by Jeremy Hawkes, Sun Devil Media Relations
It is a photo immortalized in Sun Devil Athletics history.
Five men taking the football field on New Year's Eve, hands linked and nearly 50,000 strong gracing the background at the Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso.
For those five players, the 1997 Sun Bowl would be the last game they would play in the Maroon and Gold. The senior captains, voted on by their teammates, taking the field for the ceremonial coin toss.
College football features hundreds of coin tosses each year. It is an easy photo opportunity, immune to the numerous variables and anomalies that come with shooting game action. The coin toss takes place at the same time and at the same place in each and every game. The photographers know exactly where to be in order to get the shot.
At the time, this photo was likely no different - one photographer getting the stock shot before turning his focus to the game itself. No one could assume at that moment what the photo would represent over two decades later and the visceral response it induces in so many that view it.
The central figure among those five captains needs no introduction. Number 42. Pat Tillman. The man played his final game as a Sun Devil with as much fire and tenacity as every game before in his legendary career.
Eight tackles, half a sack, a pass breakup and three quarterback hurries. Tillman was a force of nature. As he was in everything he did in life.
The 16th Annual Pat's Run was scheduled to take place this weekend. The event honors Tillman's legacy, one of selflessness and service that came to a tragic and untimely end on April 22, 2004. His true legacy lies not in the way he died, but in the way he lived – something the Pat Tillman Foundation emphasizes in its effort to provide tools to "military services members, veterans and spouses to reach their fullest potential as leaders, no matter how they choose to serve."
Pat Tillman didn't want anyone else to be Pat Tillman. What he did want was for everyone he knew to be the best possible versions of themselves.
That is what makes that famous photo of the captains taking the field so impactful. Every person in that photo achieved just that. They transcended themselves as football players to become the best human beings they could be, regardless of the path they chose to get there.
Gracing the eastern wall of the eponymous Tillman Tunnel, the image is the last thing every member of the current Sun Devil Football team takes in before entering Sun Devil Stadium in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans.
It is a reminder to play every game like it is the last. But beyond that, it is also a reminder that the story doesn't end on the football field. It ends with what you make of your life after.
Pat Tillman takes the field, bookended by four teammates and fellow captains. To his right (the photo's left), strong safety Damien Richardson and offensive lineman Kyle Murphy. To his left, defensive back Jason Simmons and tailback Michael Martin.
Those five seniors went 20-4 in their final two seasons at Arizona State. Each took a different path out of college. Each created their own legacy. Each lived up to Pat Tillman's simple expectation to do what they had to do to be the best person they could be.
These are their stories.
---
Michael Martin had any number of chances to hang it up.
His Sun Devil career was one plagued by injuries, constantly forcing the running back to play catch-up on rosters that featured future NFL players in Terry Battle and J.R. Redmond and a more-than-serviceable Marlon Farlow in reserve.
"It always motivated me. You see all the others guys out there playing and seeing what they were supposed to do. It motivated me to work harder."
It would have been easy for Martin to get buried on the depth chart early in his career, taking in the success of others from the sidelines without seeing his own opportunity ever materializing.
But Martin willed that opportunity into existence. And it didn't start at Arizona State.
Martin lost his mother at seven years old. She was murdered. A fate no child should have to endure, but one that has led many down a dark and troublesome path.
And Martin knew that would be the stigma that would follow him: the youth from the inner cities who lost a parent to violence and would struggle to amount to anything.
"That changed my whole lifestyle. But it put me in an 'I've got to prove everybody wrong' mode," he said. "That was just my motto: I'm going to show you. I'm going to do it."
The loss of his mom changed his outlook on life. He knew he had to be better. He knew he didn't want to live like that. He wanted to go somewhere, see the world and be a part of something different.
After a productive career at W.T. White High School in Dallas, Martin figured to be a prominent part of a Bruce Snyder offense that ran the rock over 40 times per game and rushed for 170 or more yards per game in six of his nine seasons at the helm.
After limited action as a true freshman in 1993, Martin was battling for the starting job the following season before tearing his ACL during fall camp. The team labored that year to a 3-8 record while Martin redshirted the campaign, watching his fellow 1997 captains take their lumps as freshmen.
Sitting out the year meant falling behind Chris Hopkins and Terry Battle on the depth chart heading into the 1995 season, knowing he'd had to rise to the challenge to get a chance at playing time.
