Everywhere Karen Sadler turns at Michigan State, Mike is still there

Karen Sadler could only make it a few steps inside Michigan State’s athletic complex before she was greeted with a hug and a story about her son.

That is how it often goes when Karen returns to campus. Ten years after Mike Sadler’s death, she still hears his name as she walks through the places where he studied, played, and became one of the most beloved personalities in Michigan State football history.

Karen entered through the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center, where Mike’s photograph is the first one directly in front of visitors approaching the Academic All-Americans display.

Photo credit: David Harns/Spartans Illustrated

She turned right and continued through the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. She stopped before Mike’s Hall of Fame plaque, the green No. 3 on her shirt matching the number forever associated with her son.

She rested her hand against the brushed metal and studied the familiar image – Mike’s name in bold letters, his accomplishments recorded in small type, and his unmistakable smile looking back at her.

“My boy,” she whispered, returning his smile.

Photo credit: David Harns/Spartans Illustrated

After a minute of reflection, she lowered her hand and continued through the hallway connecting the academic center to the football building.

Mike kept reappearing along the way – in photographs, among the teammates who shared those years with him, and across displays preserving the accomplishments that made him one of Michigan State’s most decorated student-athletes.

Photo credit: David Harns/Spartans Illustrated

As she walked up the spiral staircase toward the coaches’ offices, Max Bullough was coming down.

Karen greeted him with a hug, told him how good he looked, and smiled at him with the warmth of a mother welcoming one of her son’s old friends.

It was fitting. Bullough and Mike had been roommates during part of their time at Michigan State.

Bullough then told her about a fan he had noticed at a recent game wearing a Mike Sadler shirt, with a large No. 3 across the chest. Bullough had made a point of telling the fan how much he loved it.

The story brought another smile to Karen’s face.

Later, she explained that these encounters give her life. The people who call out to her across campus, stop to hug her, or take a moment to tell her what Mike meant to them provide something she cannot find anywhere else.

This week, those informal expressions of remembrance will become a formal tribute.

Before Michigan State and Nebraska begin playing Saturday, the programs will stop to remember Sadler and Sam Foltz – two punters from different schools whose deaths 10 years ago created a lasting bond between their families, teams, and supporters.

The coin used for the opening toss will bear Sadler’s image on one side and Foltz’s on the other.

(Courtesy photo)

It has been a decade since the former Michigan State All-American and Nebraska’s reigning Big Ten Punter of the Year died in a car crash in Wisconsin on July 23, 2016. They had been working together as counselors at a kicking camp. Sadler was 24. Foltz was 22.

Michigan State and Nebraska made a commitment in the aftermath: Whenever the teams met, the home program would find a way to remember them.

Saturday, that responsibility belongs to Michigan State.

Karen told Spartans Illustrated that the commemorative coin will be part of a larger tribute that was still being finalized this week.

“I know that they are using the coin that was commissioned by Delany,” Sadler said, referring to former Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. “It has Sam on one side and Mike on the other side, so they’re using that for the coin toss. I think they’re doing a video tribute. I know that they’re going to say a few words about the boys.”

For Karen, the tribute does not make this a painful week. The anniversaries of Mike’s birth and death carry that weight. This feels different.

“This week is good,” she said. “This is a tribute, and I’m happy about this.”

Former Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio helped establish the commitment between the programs. Paul Schager, who was then MSU’s executive associate athletic director for external relations and now serves as senior advisor for strategic projects, has helped carry it forward within the athletic department.

Sadler said the agreement has survived changes throughout the department because those responsible for maintaining it have understood its importance.

“I’m grateful for that,” she said. “It’s a celebration for me that Michigan State is doing this for the boys.”

Some supporters plan to display flags bearing images of Sadler and Foltz.

(Courtesy photo)

Karen has also seen a helmet designed as a possible model for an annual trophy between the programs.

