GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The life of a West Michigan native and former Michigan State University football player who died in a crash last year was celebrated Sunday with a new beer brewed in his honor.
Founders Brewing Co. created a beer named Sadler’s Run Apricot Wheat to memorialize Mike Sadler.
His mother, Karen Sadler, said she and her son used to visit Founders together.
“He and I used to come to Founders and we’d sit up at that bar and we’d look at the names on the blackboard and we’d say, ‘Oh, let’s try this, let’s try that.’ And now to sit there and see his name up there and see his name in a beer made specially for him is amazing. It’s amazing,” she said.
The Grand Rapids taproom closed early Sunday, which marked one year since Sadler’s death, to host a party in his memory. Close to 700 people showed up to support the Michael Sadler Foundation, including MSU head football coach Mark Dantonio.
“It’s a happy occasion, it’s a celebration, and that’s exactly what he would have wanted,” Sadler’s mom said.
Mike Sadler, 24, was killed in a car crash in Wisconsin on July 23, 2016 while heading home from volunteering at a youth kicking camp. Authorities said Sadler lost control on a wet road and his vehicle crashed into a tree. Sadler and one of his passengers, Nebraska Cornhuskers punter Sam Foltz, were killed. Another passenger, Louisiana State University placekicker Colby Delahoussaye, was injured.
Sadler graduated from a graduate of Forest Hills Northern High School. According to his foundation’s website, he earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering and master’s degree in public policy from MSU. He was an All-American and the first ever four-time Academic All-American in the university’s history. He would have Stanford Law School starting last fall.
Full Story on WOODTV8