Report: Doug Martin Struggled With Substance Abuse, Mental Health Issues After NFL Career
October 23rd, 2025
CTE tests planned.
Former Bucs All-Pro running back Doug Martin, 36, who passed away early Saturday morning while in police custody, had a rough life after his NFL career ended.
The San Francisco Examiner published an investigative report that paints Martin as a guy who grappled with substance abuse and mental health issues after he retired from football.
And last weekend when he resisted Oakland police after an early morning home invasion that led to him being detained shortly before he passed, that incident wasn’t Martin’s first hassle with the cops after his football days ended, per reporters David Hernandez and Eric Branch.
Two months ago, Martin was placed in an involuntary psychiatric hold upon what Hernandez and Brach described as a “substance-induced psychosis.” At a rehab facility, Martin got into a hassle with deputies.
The report also states neurologists plan to test Martin’s remains for CTE. Currently, only the deceased can be tested for the presence of CTE.
Until recently, the report suggests Martin lived a “quiet retirement” living with his grandfather in Oakland.
In August when Martin checked himself into a substance abuse rehab facility, “he tested positive for cocaine and methamphetamine,” the sheriff’s office report said, adding that he also had fentanyl and a hunting knife among his belongings.
Per the report, Martin left the facility twice without permission. He tested positive again for coke when he returned.
The incident this summer with the cops happened when a supervisor of the rehab facility pulled up to work and found Martin outside with “blood on his hands and face” and the employee called police, stating Martin was in the midst of a “psychotic episode.”
The supervisor believed Martin had punched out the window of his bedroom and jumped out. His room was found to be barricaded from the inside with the window open and screen pushed out.
When cops arrived, Martin told police he “kinda” was armed. When the cops tried to cuff him, Martin resisted and slapped the hand of a cop who then punched Martin in the face and the hassle quickly escalated with Martin “repeatedly” kicking a deputy.
In Martin’s backpack, cops found coke and a 12-inch knife. Nearby, a $50 bill coated in white powder was found. Paramedics had to sedate Martin as he was “kicking and thrashing” and had to be strapped to a gurney.
Sadly, Martin was no stranger or newcomer to substance issues. In a key game with the Bucs as the team was still in a playoff hunt in 2016 on Christmas Eve in New Orleans, Martin was a healthy scratch. The Bucs lost a close game 31-24. The following weekend, the season ended and the Bucs missed a wild card berth on a tiebreaker.
Four days after the loss to the Saints, the NFL suspended Martin four games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. He allegedly was popped for Adderall.
Martin sat out the final game of 2016 and the first three games of the 2017 season to serve his four-game suspension.
For years, the late, great dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620, dropped vague references linking Martin to recreational drug usage. The week after Martin was suspended, Duemig opened up on Martin.
“The Bucs knew Doug Martin was a Molly taker and that’s why he had such a crappy-ass second year, because he got the money and he went on the Mollys,” Duemig said. “The Bucs knew I knew, so I’m not afraid to say it. And they never said anything [about previous on-air hints] because they know I know.”
Martin’s NFL career came to an end when Chucky cut him from the Raiders in September 2019.
Former All-Pro NFL running back Doug Martin died after a struggle with police officers who were taking him into custody while they were investigating a break-in at a home in Oakland, police said Monday. Martin became unresponsive after being arrested early Saturday, according to… pic.twitter.com/ssYm1ABSc0
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) October 21, 2025
October 23rd, 2025 at 4:27 am
Sad.
October 23rd, 2025 at 5:18 am
Such a sad waste.
October 23rd, 2025 at 5:40 am
Joe, thank you so much for the SF Examiner article and your overview of it. It really hit home, especially the cocaine and methamphetamine reference. Many overdose from that alone. CTE, depression, and drugs. I am sad and mad right now.
Rest in Peace, Doug and condolences to his family and loved ones.
October 23rd, 2025 at 6:25 am
That explains everything.
October 23rd, 2025 at 6:53 am
What a sad sad ending to what could have been a great life. STAY OFF DRUGS! THEY ARENT COOL & ARENT A GOOD TIME! DRUGS CAUSE NOTHING BUT MISERY &WASTE!
