Sam Edwards discusses the honor of being named a Michigan State football captain

Veteran linebacker Sam Edwards discussed the honor of being named a Michigan State football captain ahead of 2025.

With the first game of the season approaching fast, Michigan State football announced its captains for the upcoming 2025 football season.

Many expected players made the list. Two-time captain and starting quarterback Aiden Chiles, junior linebacker Jordan Hall, and veteran center Matt Gulbin will all wear the ‘C’ patch on their jerseys this season. Each brings proven leadership and on-field production that Spartan fans have come to rely on.

However, one name on the list might surprise a few Spartan fans is sixth-year redshirt senior linebacker Sam Edwards.

Edwards graduated from Lansing Catholic High School in 2019 and was a part of former head coach Mark Dantonio’s last recruiting class before departing for retirement. Arriving at campus originally as a walk-on, Edwards has been quoted as a “glue guy” by many of his teammates.

Amongst all the honors of a captain, Edwards leads the Spartan program off the field as well in many areas. The six-year linebacker is a four-time Academic All-Big Ten and four-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honoree, two-time Academic All-District selection, and was named to the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society in 2025.

Edwards also briefly spoke on some of the challenges of being named a captain.

“You can never have a bad day,” Edwards said. “I take that with pride being there for my brothers everyday. Being a leader is something I take an immense amount of pride in. It’s something that means a ton when other guys talk about me in the sentence as a leader.”

Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi mentioned Edwards getting some playing time at linebacker this season, as well as his usual duties on special teams and long-snapping for the Spartans.

The Spartans open their season on Aug. 30 against Western Michigan, where the new captains will officially take the field together for the first time.