New York native Jonathan Cabral-Martin leads UNI in tackles while enjoying ‘laid back and chill’ Iowa lifestyle

CEDAR FALLS — There are 1,109 miles between Jonathan Cabral-Martin’s hometown of Lynbrook, N.Y., and Cedar Falls.

Leave it to football to take a young man all the way from Long Island to the Midwest.

After two successful seasons at Central Connecticut State, Cabral-Martin entered the transfer portal after the 2022 season, and despite nearly two dozen offers found himself unable to say no to Northern Iowa Coach Mark Farley.

“Coach Farley — he’s just a smart guy,” Cabral-Martin said of his recruitment to UNI. “He painted the picture for me and then also when I visited it was just a beautiful scene. Everyone is into sports here.

“It’s different than New York or Connecticut. Here it’s tradition. You feel it. We had 12,800 (fans) at the game just this past week and that’s stuff you don’t see at my old school.”

The redshirt senior defensive back misses his family, and the food, from back home. However, he doesn’t so much miss New York’s fast-paced culture.

“The people — they’re way nicer out here,” Cabral-Martin said with a laugh. “But it took me getting out of New York to realize that. Being in New York — that’s home (and) it’s our swagger. It’s our culture minding your own business, going about your day and hustling.

“Here (in Iowa) they’re very nice. I’ll be at a stoplight for five seconds, maybe not paying attention and no one will honk at me, but, in New York once that red light turns green it’s honk, honk, honk. Life moves fast in New York City. Iowa is just more laid back and chill.”

After playing in just three games last season, he locked down a starting spot at safety in the preseason and leads the Panthers with 40 tackles through their five games.

Last week against South Dakota State, he demonstrated his versatility by moving back to cornerback, where he played last season and at CCSU.

“I’m not going to lie, it wasn't too challenging, especially with coach Bryce (Jones) — he’s just a master of it and he just knows how to teach,” Cabral-Martin said. “It helps me a lot because now I understand defenses so many different ways.”

While he was able to handle the position switch, the 41-3 loss to No. 1 South Dakota State understandably left an unkind impression and has him eager to get back on the field this Saturday when UNI (2-3, 0-1) plays at No. 4 South Dakota (4-1, 2-0) at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).

“You have to reflect on (the loss). You have to embrace it,” Cabral-Martin said. “The thing about it is we got seven more conference games. Games that are important to playoff seeding and what we want to be as a team. So, one game isn’t going to dictate who we are.”