Cali athlete on the move

There hasn't been a lot written about wide receiver/defensive back Martin Bayless (6-2, 200, 4.5) formerly from Chula Vista (Calif.) Castle Park, but there soon will be. Bayless has outstanding bloodlines and tremendous upside. He hasn't even come close to reaching his full potential.

Bayless is the son of Martin Bayless, Sr., who played 14 years in the NFL, worked in NFL management for three seasons and been coaching in the league for last six.

On his mother's side he has three cousins who were Mr. Ohio for football, one of his cousin's is Charles Woodson who won the Heisman Trophy for Michigan and is currently in the NFL.

The good news about Bayless and his untapped potential is he has the drive and work ethic to reach his vast potential. He's also has outstanding character who will do whatever the coach asks of him.

"To give you an example of how coachable Martin is he will sometimes ask me questions on how to do something and I tell him there are different ways of coaching the game, but in the end I always tell him to follow the instructions of his coach," Martin Bayless Sr., said. "I tell the coaches no matter where my son is playing at to coach him hard.

"What happens is sometimes coaches think because Martin is my son that he knows everything," Bayless Sr., said. "I ask the coaches not to assume anything and coach my son like everybody else.

As a sophomore, Bayless had 57 receptions for 810 yards and 10 touchdowns. When you add into the equation that Castle Park runs a wing T offense it makes his receiving stats even that more impressive.

On the defensive side of ball, Bayless plays safety and accounted for 55 tackles, and had five pass breakups.

Bayless accounted for 34 receptions for 531 yards and nine touchdowns while missing four games due to a shoulder separation. Once he returned to action he still played with his shoulder banged up.

Because of his injury, Bayless didn't play much defense his junior season. The coach felt that he was too valuable to the offensive side of the ball. Even though injured, Bayless played approximately 50 percent of the snaps on defense and 70 percent on offense.

From his safety spot in part time duty, Bayless racked 34 tackles, four pass breakups and two picks.

On special teams Bayless has three blocked field goals, two blocked punts and he has three special team touchdowns.

The touchdowns break down this way. One touchdown was by a kickoff return. Another was a fake field goal and the third one was on one of his blocked punts he scooped the ball up and took it to the house.

During his sophomore season, Bayless played 99 percent of the offensive and defensive snaps. He rarely came off the field.

Bayless earned all-CIF and all-conference for his efforts as a sophomore. As a junior, though he missed four games, he still made all-conference for the second season in a row.

Bayless has offers from Florida and Ohio State, both schools are recruiting him as an athlete. Other schools recruiting Bayless are Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami, Notre Dame, Alabama, UCLA, Cal, Stanford and USC.

On Friday, July 13th, Bayless and family will be making unofficial visits to Cal and Stanford.

Bayless will be in Florida for Friday Night Lights on July 20th and 21st. Friday Night Lights is a camp that is open to any prospective football player in the country.

Bayless will be moving to Houston, Texas for his senior season so don't be surprised if Texas schools start heavily recruiting him once they see him in action.

Texas A&M has already made contact with Bayless and they invited to their Friday Night Lights, but unfortunately it lands when he will be at Florida. Once Bayless gets settled in Texas, he will take an unofficial visit to A&M.

Bayless already attended camp with the Texas Longhorns before his junior season and he walked away with the top wide receiver honors.

Oregon and Arizona State have also recently started recruiting Bayless.

What is Bayless looking for in a college?

"The most important thing I'm looking for is a good education," Bayless, Jr., said. "I know there is life after football and a good education will make sure I'll have a good job. You can't play football forever.

"As of right now location is not a factor, but when we start to narrow things down it could possibly be a factor," Bayless Jr., said. "Weather won't be a factor to me. I've camped all over the country and know all kinds of weather.

"I'm totally open regarding schools at this time and there is no time limit on when I will narrow things down," Bayless said. "But it could be soon."

Another thing to like about Bayless is he's fully qualified and already enrolled in the NCAA clearing house.