Paul Martha is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 safety who played seven seasons in the NFL. He played his college football and basketball at Pitt

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

. Some of his former teammates at Pitt included future NFL head coaches Mike Ditka

Mike Ditka

Michael Keller Ditka, Jr. is a former American football NFL player, television commentator, and coach. Ditka coached the Chicago Bears for 11 years and New Orleans Saints for three years. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two people to win Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach, and a head...

 and Marty Schottenheimer

Marty Schottenheimer

Martin Edward "Marty" Schottenheimer is the current head coach of the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League. Over his career, he has served as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, and San Diego Chargers. He has the most wins of any NFL coach...

. The media contact for Pitt Athletics in the early 1960s was ESPN personality Beano Cook

Beano Cook

Carroll Hoff "Beano" Cook is an American television personality who works for ESPN. He is a college football historian and commentator. He received his B.A...

.

In his post-football career Paul, who is an attorney, became involved in sports franchise management. Paul was an executive with the San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...

 during Joe Montana's

Joe Montana

Joseph Clifford "Joe" Montana, Jr. , nicknamed Joe Cool, Golden Joe, The Golden Great and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played quarterback for the next 14 seasons...

 time with the team. Paul's work with the 49er's resulted from previous business relationships with the DeBartolo family

Edward J. DeBartolo

Edward John DeBartolo Jr. is an American businessman, perhaps best known as the former owner of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers.- Career :...

.

He was an executive with the Penguins during Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux, OC, CQ is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 1984 and 2006...

 and Jaromír Jágr

Jaromir Jagr

Jaromír Jágr is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger who plays for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League . Jágr formerly played with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, and New York Rangers, serving as captain of the Penguins and the Rangers...

 era in Pittsburgh. In the early 1980s, he was GM of the now defunct Pittsburgh Maulers

Pittsburgh Maulers

The Pittsburgh Maulers competed in the 1984 season of the United States Football League. Their most prominent player was first pick overall in the 1984 USFL draft, running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska, who won the Heisman Trophy, collegiate football's most prestigious individual award.They were...

 of the USFL

United States Football League

The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...

. Paul was involved in mediating between the NFL Players Union and NFL Owners on different occasions. One of Paul's closest friends was legendary coach Bill Walsh, with whom he ran the 49ers. On a side note, Paul was an owner in the now-defunct IBL (International Basketball League)which briefly featured Master P as the league's marquee star.