Tee Martin's playing days might soon be over but his football days are not.

Martin, who quarterbacked Tennessee's 1998 national-championship team, said he plans to begin a career in coaching if his final shot at playing in the NFL doesn't work out.

Martin said he is working to free himself from the remaining year on his contract with the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Meanwhile, Martin said he's been working out in Atlanta with Eric Ciano, Georgia Tech's director of player development.

Martin discussed his future plans as a player and coach on the News Sentinel Sports Page on The Sports Animal.

Q: Did you just decide you had enough with the CFL?

Martin: Yeah, that was it. One of the reasons I chose to go to the CFL was in my last year with the (Oakland) Raiders they never let me play at all. They signed Kerry Collins and Rich Gannon was hurt. When I was released I had no film at all. I went to CFL to get some playing time and some film. I got an opportunity to start and play but every year I was up there we had a new coaching staff. How can you get better when you're constantly changing? The best thing is to sit here and work on my game.

Q: Explain the NFL system that has allowed a guy with your physical abilities to slip through?

Martin: You have to have a strong mind in any business. Timing is everything. There were questions why I didn't come out after the national-championship season and if I had come out then I would have been in the same circles as the Donovan McNabbs and Shaun Kings of the previous year. I decided to come back and play my senior season. The last time I worked out for a team was 2000. It's six years later. I'm just looking for the opportunity to show them what football I know now.

Q: Have you ever wondered about playing another position?

Martin: I've never thought about playing another position. Going to the NFL I was asked by (Oakland Raiders owner) Al Davis if I wanted to play fullback or another position like that. I said, 'No.' You've got to make a statement sometimes. I believe what I believe in. Just like coming out of high school Steve Spurrier and Bobby Bowden wanted me to play receiver for Florida and Florida State and I had my opportunity to show them I was a quarterback. I feel the same way on the NFL level.

Q: Do you think the skill level at Tennessee has dropped off and do you think David Cutcliffe will make a big difference this year?

Martin: I can't say the talent level has dropped off. When you have a winning season or national-championship season it really lets you know how special it was. There are teams around the nation that have great players but you just have to be in a special situation, special type of leadership and special chemistry to win a lot of games at the collegiate level. Cutcliffe was a big part in our discipline and mind frame going into the national championship game. With Cutcliffe coming back you can't expect him to save the world in his first year. But I can expect a change in the mentality of the players.

Q: Are you still approaching it as this year is it or you're done with football and getting into coaching?

Martin: You have to do something. I've been sacrificing for a year or two years and it's tough on my family and me mentally. I'm 27-years-old and know I can play and I'm young. One thing about me is I haven't played. I don't have any injuries reported. Coaching is something I've always had a love for. When I was in college I looked at what coaches were teaching me as a player and how could I transfer that to the future as a coach. I haven't made the commitment to say to a school or university, 'Hey I'm done and I'll be there forever.' I don't want to get there and be halfway in and halfway out if someone calls me and I have to leave. When I decide to coach its going to be, 'Hey I'm done and you can have 100-percent of me.'

Q: Have you talked to Tennessee about a graduate position?

Martin: I haven't talked to coach Phillip Fulmer. One thing I do know is I want to pursue my master's degree pretty soon. I want to go ahead and do my masters and get into the coaching ranks any way I can. I have been talking to a few other coaches, coaches at Kansas State, Coach (Pat) Washington there and different things in Atlanta as well.

Q: Do you have a sense of your popularity as a Tennessee player?

Martin: I have a respect for people that respect the game. I don't care too much what they think about Tee Martin as a person or a player. I just like talking to people that respect the game. If they're Tennessee fans it great. I'm here in Bulldog country but they still respect the game and respect what we've done in college.

Q: Besides winning the national championship, what was your finest moment at UT?

Martin: Being able to play with those guys on the team. To sit down and talk about how we were in high school in the recruiting process and we all saw something could happen. Coach Fulmer and Coach Cutcliffe saw a talented group of guys and let us be ourselves. Our personalities shined through our play and I think that was a big difference from one season to the next.

Q: Cutcliffe has had success with athletic and pocket quarterbacks. Why?

Martin: It's a credit to the man basically. You have to respect a man that doesn't see you as the same as someone else. He's not going to try to force you to fit into his system because he's so prideful. You watch him with Heath Shuler and Jerry Colquitt and Peyton (Manning) and me and Eli (Manning). You can see each quarterback from year to year get better. That's a credit to the coach being able to listen to what the players like and don't like and players being able to receive what the coach wants to get done.

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