Rip Doug
October 23rd, 2025 at 7:08 am
Very sad 😔
Addiction is a bitch!
October 23rd, 2025 at 7:17 am
Man this is sad.
October 23rd, 2025 at 7:46 am
RIP Doug Martin. Sometimes one bad decision leads to another. It’s unfortunate. I just wonder if he was exposed to drugs in college or if it was a case of having the wrong crowd around him when he got to Tampa.
October 23rd, 2025 at 7:58 am
Sad, but not surprised.
It seems a lot of players from that Lost Decade of Bucs football have either passed away or ended up in psyche wards. V-Jax, Geno Hayes, Mike Williams, and Daniel Teo-Neshim have passed. Was Gaines Adams part of the lost decade? Then there’s Brian Price and Kellen Winslow Jr.
October 23rd, 2025 at 8:19 am
Coke/crack is a train very few people get off of
October 23rd, 2025 at 8:35 am
Really sad. I remember when he got drafted and we moved back up into the end of the first round to take him. He went off against the raiders with one of his best games.
October 23rd, 2025 at 9:17 am
Man that’s sad. 🙁
October 23rd, 2025 at 9:18 am
Not being political, but bomb more of those drug boats! Drugs suck and take too many good people to addiction. RIP Muscle Hamster
October 23rd, 2025 at 9:25 am
I live in Boise, but I grew up in Tampa Bay and have followed the Bucs since ’97. I met Doug when he came to Boise and had several interactions with him(we even went to the same barber). He was a good kid, always respectful, always kind. He’d talk to everyone, and even after he got drafted, he’d still come back to town for Boise State events and make time for people.
Addiction is a horrible thing, but I just wanted JBF readers to know there was a real human side to Doug. I’ll always remember the polite, grounded college kid who helped put Boise State on the map and carried himself with humility through it all.
October 23rd, 2025 at 9:30 am
Boise:
Doug Martin was always a stand up guy with Joe. *Always.*
That’s why when Joe heard rumors of his mollie use in clubs around the area, Joe was shocked.
October 23rd, 2025 at 9:44 am
God rest him
October 23rd, 2025 at 10:55 am
Terrible, best rushing game by a Buc individual by far !! against the Raiders. God Bless you Doug!1
October 23rd, 2025 at 11:34 am
Using molly wouldn’t make someone a bad person or Make them angry / unkind. The drug itself is a very happy / party drug. But clearly he couldn’t control his usage at all. Very very sad.
Sounds more and more like my initial prediction is going to end of being correct: cops were called > he resisted > force was used and it resulted in him dying. That’s why the homicide unit and internal affairs are both investigating what happened when officers responded.
RIP Douggie
October 23rd, 2025 at 12:05 pm
So sad. As a prosecutor, we deal with mental health issues in numerous cases. There just aren’t enough services to deal with mental health issues.
October 23rd, 2025 at 1:04 pm
RIP Doug. He really did always seem like a happy guy. Just goes to show the toll addiction can take.
I doubt the police use of force was what caused his death. It was likely the drugs, as is often the case in these situations. Refreshingly, even the family doesn’t seem to be blaming the police action for his death.
October 23rd, 2025 at 1:15 pm
Why was he living with his Grandfather? Grown man and had money
October 23rd, 2025 at 1:32 pm
Very sad but not surprising unfortunately. I really liked watching him. When right he was a hell of a player
October 23rd, 2025 at 1:50 pm
Kinda suggests he didn’t have money (yes, Joe knows he *made* money playing in NFL but doesn’t mean he *had* money).
October 23rd, 2025 at 2:13 pm
RIP brother !
Addiction is a b**ch. Lost many friends, my mother, my father, my wife to it.
Spent time in jail and rehab myself. Worked with addicts after. Clean since 92 including alcohol. There but for the grace of God…..
To anyone struggling with addiction and/or mental health – please seek help, there are people who care and you’re life CAN CHANGE. “We do recover” 🙏🏼
October 23rd, 2025 at 4:09 pm
If CTE symptoms had something to do with his drug use then, he does not have any of that to worry about any of that anymore. He was a good player for us. RIP Mr. Martin.