He starred at South Oak Cliff High School and East Texas State University, before becoming an All-Pro with the Cowboys.

That year, he overheard his father tell his mother that he was ashamed that his son did not play like his friends' children, so Martin decided to suit up for a football team for the first time in his life.

By the third game of his senior season, he was a starter and became the best lineman on a 12–1 team that won the Dallas City championship and went on to the State quarterfinals.

During his senior year (1972), en route to leading the school to a national title, he was named to the NAIA All-American, All-Texas, and All-LSC teams.

In 2007, he was selected to the Lone Star Conference’s 75th Anniversary football team and was named the LSC defensive player of the decade for the 1970s.

During his first years with the team, the coaching staff looked to instill in Martin a sense of aggressiveness, confidence and mental toughness, that didn't come naturally to him.

He eventually improved his physical strength and his technique by practicing against future hall of famer Rayfield Wright.

The NFL didn't start recognizing quarterback sacks as an official stat until 1982; however, the Cowboys have their own records, dating back before the 1982 season.

In a 14-game season he totaled 85 tackles and a league-leading 23 sacks[6] (more than Michael Strahan's 22.5 record in 16 games), he was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, a consensus All-Pro selection, was a key player in the Cowboys winning Super Bowl XII, and a co-MVP of the game with Randy White.

Martin retired in 1983 after refusing to take a Cowboys ordered drug test and during a feud with the team in which he claimed he was being forced to play injured.

He hit rock-bottom in 1996 when "Too Mean" was jailed on domestic violence and cocaine charges, receiving probation and spending eight months in a court-ordered rehabilitation program.