Clemson Football letterwinner is serving South Carolina’s youth through mentorship initiative
Being the smallest letterman on Clemson Football’s 1981 national championship team didn’t stop Carl Martin ’83 from being “the toughest player on the team and possibly the strongest,” then-head coach Danny Ford once said of his walk-on defensive back.
Still, Martin’s 5-foot-6, 152-pound frame came with its share of nicknames.
Little Carl.
Shrimp.
And, of course, Rudy, a parallel to the iconic Hollywood flick based on the true story of former University of Notre Dame undersized walk-on Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, though Martin likes to set the record straight when his former teammates try to make that comparison.
“I played more than one or two plays,” Martin says through a grin.
A native of Elloree, South Carolina, Martin appeared in 24 games for Clemson before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Just an inch taller now, Martin might still be small in stature, but his purpose is much bigger.
Martin helped launch Real Champions Inc. (RCI), a nonprofit mentorship organization serving vulnerable youth in his home state. Partnering with local school administrators, RCI works with students in the Charleston County and Jasper County school districts in need of academic and behavioral support due to adverse childhood experiences ranging from domestic abuse to food insecurities.
As of this summer, 90 students were enrolled in RCI’s mentorship program, which employs two full-time directors and nine advocate mentors, intentionally making for a smaller mentor-to-student ratio and more individualized attention. Enrollment can begin as early as kindergarten, and mentorship includes at least four hours of various academic and recreational activities each week until high school graduation.
“That’s what makes it innovative. A lot of organizations do mentoring, and they use volunteers. We pay people,” Martin says. “We start earlier, go deeper and stay longer.”
Now living in Ridgeland, South Carolina, Martin has transitioned from executive director to an ambassador for the organization, which he co-founded with fellow Lowcountry resident Ned McNair in 2017. It’s part of a serving heart for Martin. When he’s not traveling around the state sharing RCI’s mission, he’s a minister who helps train pastors as a growth strategist for the Savannah River Baptist Association.
The positive impact of Martin and the organization has been noticed outside of the Lowcountry, too.
In 2021, Clemson Football honored him with the Brian Dawkins Lifetime Achievement Award. Named after former Clemson defensive back and Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins Sr. ’96, the award annually recognizes a former Tiger who has consistently demonstrated the qualities of leadership and community service.
“Somebody had to put me in that seat so that I could see it,” Martin recalls of his childhood trips to Memorial Stadium to watch Clemson play. “Once I saw it, I said, ‘Hey, I’d like to do that.’ My mom and dad said, ‘Go for it.’ So, I had somebody who put me there and believed in me, and that’s really the difference that we’re trying to make by providing these children with a person and not just a program.”
RCI is funded through grants and donations, so it will require some patience and more money. But Martin says the program’s long-term goal is to expand its mentorship statewide in hopes of giving as many of South Carolina’s children as possible the same opportunity for success.
For more information about RCI and its mission, visit realchampionsinc.org.
