Sam Martin had the best season of his career in 2016, and every part of him thought he was headed for bigger and better things this fall.

Then the Detroit Lions punter suffered an ankle injury in what he termed “a freak accident” this off-season, and now after three months on the shelf, he’s ready to pick up where he left off.

“I’m real excited,” Martin told the Free Press during an appearance Saturday at Premier Pet Supply in Beverly Hills. “I’ve been itching, I’ve been antsy and I just can’t wait to get back out there. It’s that simple.”

Martin, who was activated for Sunday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers for the first time this season, set a franchise record for net punting last season, breaking his own mark with a 44.2-yard average.

He was a Pro Bowl alternate for the first time, and a player important enough to the Lions’ success that they rewarded him with a four-year contract extension last September.

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Martin declined to say how he suffered his injury, which Lions coach Jim Caldwell originally said was expected to keep him out only until August. But he said “it’s not what everyone thinks.”

“It wasn’t me being an idiot, it wasn’t me being stupid,” Martin said. “It had nothing to do with … cliff diving, chasing (my dog) Leo, skateboarding. What the hell else did I hear? It’s comical. That’s probably all you’re going to get. It was not any type of debauchery. It was nothing irresponsible. It was a freak accident. That’s the extent of it.”

Though Martin stayed out of the public eye during his seven-week stay on the non-football injury list, declining all interview requests, he stayed busy with several pursuits.

First, Martin was working out actively behind closed doors “trying to get healthy and trying to get effective and just get back on the field.”

Second, he was on the sideline at most Lions games and practices, helping replacement punters Kasey Redfern and Jeff Locke hold things down in the kicking game. Redfern suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener, while Locke netted a career-best 42.2 yards per punt in five games with the Lions and punted well enough that Martin said he “belongs on a team” somewhere in the NFL.

“He did a great job when he was here, which made these last six weeks easier on myself having to worry about that position, me kind of leaving the team hanging type thing,” Martin said. “But he did great and I’m excited to see what comes about for him.”

Martin also helped raise supplies for Hurricane Harvey victims and through his own charity, for the Michigan Humane Society.

Animal causes have been close to Martin’s heart since the Lions drafted him in 2013, and in August he posted a video on social media for a hurricane supply drive that yielded 44,000 pounds of dog food and another $15,000 in coupons that were delivered to the Houston area.

In the video, Martin promised to donate 6 pounds of dog food for every retweet, up to 10,000 pounds. The video received more than 625,000 retweets.

“I was reading a lot about people (impacted by the hurricane) leaving their pets because they had to pick and choose what they could take, they can’t afford to feed, stuff like that, and it was just really sad,” Martin said. “And I knew, even though enough relief is never enough, but there wasn’t much being done for animals at that time, and because the nature of our truck drive where people were bringing backpacks with toiletries and stuff like that, I figured this was a way to promote that by also helping animals out.

On Saturday, Martin held a Halloween costume contest for dogs in conjunction with one he hosted online. Premier Pet Supply donated 6 pounds of dog food to the Michigan Humane Society for every entry, and Martin and the Wachler Estate Collection donated $6 each to the Sam Martin Foundation, which aims in part to improve animal welfare across the state.

Martin will announce the online contest winners before Halloween.

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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