"I had to do even more to get back to where I was, health-wise. But then I had to do even more just to catch up with those other guys and even remain in the conversation with them," Martin said. "If I wanted to get back in the rotation, I really had to get my stuff back together. And it couldn't take forever."
Martin's dedication to being relevant paid off as he led the team in carries and touchdowns that season (138 carries with five touchdowns) and firmly solidified his role as the lead back heading into the 1996 campaign.
Martin paced the team with over 471 yards through the first five games of that historic season, leading ASU to a 5-0 start. After the monumental victory over Nebraska, Coach Snyder commented after the game that "Michael Martin is a load" after the junior rushed for a team-high 77 yards in the contest.
Everything was coming up Martin early that season as the Devils continued to roll. Then, disaster.
Fans will always remember the 1996 game against UCLA for ASU's heroic 21-point fourth quarter comeback in which Jake Plummer caught, passed and rushed for a touchdown in the final eight minutes of the game en route to a 42-34 victory at the Rose Bowl.
Conversely, Martin will always remember his second carry of the game - one that very easily could have ended his career. A serious neck injury sidelined Martin for the season on the opening drive of the game.
"That was devastating. That's everyone's goal: You want to play in the big game. I believed at that point, I was at the top of my game," Martin said. "We were rolling, we were winning, and we knew at the middle of the season that if we could get past UCLA, we would be in a good position to win it all."
It was a trying time for Martin, but he handled the adversity in stride. At the end of the day, he simply wanted to be with his team. It was his 1993 signing class, after all – most of which were now seniors – that was rallying the Sun Devils to that showdown with Ohio State.
Martin shook off the heartbreak of not being able to play alongside his teammates in the Rose Bowl that season, knowing that lamenting his misfortune would not help him bounce back from the second season-ending injury of his career.
Where many could have cut their losses, Martin had no desire to go down without a fight.
The redshirt senior reassumed his starting role on that 1997 team, and again staved off injury after injury. A concussion and pinched nerve forced him out of the game early against Oregon State and kept him out of the team's loss to eventual Pac-10 Champion Washington. A late season neck strain - no trivial matter given his history - again sidelined him in the team's win over Cal.
But like Chumbawumba's Tubthumping (coincidentally released in August of 1997 that season), every time Martin got knocked down, he got back up again.
"That's just how I played. Leave it all out there on the field," Martin said. "You can do anything for five seconds. That's how long most plays are. Don't hold anything back."
He rushed for 862 yards during that regular season, recording four 100-yard games over the final five games heading to the Sun Bowl – the Cal contest the only exception.
The famous photo elicits a reaction that reminds players to approach every game like it was their last. And for Martin, that 1997 Sun Bowl in which the picture was taken was his last.
Few players get to go out on top, but Martin posted the best game of his career with a 169-yard effort and a touchdown. He was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
"That was the best part of it. I finally finished a season, we finished on a good note, we were ranked pretty high," Martin said. "It was just a blessing to finish what I started."
The Sun Devils went 18-2 in Martin's career in games he started. He rushed for over 2,000 yards. It was a productive and successful career in a program inundated with exceptional tailbacks throughout history.
The success unfortunately did not pan out to the next level. A failed free agency period with the San Diego Chargers and a stint in the Canadian Football League in which he didn't see the field would mark the end of Martin's playing career.
But, Martin – in his typical fashion – picked himself up by the bootstraps. He wasn't done yet.
Martin was always inspired by Bruce Snyder. And so, it is no surprise he followed that footprint.
"He was always more than a coach to me. He was more of a father figure and an advisor," Martin said on his relationship with Snyder. "I don't think we ever talked about football. He was always concerned about my well-being, my family, how I was holding up with my injuries both physically and psychologically."
Martin earned his degree in social work and knew that education was his calling. He wanted to be able to give back like so many others had done for him previously. He wanted to be a coach.
With that in mind, he made a call to his old high school in Dallas where a position was available for him. He has been there since 2004, where he coaches the running backs for the football team and is the head coach for the girl's track and field program. He also serves as a physical education teacher at W.T. White High School.
"It's a blessing to be able to go back home. I can relate to these kids because I'm from the neighborhoods they came from. I know their families. I'm like a community liaison," he says with a laugh. "I can share my experience on how I got to school. Because it wasn't easy."