It would not be a rivalry trophy in the traditional sense. No territorial claim or century-old grievance connects Michigan State and Nebraska. Karen referred to it as an “honor trophy” – something that could reside with the winning school while ensuring future players and visitors learn why this particular game carries a meaning beyond its outcome.

“This game means more than just football,” she said. “This game is about celebrating two amazing lives that we’re entrusted to move forward with in memory and celebration.”

A connection born from tragedy

Sadler and Foltz did not spend years together, but they belonged to the close-knit community of kickers, punters, and long snappers who worked the same camps and understood one another’s unusual place within a football team.

“Specialists are a family,” Sadler said. “It doesn’t matter where - wherever you’re a specialist, specialists are a family.”

Mike was older than Foltz and had known some of the other specialists longer, but Karen said the two shared a genuine affection and mutual respect.

“Mike loved Sam’s sense of humor, and they genuinely enjoyed each other,” she said. “They enjoyed football, they enjoyed the camaraderie, and they enjoyed the team aspect. They were boys of the same fabric in that they loved life, they lived big, they worked hard, and they cared about people.”

The Sadler and Foltz families will always be connected, even if the frequency of their communication has naturally diminished as their lives have continued and their families have changed.

“Life goes on because people have things in their lives that happen,” Sadler said. “Will we always be connected? Yes. Is it frequent communication? No. But I’ll always have deep sympathy, empathy, and respect for the Foltz family. Always.”

Karen and her daughter, Katie, traveled to Lincoln for a previous Michigan State-Nebraska game at the invitation of MSU. The players stopped warming up and gathered for a ceremony at midfield.

“It was a very special trip for us,” Sadler said. “There’s a great respect between the two schools for losing two amazing people.”

What she experienced in Lincoln was pure compassion.

“Nobody ever was less than 100 percent gracious and sympathetic,” she said. “I was with the Foltz family the whole time we were out there, and people were just as generous to me and Katie as they were to the Foltz family. I have great respect for all Cornhuskers.

"I think both boys would be very humbled by how people in Nebraska and Michigan have reacted, and by people across the country.”

A unique football memory

Nebraska already occupied a unique place in Mike’s football history before it became inseparable from the loss of Foltz.

In Michigan State’s 41-28 victory at Nebraska in 2013, Sadler placed three of his nine punts inside the 20-yard line, including two inside the 3-yard line. One was downed at the 1, setting up a Nebraska fumble that the Spartans converted into a touchdown on the next play.

Sadler also carried the ball on a fourth-quarter fake field goal, gaining the three yards Michigan State needed for a first down. The drive ended with a touchdown that extended the Spartans’ lead.

Karen remembers more than the conversion.

Mike was hit low and from multiple angles at the end of the play. She believes the damage to his knee affected the professional football opportunity that might otherwise have awaited him.

“He got thrown up in the air because they were coming at him from all angles,” she said. “He got lifted up, and he got pummeled in the knees. That’s where he really hurt his NFL opportunity.”

Mike's humor and wit was on display in the postgame interviews that day:

"There's only so many hits you can take as a punter," Sadler said. "Right now, I just need some morphine and some whiskey."

"If you're relying on me to run power up the middle, we have some issue," Sadler continued. "Fortunately it worked out – and you can't be mad at the result."

The memory does not make Karen resent the matchup. It is simply another piece of the history Mike shared with Nebraska – first as an opponent, and later through his friendship with Foltz and the connection between their families.

Ten years have changed the reach, not the loss

The 10th anniversary of the accident did not affect Karen more or less than the ninth, eighth, or seventh.

“I miss him every month, every day, right now, just as much as I did the first year,” she said.

Mike would now be 35. The distance between the life he lived and the life he might have built has become more visible with time.

“All he wanted to do was be a dad, and it never happened,” Karen said.

The annual Mike Sadler Legacy Celebration has helped her navigate the anniversary of his death by bringing together the people who knew Mike, those who followed his Michigan State career, and others who have been influenced by the work performed in his name.

