MAYER, Minnesota — Teigan Martin was a standout player on a standout team for Mayer Lutheran High School. He earned a Division I football scholarship to Liberty and then to South Florida.
He passed away last week in a car accident while he is home in Minnesota. And that causes his family and friends to process the unthinkable and lean on faith and each other.
On a day of reflection at Mayer Lutheran High School, a group of young men are on hand who were part of the 2021 state football championship. It’s a talented group, but one is missing: Teigan Martin.
On Saturday, his teammates were reminded by his sister that they were the brothers he never had.
“He’s watching us now. And for the rest of your life here. He’s so proud of you,” Marley Martin said.
That group grew and won his senior year, but what matters most today are the friendships they formed with him.
“He will always be loved,” said Tyler Neitzel.
They shared a championship and they shared memories. This week they shared emotions.
“It’s been really hard,” Cade Robbins said. “It’s just going through stuff, I mean going through memories. The first couple days I just cry.”
There’s another team they’re looking for: Teigan’s three younger sisters who love their older brother, the brother who bullied them and the one who would always protect them.
“At this point, I’m trying to be there for his sisters,” Neitzel said. “He has three younger sisters and I know they were a huge part of their lives — he was — and so I’m just trying to be there for them.”
Teigan will always be a part of the state championship in the fall of 2021, but he won’t be there for those reunions and those impromptu conversations with his boys – his team.
“It’s tough because I’m sure we’ll get together again someday and celebrate, but it’s never going to be with Teigan there,” said Teigan’s coach Dean Aurich.
There is a hole in their family’s hardships, held together by faith, but torn apart by the lack of light in their lives.
“We give you to the Lord,” Marley Martin said. “Make sure He takes good care of you. Mommy’s going to miss her little boy. And daddy won’t know what to do without his only son. You were everything to them and you’re everything to us, Teigan.”
Mike Max