Martin chuckles when he thinks about his current crop of student-athletes, noting half of them don't realize his history with the school.
"There's a life-sized poster of me in the locker room and they don't even know it's me."
Despite that, Martin gets plenty of fulfillment from helping his student-athletes reach the next level.
"I just tell them, 'You guys have got to go. You have got to get out of this community and see the world.'," Martin said. "For them to go off and go to school and then come back and tell me how they appreciate it. That's my biggest joy. That's why I do it."
Martin has never been known as being the loquacious sort, something one might not guess when you hear his excitement over being a coach and educator.
"Mike is someone who is always paying attention and always knows what's going on," said fellow 1997 captain Kyle Murphy, an All-American offensive lineman that paved the road for Martin. "He is always alert, but he's just never talked very much."
Those that knew him during his time at ASU would say it was difficult to get just two words out of him. Some could say the same about his career as a Sun Devil. He was a quiet 2,000-yard rusher whose name doesn't always come up in the list of great backs to come through Tempe. But you still recognized his presence because he wouldn't let you forget it.
In a photo where No. 42 stands so prominent, one might easily disregard No. 29 flanking the right side. But Martin was never one for the pomp and circumstance. He was a grinder that wanted nothing more than to give his team and his school his best effort, one play at a time.
It is a characteristic that has stuck with him throughout his life. Martin transcended the football player to become a career educator, a long-time coach for both girls and boys, a husband and a father.
His oldest is a senior in high school playing defensive end. The middle one is an accomplished youth track star. And just 16 months ago, Martin welcomed his third child to the world. His pride shines through over the phone at the simple mention of that last bit.
Fitting for someone who so clearly treats every precious moment in his life like it's the last. Michael Martin is always ready to get back up again.
"I am forever young," he beams.
The series on the 1997 Sun Bowl team captains will continue throughout the week of April 14, featuring tales from All-American offensive lineman Kyle Murphy, long-time NFL player and coach Jason Simmons and former NFL player and now orthopedic surgeon Damien Richardson.
It is a photo immortalized in Sun Devil Athletics history.
Five men taking the football field on New Year's Eve, hands linked and nearly 50,000 strong gracing the background at the Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso.
For those five players, the 1997 Sun Bowl would be the last game they would play in the Maroon and Gold. The senior captains, voted on by their teammates, taking the field for the ceremonial coin toss.
College football features hundreds of coin tosses each year. It is an easy photo opportunity, immune to the numerous variables and anomalies that come with shooting game action. The coin toss takes place at the same time and at the same place in each and every game. The photographers know exactly where to be in order to get the shot.
At the time, this photo was likely no different - one photographer getting the stock shot before turning his focus to the game itself. No one could assume at that moment what the photo would represent over two decades later and the visceral response it induces in so many that view it.
The central figure among those five captains needs no introduction. Number 42. Pat Tillman. The man played his final game as a Sun Devil with as much fire and tenacity as every game before in his legendary career.
Eight tackles, half a sack, a pass breakup and three quarterback hurries. Tillman was a force of nature. As he was in everything he did in life.
The 16th Annual Pat's Run was scheduled to take place this weekend. The event honors Tillman's legacy, one of selflessness and service that came to a tragic and untimely end on April 22, 2004. His true legacy lies not in the way he died, but in the way he lived – something the Pat Tillman Foundation emphasizes in its effort to provide tools to "military services members, veterans and spouses to reach their fullest potential as leaders, no matter how they choose to serve."
Pat Tillman didn't want anyone else to be Pat Tillman. What he did want was for everyone he knew to be the best possible versions of themselves.
That is what makes that famous photo of the captains taking the field so impactful. Every person in that photo achieved just that. They transcended themselves as football players to become the best human beings they could be, regardless of the path they chose to get there.
Gracing the eastern wall of the eponymous Tillman Tunnel, the image is the last thing every member of the current Sun Devil Football team takes in before entering Sun Devil Stadium in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans.
Rendering of how Tillman Tunnel entrance to Sun Devil Stadium will look starting this season pic.twitter.com/10iRReUx9c
— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) March 1, 2017
It is a reminder to play every game like it is the last. But beyond that, it is also a reminder that the story doesn't end on the football field. It ends with what you make of your life after.