More than 500 people attended this year’s event in Grand Rapids, including Tom Izzo, Dantonio, Pat Fitzgerald, former teammates, Michigan State personalities, and supporters from across the state.

“That buoys me in the wake of sadness,” Sadler said. “It makes me happy that so many people come out to honor that legacy. To make it bigger each year says a lot. Part of that is about Mike, and part of that is supporting what we’re doing in his honor.”

Fitzgerald renews an old connection

Fitzgerald’s participation carries a personal connection that predates his arrival at Michigan State.

As Northwestern’s head coach, he recruited Sadler out of Forest Hills Northern and presented him with a scholarship offer. Mike ultimately chose Michigan State because of his relationship with Dantonio and the opportunity to play close to family and friends, but he kept Fitzgerald’s offer displayed in his room.

Karen still has it.

Photo credit: David Harns/Spartans Illustrated

“He had great respect for Fitz,” she said.

That history made Fitzgerald one of the first people Karen wanted to see after he became Michigan State’s coach. She contacted the football program and requested a meeting.

Fitzgerald and executive chief of staff Jacob Schmidt welcomed her into the building during the late spring.

“Fitz remembered everything about Mike,” Sadler said. “We talked about how that all happened. It was very lighthearted. We talked about families, we talked about their kids and my daughter, and it was a very nice meeting.”

The larger conversation concerned what Michigan State could do to support Mike’s legacy and the Sadler family.

“They’re fully on board,” she said. “Mike was very, very important to Michigan State, and he did a lot of good things for them.”

Fitzgerald and members of his staff subsequently attended the Legacy Celebration in Grand Rapids. Karen said Fitzgerald became “the life of the day,” commanding the attention of a crowd that included many supporters who were still becoming acquainted with their new coach.

“He was electric,” she said. “He was so enthusiastic and had that attitude of, ‘We are going forward. We are Spartan Nation.’ He gelled everyone who was in that crowd.”

Karen described Fitzgerald as “a man of his word,” “salt of the earth,” and someone whose character reminds her of Dantonio.

His appearance at the celebration also appeared to strengthen the connection between Michigan State’s new coach and the Spartans gathered in West Michigan.

“I think a lot of Spartans were solidified that day,” Sadler said. “It was, ‘OK, we’re on the right path here,’ because this man loves Spartan Nation. He loves football. He’s got the energy and enthusiasm.”

For Karen, Fitzgerald’s involvement represents a continuation of the commitment Dantonio made after Mike’s death.

“Fitz has picked up the mantle, and he’s running with it,” she said.

The standard Mike left behind

Mike Sadler was an All-American punter, a member of Michigan State’s 2013 Big Ten and Rose Bowl championship team, and one of the most accomplished specialists in program history.

Yet Karen wants current Michigan State athletes to understand what he accomplished away from the field.

Sadler is the only athlete in MSU history to earn four-time Academic All-American honors. He was a second-team selection in 2011 and 2012 before earning first-team recognition in 2013 and 2014.

Karen challenged Fitzgerald to take that fact into Michigan State’s locker room.

“I said, ‘Fitz, you go into that locker room and ask them to raise their hands if they can tell you who is the only four-time Academic All-American in MSU school history – not just football, but in athletics,’” she said.

Some people connected to Mike’s era, including Bullough and Matt Allen, would know. Karen suspects many of the current players would not.

That is not a criticism of them, she says. It is an opportunity to introduce Mike to another generation and present his achievement as a challenge.

“We need to celebrate that,” she said. “It is huge. That is a carrot to dangle for the students we have now: Beat it. Take over. Make this a priority. I hope somebody does break it at some point, but to date, nobody has.”

The same applies beyond the locker room.

“I’m hoping people get out and remember who he was,” she said. “Older Spartans will do that. New Spartans need to be educated sometimes, and I hope that happens.”

Michigan State waived the customary waiting period and inducted Sadler into its Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. The university also established the Mike Sadler Legacy Football Scholarship.

