The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Westhill honors the memory of fallen teammate
STAMFORD — He was in the hearts of the Westhill cheerleaders, who wore T-shirts with his name and number. Jordan Martinez was in the hearts of all the school’s fall athletes, nearly 150 of them, who formed a double line for their football team to charge onto Kennedy Field on Monday afternoon.
He was in the hearts of every one of those Vikings football players and coaches. And in case any of them forget for even a moment, there were signs everywhere to remind them.
A giant No. 70 in purple and gold plastic cups.
“Seventy forever” with a collage of photos.
“Once a Viking always a Viking.”
Seventy with angel wings and a halo.
Jordan Martinez’s mom, with the heaviest heart of all, arrived for the pregame ceremonies, stayed as long as she could, making her way home before the final numbers appeared on the scoreboard.
“There are a lot of emotions,” Westhill coach Aland Joseph said. “It has been a very long week. We have heavy hearts. Jordan was a brother. He was a son, a teammate. It’s tough right now.”
Greenwich police determined Martinez was killed when a 2009 Honda Civic he was driving on East Putnam Avenue on the night of Sept. 25 left the road near Wendle Place and struck a wall. Firefighters
used a hydraulic-extrication tool to remove Martinez from the wreckage. The Greenwich Police Crash Reconstruction Team has been working on determining the exact cause of the single-vehicle accident.
Those are the necessary, yet cold facts.
The heartache, the pain of the loss of such a young, vibrant spirit is not nearly as easy to quantify. It is wide and deep and never to be forgotten for so many young people touched by the death of a friend for the first time in their lives. Especially a kid who smiled so much, who made others smile so much, too.
There was a moment of silence for the senior co-captain and starting offensive lineman.
When the captains from both teams met at midfield for the coin toss, the Westhill players brought
along Jordan’s No. 70 jersey.
As if the grief wasn’t enough, the football team also has been battling COVID protocol and the postponement of a couple of games.
“We were really fortunate that Amity agreed to move the game to today,” principal Michael Rinaldi said. “If we had been forced to play Friday, some of our seniors wouldn’t have been able to play. They are obviously some of Jordan’s closest friends.
“We are really grateful to Amity.”
Moments such as these can bring out the best in us. “The noble opposition” is what they called it in bygone days, and the Amity captains presenting Westhill a football and card signed by the team certainly fits that description.
The Viking players huddled tight around one of their captains pregame. No. 64. His name is Carlos Escobar. Like his good friend Jordan Martinez, Escobar is a lineman. He said he often talks pregame, and on this afternoon he especially had something to say.
“Every play, you make them feel it!” Escobar said in the huddle. “Every play! If we do something wrong and you come to the sidelines, you stay up! You stay up! Every time we did something wrong when we got off the field, Jordan was there to help everybody. He got everybody up.
“So we’ve got to do the same thing. We’ve got to the same thing! You understand? You understand?”
The players already were punctuating Escobar’s words with responses of affirmation. And by the time he was finished, the guys were jumping up and down and yelling and screaming. It was something special to behold.
Surely, up above, Jordan Martinez heard Escobar. And who knows? Maybe those raindrops falling were tears?
“I was trying to be a leader for them,” Escobar said. “I tried to hold in my tears. I tried to be the foundation for everybody. I tried to be the tough one for everybody. I ask everyone how they’re doing. I just want to make sure our guys are good through this.”
Amity had the ball first, didn’t score, and when Westhill went on offense Joseph sent out only 10 men. The spot on the left side of the line, Martinez’s position, was left empty. A flag went up. The Vikings were called for a delay of game.
Amity, aware of what was happening, declined the penalty.
“Amity,” Joseph said. “A class act.”
Escobar ran onto the field and filled the empty spot.
“I feel like I stepped into Jordan’s shoes,” Escobar said. “When he was here, he played left guard and that’s obviously why we left it open. When I got in, I
felt him.
“Pregame, I’d usually be with Jordan. He’d be the guy I’d be sitting next to getting ready for the game. He’d be the guy who was being loud when we wanted silence, going ‘Turn it up!’ He was always like that on and off the field. I’m going to try to carry that on. He lives through me.”
It would be grand if we could report that Westhill, which took an early 7-6 lead, held on and dedicated the victory to the big kid, a gentle soul, with a ponytail and a big smile.
Life doesn’t always work that way. Amity would pull away for a 28-7 win.
Afterward, as the rain began to fall harder, Joseph and his coaches spoke to the team for a full 15 minutes. There were important words and important emotions to share.
“I try to be here for the boys,” Joseph said. “A lot of guys are hurting. Afterward, I told them sometimes in life things aren’t fair. They’re young boys. They’re learning hard lessons right now.
“Not only was he a great football player, he’s a locker-room guy. He’s a kid who kept spirits high. At a time like this, he’s the type of kid we need. It sucks he’s not here.”
Funeral services were Sunday. The football team was there. So were teachers and administrators. It was not an easy day. As Rinaldi said, Jordan’s personality, the fact he was a senior athlete and played youth football in Stamford, he
touched so many people in the community — adults and kids.
“He’s such a wonderfully kind, respectful, helpful young man,” Rinaldi said, “the ripple effect of the tragedy is immense.”
“Football right now is on the back burner,” Joseph said. “We’re trying to stick together and help these guys figure this out.”
When Joseph was finished, the players huddled and the leaders talked some more. They didn’t want the guys to allow this one game to become all their games.
That wouldn’t be fair to Jordan. That wouldn’t be fair to themselves.
“It definitely hurts that we couldn’t do it for him today,” Escobar said. “But as we said in the huddle, this is not the only game we can play for him. We have eight games left. Each of those games, we play for him. Everybody went out there today and gave it their all.
“We tried to do it for his family, but a loss is a loss. I told the guys when Jordan was here, we won with him and we lost with him. One thing he also did was he went right to the next game. So that’s what we’re going to do. Tomorrow, we get right back at it in practice.”
On Tuesday, with the No. 70 decal on their helmets and Jordan Martinez in their hearts, the Vikings start preparing for Trumbull.