Pat Tillman takes the field, bookended by four teammates and fellow captains. To his right (the photo's left), strong safety Damien Richardson and offensive lineman Kyle Murphy. To his left, defensive back Jason Simmons and tailback Michael Martin.
Those five seniors went 20-4 in their final two seasons at Arizona State. Each took a different path out of college. Each created their own legacy. Each lived up to Pat Tillman's simple expectation to do what they had to do to be the best person they could be.
These are their stories.
---
Michael Martin had any number of chances to hang it up.
His Sun Devil career was one plagued by injuries, constantly forcing the running back to play catch-up on rosters that featured future NFL players in Terry Battle and J.R. Redmond and a more-than-serviceable Marlon Farlow in reserve.
"It always motivated me. You see all the others guys out there playing and seeing what they were supposed to do. It motivated me to work harder."
It would have been easy for Martin to get buried on the depth chart early in his career, taking in the success of others from the sidelines without seeing his own opportunity ever materializing.
But Martin willed that opportunity into existence. And it didn't start at Arizona State.
Martin lost his mother at seven years old. She was murdered. A fate no child should have to endure, but one that has led many down a dark and troublesome path.
And Martin knew that would be the stigma that would follow him: the youth from the inner cities who lost a parent to violence and would struggle to amount to anything.
"That changed my whole lifestyle. But it put me in an 'I've got to prove everybody wrong' mode," he said. "That was just my motto: I'm going to show you. I'm going to do it."
The loss of his mom changed his outlook on life. He knew he had to be better. He knew he didn't want to live like that. He wanted to go somewhere, see the world and be a part of something different.
After a productive career at W.T. White High School in Dallas, Martin figured to be a prominent part of a Bruce Snyder offense that ran the rock over 40 times per game and rushed for 170 or more yards per game in six of his nine seasons at the helm.
After limited action as a true freshman in 1993, Martin was battling for the starting job the following season before tearing his ACL during fall camp. The team labored that year to a 3-8 record while Martin redshirted the campaign, watching his fellow 1997 captains take their lumps as freshmen.
Sitting out the year meant falling behind Chris Hopkins and Terry Battle on the depth chart heading into the 1995 season, knowing he'd had to rise to the challenge to get a chance at playing time.
"I had to do even more to get back to where I was, health-wise. But then I had to do even more just to catch up with those other guys and even remain in the conversation with them," Martin said. "If I wanted to get back in the rotation, I really had to get my stuff back together. And it couldn't take forever."
Martin's dedication to being relevant paid off as he led the team in carries and touchdowns that season (138 carries with five touchdowns) and firmly solidified his role as the lead back heading into the 1996 campaign.
Martin paced the team with over 471 yards through the first five games of that historic season, leading ASU to a 5-0 start. After the monumental victory over Nebraska, Coach Snyder commented after the game that "Michael Martin is a load" after the junior rushed for a team-high 77 yards in the contest.
Everything was coming up Martin early that season as the Devils continued to roll. Then, disaster.
Fans will always remember the 1996 game against UCLA for ASU's heroic 21-point fourth quarter comeback in which Jake Plummer caught, passed and rushed for a touchdown in the final eight minutes of the game en route to a 42-34 victory at the Rose Bowl.
Conversely, Martin will always remember his second carry of the game - one that very easily could have ended his career. A serious neck injury sidelined Martin for the season on the opening drive of the game.
"That was devastating. That's everyone's goal: You want to play in the big game. I believed at that point, I was at the top of my game," Martin said. "We were rolling, we were winning, and we knew at the middle of the season that if we could get past UCLA, we would be in a good position to win it all."
It was a trying time for Martin, but he handled the adversity in stride. At the end of the day, he simply wanted to be with his team. It was his 1993 signing class, after all – most of which were now seniors – that was rallying the Sun Devils to that showdown with Ohio State.
Martin shook off the heartbreak of not being able to play alongside his teammates in the Rose Bowl that season, knowing that lamenting his misfortune would not help him bounce back from the second season-ending injury of his career.
Where many could have cut their losses, Martin had no desire to go down without a fight.
The redshirt senior reassumed his starting role on that 1997 team, and again staved off injury after injury. A concussion and pinched nerve forced him out of the game early against Oregon State and kept him out of the team's loss to eventual Pac-10 Champion Washington. A late season neck strain - no trivial matter given his history - again sidelined him in the team's win over Cal.