His legacy extends into the College of Engineering, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in applied engineering sciences before completing a master’s degree in public policy.

The Mike Sadler Competitive Edge Award is presented annually to an outstanding engineering capstone project. The award connects Mike’s academic work to the competitive edge he provided Michigan State on the football field.

Karen and Dantonio presented the inaugural award in 2017. Fitzgerald has agreed to continue the football program’s involvement in its presentation.

During Karen’s visit this week, the plaque awaited her immediately outside Fitzgerald’s office. It honors the Competitive Edge Award and explains its connection to Mike.

Photo credit: David Harns/Spartans Illustrated

Its placement feels fitting. Mike’s memory occupies a place of honor in the path of the person now leading the football program.

Each year, hundreds of engineering students also hear Mike’s story as they gather for Design Day and await the announcement of the winning capstone project.

The award makes him part of a moment he would have understood well: students combining education, ambition, creativity, and competition in pursuit of something excellent.

“Football, as he always said, was fleeting, but academics would last forever,” she said.

Karen also hopes Michigan State finds ways to revisit Mike’s old social-media posts. His wit was central to the way teammates and supporters knew him, and she wants younger Spartans to experience that side of him rather than encountering only a list of honors.

“He understood the value of humor; I hope people remember that he was compassionate," she said. “He was funny. He was smart. But if you asked anyone who knew Mike Sadler, even football players, they would say he was the kindest person to anyone he met.”

She continues to hear stories she did not know during Mike’s life.

One woman recently told Karen that she had struggled with a class at Michigan State because of a learning disability. Mike offered to help her prepare for an exam and studied with her until approximately 4:30 in the morning.

Whenever she became discouraged, he reassured her and returned to the material.

“She said she’ll never forget that because she tells her kids now, ‘When you have a classmate in school who isn’t doing well or is struggling, I want you to do what somebody did for me once,’” Sadler said.

Karen has also learned of two people who said Mike helped them when they were considering suicide. He stayed with them, returned to check on them, and remained present as long as necessary.

“He was great,” she said. “He worked really hard in academics, and he worked hard to do good things on the football field. But most of all, he was a humanitarian. He loved his people, and he loved people he didn’t even know.

“He thought anytime you have a chance to help other people, you need to do that.”

From one legacy to more than 10,000

The reminders continued after Karen left the football building.

As she walked toward her vehicle, a university employee stopped beside her in a golf cart. There was another greeting, another hug, and another unsolicited memory.

“Mike was one of my favorites,” the employee said. “He was the funniest, wittiest guy I’ve known.”

After the unexpected greeting, Karen continued toward her car, which was parked less than 50 feet from Spartan Stadium. Just beyond it stood the place where Mike had pinned opponents against their own goal line, sprung surprises on fake punts, and electrified hundreds of thousands of Spartan fans during his career.

The No. 3 remained with her on the walk away. It was printed across her white Michigan State shirt and repeated on the Ford license plate waiting for her: “SADLER 3.”

Photo credit: David Harns/Spartans Illustrated

Her next destination was not home.

Karen was on her way to meet with a member of the Michael Sadler Foundation’s board of directors. The quick visit through the halls where Michigan State preserves Mike’s accomplishments had ended, but the work of extending his influence had not.

Keeping that legacy alive requires more than ceremonies, plaques, and stories exchanged in hallways. It requires meetings, fundraising, school partnerships, volunteer coordination, and the constant work of turning the values Mike lived into opportunities for young people who never knew him.

For Karen, remembrance and responsibility have become inseparable. The memories find her wherever she goes. So does the work.

GameChang3rs

That work eventually became GameChang3rs, the K-12 mentoring program operated by the Michael Sadler Foundation.

Karen was a teacher before her son died. Afterward, she left that work and devoted herself to preserving his memory. Asked whether the foundation has become her full-time occupation, she answered with four words.

“Eighty hours a week.”

