Makenna Martin and Steven Miller’s Territorial Cup relationship
Makenna Martin heard ScHoolboy Q blaring below her. She was in a bathroom on the campus of Oregon State, frantically changing out of her Arizona volleyball practice gear and into her Arizona State jean jacket.
She texted her boyfriend, Arizona State senior right tackle Steven Miller.
“Are you guys in the gym, like on the first floor?” She asked.
“Yeah, we’re playing music,” Miller responded.
When the music cut out, Martin ran out into the frigid Corvallis night and watched Miller and the Sun Devils walk into Reser Stadium. Then she sprinted back upstairs to finish getting ready for the game.
Of course, it was fortuitous timing that Arizona volleyball was in Corvallis the same night as ASU football, Martin’s practice concluding just a half-hour before Miller’s game. But she’ll take the luck, she knows her time watching Miller is limited.
It’s why she started crying two weeks ago, when she learned the Wildcats’ volleyball game on Saturday would begin at noon, affording her ample time to make the 113-mile commute up the I-10 from Tucson to Tempe for the 8 p.m. Territorial Cup kick-off.
“Just being the last go-around, for me going to watch him, for college football this is it,” she said. “For the last three years, we’ve played on the same day … I’ve never made it to a Territorial Cup since he’s been in college so I was praying to all the Gods that I could make it to one.”
Saturday will mark both Martin and Miller’s respective senior day and senior night, the former playing ASU in Tucson, the latter playing U of A in Tempe. In the hallway of ASU’s student-athlete facility, Miller thought back to how far they’ve come, first talking as students at Gilbert High School then officially dating when Miller started his Sun Devil career in 2015.
“When I decided to go to ASU, it was kind of like, ‘Fine. Whatever.’ There was a little bit of a questioning period like, ‘Is this going to work out?’” Miller said. “But it ended up working out and I’m thankful for it.”
Now, Miller, a redshirt senior, and Martin, a senior who committed while just a sophomore in high school, are enjoying the path their relationship has taken them down. The pair tries to make it to the other’s games whenever possible -- in Tempe and on the road for Miller’s football games and during indoor and beach season for Martin’s volleyball matches.
Of course, it’s all predicated on their schedules. When they do show up, though, the main difference between the presence of each is their apparel.
“We agreed at the beginning. It was like, ‘Look, I might wear a red shirt, but that’s about it.’ I’ll never ever wear a U of A shirt,” Miller said. “I have like maybe one (red shirt). It’s like a go-to shirt. It’s a Jordan Brand shirt -- I’m like, ‘I’m going to wear this. Nobody’s going to know what team I’m cheering for.”
Martin, on the other hand, has a closet bleeding maroon and gold, the Wildcat libero just fine sporting ASU gear or her custom-made “Big Steve” shirts. In some ways, it would be foreign to not. Almost a birthright, Martin grew up a Sun Devil fan.
Her grandfather, who she refers to as “Papa,” was the first Sun Devil quarterback. Charles Louis Beall was the last signal-caller for the Arizona State College Bulldogs in 1946 and became the inaugural Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback the next fall.
On top of that, her uncle was the head architect in charge of Sun Devil Stadium’s renovations in the mid-70s, which increased the stadium’s capacity from 30,000 seats to more than 70,000. Just a year after the home of ASU football received its latest facelift, Martin thought back to her time at the place she said was like her “second home.”
“I was always going to the lunch-ins with my Papa. I would go up to the suites for the games,” Martin said. “I grew up in Tempe.”
Martin and her family have been able to revel in and absorb years and years of ASU history -- their ties to the program spanning generations. Miller, however, well, he boats just a mere half decade.
“They know more about ASU history than I do,” Miller joked. “It’s funny sometimes going in there because they’ll ask me about players and I’ll be like, ‘I don’t even know who you’re talking about. I’m sorry. I don’t know.’”
Even when U of A was recruiting her and later holding her commitment, Martin, who said ASU didn’t show any interest in her as a volleyball recruit, had to be blunt with her future coaches.
She told them about her connections, about how grandfather once quarterbacked the Sun Devils and how her boyfriend is a current member of the team. They shrugged it off, she said. For one, it’s not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. Secondly, they weren’t too confident in the longevity of Martin and Miller’s relationship
“You know in high school, coaches are like, ‘Oh yeah, they’ll break up. Whatever,’” Martin said. “And it just has stuck. It’s never been a problem.”
In 2017, Martin had a pendant necklace constructed. The Arizona State pitchfork hangs from the chain, flanked by two silver additions. One has Beall’s No. 37. The other is engraved with Miller’s No. 71.
It’s a representation of the blending and binding of her two worlds, which intertwine with ASU football.
“Knowing someone else like Steve meaning so much to me, being able to go and see him wear the jersey and be a Sun Devil, it means so much,” Martin said. “You really couldn’t have planned it better.”
Martin said the Sun Devils’ offensive lineman has become a part of the family, her parents there for him at a moment’s notice as they are for her. It’s why on Saturday, Martin’s parents will walk Miller, who only has adoptive parents, onto the field for his Senior Night ceremony
Miller is not yet sure if she’s on the list to walk her boyfriend out of the Tillman Tunnel for the final time. “If I can, I’ll be doing cartwheels,” she joked.
Cartwheels while trying to hold back tears.
“I think it might hit me,” Martin admitted. “Just being in Tempe, I think it if it was down here on his last game. Just because I have all those ties and emotions, I may shed a tear, my soft side may come out.”
