Former NFL player Doug Martin died after struggling with officers while being detained, police say

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Former All-Pro NFL running back Doug Martin died after a struggle with police officers who were taking him into custody while they were investigating a break-in at a home in Oakland, police said Monday.

Martin, best known for his stellar career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, became unresponsive after being arrested early Saturday, according to a statement released by the Oakland Police Department.

He was transported by paramedics to a hospital where he died, police said. He was 36. A cause of death has not been released. An autopsy will be conducted, the Alameda County Coroner’s Office said.

Police said in a statement that Martin was involved in a break-in and that a “brief struggle” happened as police were attempting to detain him. The department did not release any other details.

Martin, originally from Oakland, lived in Stockton, where he played high school football.

His former agent, Brian Murphy, issued a statement at the request of Martin's family which said Martin privately battled mental health challenges that “profoundly impacted his personal and professional life."

Murphy said Martin's parents had sought medical help for Martin and contacted local authorities for support. Martin felt overwhelmed and disoriented, fled his home and entered a neighbor's home two doors down where police took him into custody, Murphy said.

"Ultimately, mental illness proved to be the one opponent from which Doug could not run," Murphy said.

Police and Oakland's mayor said they had reached out to the family.

“We mourn the loss of Doug Martin, an Oaklander who had a distinguished NFL career and tragically passed away Saturday morning. Our condolences are with his family and loved ones,” Mayor Barbara Lee said Monday in a statement.

His death is being investigated by police, the city police commission, the community police review agency and the county district attorney’s office.

Martin was the 31st overall pick in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft after a standout career at Boise State. He rushed for 1,454 yards and 11 touchdowns as a rookie and was selected to the Pro Bowl.

He was named first-team All-Pro and made the Pro Bowl again after rushing for 1,402 yards and six TDs in 2015.

Martin finished his career with 5,356 yards rushing and 30 TDs in six seasons with the Buccaneers and one with the Raiders. He also had 148 catches for 1,207 yards and two scores.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the sudden and unexpected passing of Doug Martin," the Buccaneers said in a statement. “Doug made a lasting impact on our franchise.”

Martin was selected one of the top 50 players in franchise history as part of the team’s 50th anniversary celebration.

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FILE - Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin (22) stretches before an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus,File)

FILE - Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin (22) during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken,File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. applications for unemployment benefits inched down modestly last week as layoffs remain at historically healthy levels despite a weakening job market.

The number of Americans filing for jobless aid for the week ending March 7 fell by 1,000 to 213,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet forecast 215,000 new benefit applications.

Filings for unemployment benefits are viewed as a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

While weekly layoffs have remained in a historically low range mostly between 200,000 and 250,000 for the past few years, a number of high-profile companies have announced job cuts recently, including Morgan Stanley,Block, UPSand Amazon in recent weeks.

Last week, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs in February, a sign that the labor market remains under strain. Economists had expected 60,000 new jobs in February.

Revisions also slashed 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls, nudging the unemployment rate up to 4.4%.

The Labor Department also recently reported that job openings fell in December to the lowest level in more than five years. Its January report comes next week.

For now, the U.S. job market appears stuck in what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” state that has kept the unemployment rate historically low, but has left those out of work struggling to find a new job.

Data over the past year has broadly revealed a labor market in which hiring has clearly slowed, hobbled by uncertainty stoked by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the lingering effects of the high interest rates the Federal Reserve engineered in 2022 and 2023 to tamp down a spike of pandemic-induced inflation.

Adding to the uncertainty is the war in Iran, which has sent oil prices 25% higher in less than two weeks.

This comes at a time when inflation was already relatively high in the U.S. A report released Wednesday showed that U.S. consumers paid prices for groceries, gasoline and other costs of living that were 2.4% higher in February than a year earlier.

That inflation rate was the same as the prior month’s and better than the 2.5% that economists expected, but it remains above the 2% target the Federal Reserve has set for the economy. It also doesn’t include the spike in gasoline prices that’s happened this month because of the war.

The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, personal consumption expenditures or PCE, comes out Friday, just days before the Fed meets to decide on interest rates.

The Labor Department’s report Thursday showed that the four-week moving average of jobless claims, which tempers some of the week-to-week volatility, dropped by 4,000 to 212,000.

The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending Feb. 28 declined by 21,000 to 1.85 million, the government said.

FILE - Construction workers install a lumber roof at a new home build Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)