Nov. 17, 2009

CANYON, Texas – The Carolina Panthers announced Tuesday afternoon that former West Texas A&M football standout Charly Martin has been called up to the team’s official active roster.

Martin was previously on the practice squad and got the call after Panther offensive tackle Jordan Gross was placed on the Injured Reserve list with a broken ankle in Carolina’s weekend win over the Atlanta Falcons.

“Charly is a guy that's been working real hard. He's out here practicing every day. He's definitely caught the coaches' eyes as far as what he's done on the practice field working against our first-unit defense.” Said Panther’s head coach John Fox on the team’s website “He's a bigger guy that could help in the kicking game as well as at receiver.”

Martin joined the Panthers practice squad on Sept. 9, four days after being waived by the San Diego Chargers at the 53-man roster deadline.

In his summer stint with San Diego, Martin grabbed seven passes for 88 yards and returned three kickoffs for a 24.0-yard average.

The Farmington, N.M. native was the leading pass-catcher in Division II last year, amassing 95 receptions for 1,867 yards and 22 touchdowns with the Buffaloes. That tally included a Division II-postseason record 343-yard day against Abilene Christian.

Martin will make his regular season NFL debut on Thursday evening as the Panthers host the Miami Dolphins at 8:20 EST with the game being broadcasted on the NFL Network from Bank of America Stadium.