Lonnie Marts Jr.

On a weekday afternoon in Jacksonville, the noise in the room isn’t the roar of a stadium. It’s the layered sound of teenage boys talking over each other. A couple sit hunched over laptops.

Another pair toss ideas back and forth about classes and careers.

In the corner, a tall figure in a polo and ball cap moves quietly between groups, leaning in, listening, nudging.

This is where Lonnie Marts Jr. spends his time now, not in film rooms or NFL locker rooms, but inside the Leveling the Playing Field Leadership Academy, the nonprofit he and his wife built for boys who look a lot like he once did. He stops to check on a young man who, a year ago, wasn’t sure college was even an option.

“Coach,” the boy told him recently, “I want to go to college now. Can you help me get a cybersecurity certificate? I want to do something with my life.”

Moments like that are why Marts still works as hard as he ever did as a linebacker. This is his life now. And if you listen to him tell it, this might be the most important work of his life.

“My father passed away when I was seven, and my cousin took me under his wing,” Marts said. “One of his favorite things to do on Saturdays was to go play football at the park. I was training young men, and I realized that many of their moms were like my mom. They’re raising boys. They’re single moms. And they’re getting exploited.”

That loss left a void, but it fueled a greater purpose once his NFL career ended. Marts saw a segment of young men who were talented, hopeful, and vulnerable being sold false dreams, and he wanted to do something about it.

“People were telling them that their kids were great and then charging families money to get them recruited,” he said. “You couldn’t get recruited by paying money. They were falling for scams. I realized there were young men out there who were probably like I was. They needed guidance. They needed help.”

The academy is built on a bold promise. Boys enter between the ages of 10 and 12, and the organization commits to walking with them for a decade. The curriculum is holistic, centered on character, mental and emotional wholeness, mentoring, financial and digital literacy, and academic enrichment. Football may be part of some boys’ lives, but it is never the point.

The goal is to help them move confidently in rooms they were never taught how to enter.

“When people talk about boys not having positive role models, it’s not always bad role models they’re seeing,” he continued. “Sometimes, if you have social capital, someone who can speak on your behalf and teach you the unwritten rules, you’ve got a head start.”

After his playing career ended, Marts leaned on The Trust (Powered by the NFLPA) for practical support, including legal guidance, wellness resources, and help navigating homeownership. It’s the kind of behind-the-scenes assistance that rarely makes headlines but makes stability possible.

“We use The Trust to make life a little easier,” he said. “It’s helped with staying in shape, even a YMCA membership my family can use.”

Marts didn’t grow up dreaming about the NFL. As a kid in New Orleans, he didn’t even like football all that much. But he built a career anyway, one rooted in preparation and adaptability.

An undrafted free agent out of Tulane, Marts converted to safety despite his imposing frame. Discovered by Tony Dungy, he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1991, enjoyed his strongest seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1994 to 1996, started 15 games with the Tennessee Oilers, and finished his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars, retiring in 2000.

Coming from a smaller program, he wasn’t supposed to fit easily into a professional locker room crowded with veterans and draft picks. But the memories still sit close to the surface. The playoff runs. The high-stakes games. Playing under Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville’s early years.

For Marts, those seasons were proof of what happens when preparation and opportunity collide.

But he also had something he says came straight from his mother: structure.

“One of the greatest things I learned was taking what my mother instilled in me, structure for school and studying, and using it to my advantage,” he said. “I could understand defenses. I could understand what offenses were trying to do. It allowed me to get on the field earlier than I probably would have otherwise.”

Now he’s using those same skills to lift the next generation. He and his wife, Gian, co-founded the academy. He serves as executive director, building partnerships, making calls, and showing up in rooms to advocate for his boys.

At home, the couple raised five children, Jalan, Lonnie III, Gavin, Mariah, and Tiller, and now have a granddaughter, Nova. The family tree is branching out in directions football never could have predicted.

Looking ahead five years, Marts’ vision is simple and ambitious.

“I see myself still doing this,” he said. “Helping at least 15 boys get to college and into careers. They’re business owners or leaders. Jacksonville is better for it. I had the opportunity to play the game at the highest level, and it allowed me to do other things in my life.”

Now, in a room filled with overlapping voices and open laptops, he’s doing something harder, building futures that won’t fade when the noise dies down.

This article was written by Rob Knox for The Trust. Knox is an award-winning professional, a member of the Lincoln (Pa.) Athletics Hall of Fame, and adjunct instructor at Temple University. In addition to having work published in SLAM magazine, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post, and Diverse Issues In Higher Education, Knox enjoyed a distinguished career as an athletics communicator for Lincoln, Kutztown, Coppin State, Towson, and UNC Greensboro. He also worked at ESPN and for the Delaware County Daily Times. Recently, Knox was honored by CSC with the Mary Jo Haverbeck Trailblazer Award and the NCAA with its Champion of Diversity award. Named an HBCU Legend by SI.com, Knox is a graduate of Lincoln University and a past president of the College Sports Communicators, formerly CoSIDA.