GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Sunday marked the eighth annual Mike Sadler Legacy Celebration.
The event was held at Atwater Brewery and featured Michigan State cheerleaders, bands, mascots and more.
"We're thrilled that the turnout this year is bigger than any other year that we've ever done," said Karen Sadler, Mike's mother.
Mike, a former MSU kicker, passed away in 2016 after a car crash.
"It's a testament that what we're doing in the community is making an impact and that these people are here celebrating who Mike was and what his legacy was and what it's made since he's been gone," Karen said.
She said she thinks he would be appreciative of the event.
"Mike would be very, very humbled. He was always self-deprecating, and he never thought he deserved all of the credit for things that he got, but that's just who he was."
Mike was the first student-athlete in school history to be an academic all-American four times. But those achievements pale in comparison to what he meant to friends and family.
"Just how caring he was, I mean, how smart he was, how generous he was," said Connor Kruse, former MSU lineman.
Kruse was Mike's roommate during his freshman year.
"Just remember him as somebody who loved Michigan State, loved his family and loved to be a part of the community," Kruse said.
Darien Harris, former MSU linebacker and Mike's former teammate, said Mike was a role model for him.
"I learned just so much from him, both on the field of how to be a competitor, but also off the field of how to conduct yourself in an academic setting," said Harris.
He said Mike exemplified the best of MSU.
"This is what being a Spartan means. This is what that chant of 'Go green go white' means. And for us as former players, [it is] what being a Spartan dog is all about. And again, he was the utmost of a Spartan dog," Harris said.