents to a brief period of homelessness. It's an opportunity to focus on football and academics without having to work as he did throughout high school.
It's a time for Martin to reduce the anger and sadness that have marked his life.
"Your future is secured for at least four years," said Martin, who accepted the scholarship Friday while on a recruiting trip to the university in the Bronx.
"Nothing is stopping me from anything I want to achieve."
Before moving to the East Coast, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound defensive back will play for Riverside County tonight in the Inland Empire All-Star Football Classic.
Martin is staying with Norco teacher Lou Hatton until he starts practice at Fordham in August. For Martin, the move hopefully will end a chapter of his life that has been filled with adversity. Even if the memories never completely fade.
"I'll always feel some kind of pain, something inside of me that carries over from my past," he said.
"Why is This Happening?"
A few days before he received his diploma this month, Martin spent two nights in his Mustang in the Norco High parking lot. He had bounced from home to home since last winter, when he moved out of the Corona home of his aunt and her husband, who adopted him at age 11.
"I had a million things running through my head," Martin said. "...I've been through so many things in my life. Why is this happening? Is it for a reason?"
It was an unhappy low not befitting a valuable two-way player who helped Norco win the Division 5 title last season.
He had eight interceptions and caught five touchdown passes. He was a first-team defensive back on The Press-Enterprise All-Riverside County and All-CIF Division 5 teams.
Martin worked Monday through Thursday nights during football season, leaving practice early for his job at a Starbucks. Since December, he's worked nearly 30 hours a week as a credit union teller in Riverside.
Martin studied until 2:30 a.m. many nights. He finished with a 3.5 grade-point average to graduate with honors.
His hard work on the field helped him get noticed by Fordham, which was impressed by his 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash.
"He brings an element of speed to our team," said assistant coach Matt Dawson, who said Martin would initially be tried at wide receiver.
"He can make big plays at any time. That's what we're looking for."
There are many people Martin can thank for his development, having received help from sympathetic adults along the way.
Tina Welch, the credit union branch manager where Martin works, hired him at an unusually young age for a teller.
"His service skills, the way he relates to the public -- he's an exceptional employee," said Welch, who sheds tears when speaking of Martin. "He's very intelligent, very professional, completely trustworthy."
Welch also has provided Martin a place to wash his clothes, eat and relax and said she encouraged him to overcome his reluctance to leave Southern California and accept the scholarship to Fordham.
Football bonds also have helped Martin garner support. After graduation, he hugged just about every parent of a Norco football player, especially Wendi Philbrook, whose son, Kirk, was the tight end.
Martin spent last Thanksgiving at the Philbrook home, and Wendi Philbrook said he stayed with the family frequently during his sophomore year.
"A lot of the families of these boys have taken him in and cared about him and given him a sense of family, which he hasn't had," she said.
Unhappy Childhood
What Martin has had is turmoil since before he could remember.
When he was 2½ he was kidnapped by his father, who was carrying a shotgun. Thomas Allen Runge said in a phone interview that he spent time in prison for the incident and later unsuccessfully tried to regain custody of his son.
"As far as I'm concerned, he made the choice," Runge said of Martin.
After Martin's mother, Tina Karpinski, divorced Runge and moved to Oregon, Martin was given the last name of his mother's second husband.
"We lived in a trailer park," Martin recalled. "It was not a good neighborhood."
Martin said he was taken away from his mother at age 9 and put into foster care in part because authorities mistakenly thought his football bruises were signs of abuse by the men in his mother's life.
A message left for Karpinski was not returned.
"I couldn't stand foster care," Martin said. "It was disgusting, living in houses with four or five other kids, nasty smelling houses, dirty seats. Oh my God, it was horrible. I hated it.
"As far as being a foster child, you're treated almost like a package," he added. "There's no respect, no self-dignity. You're pretty much a piece of garbage that they're trying to find a place for."
Debbie Santiago, the sister of Martin's mother, and her husband finally adopted Martin.
"Me being familiar with the system, being a relative, (I) decided the best thing for him was to take him in," Jose Santiago said.
It was a challenge for both sides from the start, with a struggle to bond and increasing tension culminating in a physical altercation between Martin and Jose Santiago.
"It's been hurtful to me that he hasn't bonded," Debbie Santiago said. "I see him hurting himself ... He has a good heart. He really does."
Martin accepts his share of responsibility for the conflict.
"I'm so involved in doing what I think is best without listening to most people," he said. "My dad (Santiago) said I didn't want to be parented because I was too worried about doing what I thought was right. He felt like he didn't have control over what I did."
Working to Overcome It
Despite the estrangement, Martin calls Santiago "Dad." The Santiagos attended Martin's graduation and hugged him afterward.
"You've got to wish him the best," Jose Santiago said. "He's already had it tough. You'd want that for anyone."
At Santiago's urging, Martin started working at 13.
"I've tried to instill in him going to work at a young age, get some pocket change, learn what life is about," he said.
Santiago said spending a lot of money on a CIF title ring was "foolish" but gave Martin $100 to help pay for it.
Said Martin: "This ring is everything in my past that I've overcome, all the hardships I've had, all the trouble I've been through, all the times I've had with my teammates. They're my second family. They mean more to me than my regular family."
Coach Todd Gerhart, who has allowed Martin to spend some nights at his home in Norco, has high hopes for him.
"He's been successful in the classroom, successful socially, successful in the adult world of work, successful with his peers, successful playing football," Gerhart said. "I think he's going to be all right."