Solari: Mike Sadler had rare blend of wit, humility, athletic ability
The ancient Greek writer Menander wrote, “He whom the gods love dies young.”
It’s the only explanation that makes sense for me right now. Two brilliant, funny former college athletes – whose paths never crossed that I know of – dying before giving the world everything they had to offer.
This week has not felt fair.
Molly Woodroofe, a 1993 high school classmate of mine in Butler, Pennsylvania, you probably didn’t know – but many did. Her obituary appeared in both the Washington Post and New York Times. She was a three-sport standout in high school and an All-Ivy League women’s soccer star at Yale. She received her Master’s degree at Georgetown and influenced many as a boys soccer coach and history teacher at a number of private schools on the East Coast.
Pancreatic cancer stole her from family and friends Wednesday. She was 40.
Mike Sadler, the former Michigan State All-American football player, you knew. The Grand Rapids native became one of the most quotable athletes in school history – as a punter no less. His Twitter witticisms and quick humor separated him from his peers. So did his academic prowess, as MSU’s first four-time Academic All-American. His ability to sell special teams fakes was equally legendary as his booming left-legged boots were critical for the Spartans’ success the past half-decade.
A car accident took his life late Saturday night. He was 24.
Perhaps it’s being a relatively new parent, belatedly celebrating my daughter’s second birthday on vacation up north Sunday and feeling more attuned to the fragility of life. Or it could be because 2016 has turned into a heart-wrenching year already, with people young and old who have touched a significant number of others dying at a dizzying rate.
Either way, Mike and Molly’s deaths have stung me exceptionally hard. Both were the type of people who never seemed to have an enemy, who always managed to embrace those around them. They made the world brighter with their positive presence, as well as their intellect and compassion.
Sadler was maybe the smartest and most engaging athlete I’ve ever covered professionally. He got his undergraduate degree at MSU in applied engineering sciences in just three years. During the Spartans’ Rose Bowl season that followed in the fall of 2013, Sadler earned a number of All-American honors while pursuing his graduate degree in public policy. He got that in 2015 and was about to enroll in Stanford Law School in a few weeks. Teeny-bopper Seventeen magazine even once named him one of the "hottest college football players in America" because of his brains as much as his looks and punting talent.
Yet Sadler somehow never made anyone feel inferior, a rare trait and one which he shared with my high school friend Woodroofe.
Mike’s humor was infectious. When we were at the state capitol in early 2014, preparing for his Spartans to be honored for winning the Rose Bowl, Sadler mingled with his teammates, lawmakers and reporters with the same deft agility that he showed that season in running the ball twice – the “Hey, Diddle Diddle” fake punt against Iowa and the duplicitous “Charlie Brown” field goal attempt against Nebraska. We chatted about the future, poking fun at his stately Abraham Lincoln-inspired beard and how he someday could return to those same mahogany chambers as a lawmaker. He even posed for a portrait, something we joked could serve as an official painting at a later date.
We had more than a few entertaining talks like that, some interviews, some not. The first I can recall was after his fake punt at Michigan in 2012, when he told me he had never run the ball before in a game. His yards-per-carry average became an ongoing wink-and-nod topic. At MSU’s Cotton Bowl media day in East Lansing in late 2014, Sadler again trumpeted his running skills by using a pen to scribble “holder/running back/” next to punter on his placard. That doesn’t even get into some of the great back-and-forth quips we shared on Twitter over the years.
Sadler and former teammate Travis Jackson, one of his closest friends, invited me to join their podcast before the MSU-Ohio State game last season. We previewed the game and shared some laughs. If he wanted to, if he didn’t have bigger aspirations and talents, Mike Sadler could have done that for a living.
It saddens me deeply that we will never have another one of those chats again. Because, to once again quote Menander, “The character of a man is known from his conversations.”
Here’s hoping Mike and Molly are sharing a beer and a laugh together right now somewhere. It’d be conversation and company I’m sure both would enjoy.
Contact Chris Solari at (517) 377-1070 or csolari@lsj.com.