Wolverine TV: Michigan football's 2023 captains react to selection
Michigan football officially named its six captains for the 2023 season on Thursday morning in senior offensive lineman Zak Zinter, graduate offensive lineman Trevor Keegan, defensive lineman Kris Jenkins, graduate linebacker Michael Barrett, graduate defensive back Mike Sainristil and senior running back Blake Corum.
Each was made available to the Michigan media shortly after the announcement, sharing their gratitude for the selection and what it means. Seniors and graduate students were the only ones eligible for the captain’s vote.
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Snippets of their reactions at Thursday’s press conference can be viewed in the video player above.
“It feels great being viewed by my teammates in that light. I don’t think there’s any brighter light that you can be viewed other than this one,” Sainristil told the media on Thursday. “These are the guys that see what I do daily, hear how I talk daily, know how I act daily … and they’re the ones that made the decision.
“It feels great. I’m going to do my best to make sure those guys are ready every week, every single day, every workout, every practice to help us succeed this year.”
A Michigan captainship holds a ton of weight as an honor bestowed on the players. Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady once said that despite all his pro accolades, being named a captain at U-M was his greatest honor.
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“I didn’t have an easy experience, I didn’t come in as a top-rated recruit, I didn’t come in with an opportunity to play right away, I had to earn it,” Brady said in his speech to the team back in 2013. “And do you know what the greatest honor I’ve ever received as a player is? In my fourth year and my fifth year, I was named team captain. That, to this day, is the single greatest achievement I’ve ever had as a football play.
“Because the men in this room chose me to lead their team. And these were my best friends. These were the guys that knew that I liked to work. That knew that I loved football. That knew that I loved to play. That knew that I wanted to be the quarterback for Michigan.”
Now that the captains are set and fall camp is ready to wrap up, Michigan turns its attention to game week starting on Monday. The Wolverines will host East Carolina on Sept. 2 at the Big House in a noon kickoff set for an exclusive broadcast on NBC’s Peacock app.
