TULSA, Okla. — The Martin family story began on the high school hardwood.
"Our schools played each other, and I noticed him on the basketball court," Shannon Martin said.
WATCH: The Martin family celebrates unique path from high school to the NFL:
Shannon and Clay Martin started dating in their junior year. Now, they've been married for 27 years. Their story continued to center around hoops. Clay spent nearly two decades as the head basketball coach at Jenks. But during that time, he began a side gig as a football official.
"He really just was thinking, I'm going to make some extra money, and go ref these mighty mite, middle school games," Shannon said. "Not knowing the journey it was going to take us on."
That journey, starting in 2005, took Clay from peewee, to college, to the NFL. Now he's one of just 17 white hats in the league, the highest level in the sport. Back on January 25, Clay called the NFC title game in Seattle, his biggest assignment yet.
"Really proud, and just in awe that he can do this job as well as he does it," Shannon said.
And Shannon's been there every step of the way, experiencing the unique life of an NFL head ref.
"Just the travel and the relationships that we get to have with the other families of the officials," Shannon said. "It's a small fraternity."
One of those? A trip to Germany, where Clay actually called a penalty in German. She doesn't get to travel to every game, but watching on TV gives her more of a fan's perspective.
"And I have been known to text him during a game and be like, hey, the end of the 1st quarter, 3 minutes left, I think there was a hold there," Shannon joked. "I don't know if he enjoys that."
But this journey, their story, is something they're both certainly enjoying.
"I think growing up, most young athletes dream of being in the NFL," Shannon said. "And I think his dream came true, just in a different version."
Clay was unable to take part in this story, as the NFL doesn't allow its officials to talk to the media during the season.
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