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Image Courtesy "Athletes Unfiltered"

Adrian Martinez, Geoff Exstrom debut “Athletes Unfiltered” podcast

By Kaleb Henry May 22, 2021 | 2:40 PM

It isn’t everyday that the starting quarterback of a power conference team launches a podcast.

Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez, along with Nebraska student Geoff Exstrom, debuted “Athletes Unfiltered” Saturday across several streaming sites. This new podcast is intended to be a forum for current and former student-athletes to be more open than during a typical press conference.

“I’m intrigued by other people’s stories,” Martinez said on the podcast. “I know mine is so unique in all the things that I’ve been through here. I wanna give those other athletes a space to talk in a way that’s a little more fun than the traditional (forum).”

In the opening segment, Martinez named several podcasts that he listens to, including Ryen Russillo, Joe Rogan, Bill Simmons, and Pat McAfee. Another big one is by former Husker Will Compton, “Bussin’ With The Boys”.

“(“Bussin With The Boys”) can show what current athletes can do in the podcast area without having it affect their careers,” Martinez said. “You can still have an opinion on stuff and talk about things without it having anything to do with your play.”

Martinez is a well-known commodity to Husker fans. He has been the starter at QB since arriving as a freshman. Exstrom, however, is newer to many listeners. Originally from Kearney, Nebraska, Exstrom is a student of Mass Communications at UNL, sports director for student radio station KRNU, and a high school and collegiate reporter for the Lincoln Journal Star.

Martinez and Exstrom actually had a class together their freshman year.

“He did not (know who I was),” Exstrom told Husker Hour on KLIN radio Saturday morning. “But I can guarantee you everyone know him when he walked into the classroom.”

The pair intend to not only talk the experiences of Martinez, but also of other athletes and coaches at Nebraska and across the country.

The first episode featured largely featured Martinez from his recruitment, to the learning curve once he got to Lincoln,  and backlash from fans both in the stands and on social media,

“There was a game my sophomore year where I was getting booed off the field,” Martinez said. “And that hurts. That hurts because I play the game for the love of it and I wanna win so bad, it’s not like I’m not trying out there. It’s not from a lack of effort.

“I’m just a college kid. I think the problem some fans run into is just viewing us as the football guys out there, just the number on our back.”

Martinez added that the fanbase being invested is still what he signed up for, even if he didn’t understand it entirely as an underclassman.

“I didn’t sign up to be booed,” Martinez said. “But I signed up for this type of passion from the fanbase. Whether its rational or not, I did sign up for it and it doesn’t change at the next level. If its somewhere I wanna play, they’re probably more ruthless.”

That passion is something that took Martinez out of his home state of California, where he noted that when Stanford football was highly ranked they couldn’t consistently keep fans showing up for games.

“That’s not to bash Stanford, but its more to tell the story on how California football is,” Martinez said. “And I didn’t want that. I wanted to go somewhere where the stadium wasn’t going to be empty, it was going to be filled, people were going to be passionate, fired up.

“Nebraska is everything you could ask for in a college football program as far as investment.”

Martinez talked about the fan passion for sports beyond football, calling it “unmatched” across the country.

The pair also delved into “nonsensical, stupid Tweets”. They looked at several social media comments and gave their thoughts, though Martinez said he has grown to the point that, unless it is brought to his attention for laughs with teammates, he steers clear of comment sections and replies.

“Make it make sense,” Martinez said of one response. “If you’re gonna come at someone on Twitter, just act like you know what you’re talking about.”

They dove into several other responses on social media, including “faithful supporters” defending players against “trolls”. They add that the level of engagement from Husker fans will be vital when Names, Image, and Likeness legislation comes through.

While not addressed in the inaugural episode as a money making venture, impending NIL legislation has to account for some motivation. Podcasting may become a lucrative part time gig for many student-athletes.

“I think we can lead the way for other athletes across the nation to do something similar,” Martinez said.

You can listen to the podcast on a number of platforms, including Spotify here.