But like Chumbawumba's Tubthumping (coincidentally released in August of 1997 that season), every time Martin got knocked down, he got back up again.
"That's just how I played. Leave it all out there on the field," Martin said. "You can do anything for five seconds. That's how long most plays are. Don't hold anything back."
He rushed for 862 yards during that regular season, recording four 100-yard games over the final five games heading to the Sun Bowl – the Cal contest the only exception.
The famous photo elicits a reaction that reminds players to approach every game like it was their last. And for Martin, that 1997 Sun Bowl in which the picture was taken was his last.
Few players get to go out on top, but Martin posted the best game of his career with a 169-yard effort and a touchdown. He was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
"That was the best part of it. I finally finished a season, we finished on a good note, we were ranked pretty high," Martin said. "It was just a blessing to finish what I started."
The Sun Devils went 18-2 in Martin's career in games he started. He rushed for over 2,000 yards. It was a productive and successful career in a program inundated with exceptional tailbacks throughout history.
The success unfortunately did not pan out to the next level. A failed free agency period with the San Diego Chargers and a stint in the Canadian Football League in which he didn't see the field would mark the end of Martin's playing career.
But, Martin – in his typical fashion – picked himself up by the bootstraps. He wasn't done yet.
Martin was always inspired by Bruce Snyder. And so, it is no surprise he followed that footprint.
"He was always more than a coach to me. He was more of a father figure and an advisor," Martin said on his relationship with Snyder. "I don't think we ever talked about football. He was always concerned about my well-being, my family, how I was holding up with my injuries both physically and psychologically."
Martin earned his degree in social work and knew that education was his calling. He wanted to be able to give back like so many others had done for him previously. He wanted to be a coach.
With that in mind, he made a call to his old high school in Dallas where a position was available for him. He has been there since 2004, where he coaches the running backs for the football team and is the head coach for the girl's track and field program. He also serves as a physical education teacher at W.T. White High School.
"It's a blessing to be able to go back home. I can relate to these kids because I'm from the neighborhoods they came from. I know their families. I'm like a community liaison," he says with a laugh. "I can share my experience on how I got to school. Because it wasn't easy."
Martin chuckles when he thinks about his current crop of student-athletes, noting half of them don't realize his history with the school.
"There's a life-sized poster of me in the locker room and they don't even know it's me."
Despite that, Martin gets plenty of fulfillment from helping his student-athletes reach the next level.
"I just tell them, 'You guys have got to go. You have got to get out of this community and see the world.'," Martin said. "For them to go off and go to school and then come back and tell me how they appreciate it. That's my biggest joy. That's why I do it."
Martin has never been known as being the loquacious sort, something one might not guess when you hear his excitement over being a coach and educator.
"Mike is someone who is always paying attention and always knows what's going on," said fellow 1997 captain Kyle Murphy, an All-American offensive lineman that paved the road for Martin. "He is always alert, but he's just never talked very much."
Those that knew him during his time at ASU would say it was difficult to get just two words out of him. Some could say the same about his career as a Sun Devil. He was a quiet 2,000-yard rusher whose name doesn't always come up in the list of great backs to come through Tempe. But you still recognized his presence because he wouldn't let you forget it.
In a photo where No. 42 stands so prominent, one might easily disregard No. 29 flanking the right side. But Martin was never one for the pomp and circumstance. He was a grinder that wanted nothing more than to give his team and his school his best effort, one play at a time.
It is a characteristic that has stuck with him throughout his life. Martin transcended the football player to become a career educator, a long-time coach for both girls and boys, a husband and a father.
His oldest is a senior in high school playing defensive end. The middle one is an accomplished youth track star. And just 16 months ago, Martin welcomed his third child to the world. His pride shines through over the phone at the simple mention of that last bit.
Fitting for someone who so clearly treats every precious moment in his life like it's the last. Michael Martin is always ready to get back up again.
"I am forever young," he beams.
The series on the 1997 Sun Bowl team captains will continue throughout the week of April 14, featuring tales from All-American offensive lineman Kyle Murphy, long-time NFL player and coach Jason Simmons and former NFL player and now orthopedic surgeon Damien Richardson.