The foundation initially established scholarships and awards, but former Michigan State cornerback Darqueze Dennard encouraged her to think about how Mike’s story could affect more than one or two recipients each year.

“I really have to credit Quez for that,” Sadler said. “He said, ‘The real power is going to be in reaching more people. Where’s the impact? How are you going to impact more people with Mike’s story?’”

That question led Karen back to the themes Mike repeatedly discussed in speeches across the country.

GameChang3rs teaches high school juniors and seniors to mentor younger students about character, choices, and the legacies they are already creating. The program is organized around Mike’s Six Pillars: valuing education, setting goals, showing compassion to every person, living with integrity, choosing friends carefully, and maintaining a sense of humor.

Karen compares the pillars to the ingredients in a recipe.

“If you want to make cookies and you want them to turn out well, then you use a recipe,” she said. “If you want to start building a good legacy, then you need to have a model. In this case, the model is Mike Sadler, and the ingredients are the Six Pillars.”

Students are encouraged to begin with that framework and eventually make it their own.

“Legacy is not something you have when you die,” Sadler said. “Our legacies right now are our reputations. They’re what we’ve done, what we’ve said, and what we’ve accomplished. We try to explain to kids that what you say and what you do is creating your legacy.”

GameChang3rs recently surpassed 10,000 participating students. The program trains high school juniors and seniors before sending them into younger classrooms to serve as mentors. Its reach includes public and parochial schools, along with summer camps.

The foundation also plans to work with Lansing students during March is Reading Month, with Michigan State football players helping read stories, complete activities, and introduce the program’s lessons.

Darien Harris has supported the foundation from its beginning and now serves on its board. His relationship with Mike became the basis for a close friendship between Karen, Harris, and Harris’ wife, Olivia.

The connection extends to Harris’ parents. Karen sat with his mother, Lisa, during Michigan State games. Lisa’s career as a lawyer also gave her a connection with Mike, who planned to attend law school.

“Darien was a dear friend of Michael’s while Mike was there,” Sadler said. “When Michael left us, Darien became a dear friend of mine, as is his wife, Olivia. They’ll always be very, very special.”

Harris selected GameChang3rs as one of the causes he represented through the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats initiative. Bryce Baringer and Jack Allen have provided similar support.

“The shoes are sitting on my kitchen bar because I look at them every day, and it makes me smile,” Karen said of the cleats. “It’s boys with a big heart – men with a big heart.”

The foundation accepts volunteers and welcomes opportunities to bring GameChang3rs into additional school districts. Its most immediate need, Karen said, is financial support. The program is funded by donations, and expansion requires curriculum materials, trained adults, transportation, and the infrastructure necessary to accompany and supervise the student mentors.

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The objective is larger than keeping Mike’s name attached to another award or event.

“Mike left us with this incredible legacy, so what are we going to do with it?” Sadler said. “If people are incorporating what he left us and using the tools that he left us for their benefit, then his legacy lives on. His name doesn’t have to be stamped on everything.

“Knowing that what he left us is providing that opportunity for people to better themselves – man, he’d be smiling at that right now.”

“He made a difference”

Saturday’s ceremony will introduce Mike and Sam to Michigan State students and players who were children when the accident occurred, or who may never have heard their names.

Older Spartans will remember Sadler’s precisely placed punts, his fake-punt runs, his humor on social media, and his role on one of the finest teams in program history. Nebraska supporters will remember Foltz, the hometown walk-on who developed into the Big Ten’s best punter.

The coin toss will provide another opportunity to tell both stories.

For Karen, however, the clearest measure of her son’s life is found in the people he helped, the teammates who remain close to his family, and the thousands of children now learning to build their own legacies through the example he left behind.

When Karen stands inside Spartan Stadium on Saturday, that is what she will be thinking about.

“Mike made a difference," she said. "He affected so many lives while he was here on Earth with us. I would want him to know that he is still affecting thousands and thousands of lives each year. Raise a glass, because you did it. You did it, son.”

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