Michigan Roster Includes 9 Massachusetts Players
Next Monday night the NCAA College Football Championship will take place, with arguably the two best teams of the season fighting for it all, as Michigan takes on Washington. Although we New Englanders don’t necessarily have a dog in the fight, there is a local touch to keep an eye on. Top-ranked Michigan actually has nine players on their roster who are from Massachusetts. In fact, many of them played their high school ball locally here as well.
So let’s get right to it here, and introduce your 2023/2024 Massachusetts Wolverines. In number order, here we go:
- #0 Mike Sainristil, defensive back, is from Everett
- #5 Josaiah Stewart, edge rusher is from Everett (high school)
- #20 Kalel Mullings, running back is from West Roxbury
- #42 TJ Guy, edge rusher is from Mansfied
- #51 Greg Crippen, offensive lineman is from Northborough
- #65 Zak Zinter, offensive lineman is from North Andover
- #80 Eamonn Dennis, wide receiver is from Worcester
- #81 Peyton O’Leary, wide receiver is from Byfield
- #92 Stone Anderson, kicker/punter is from Deerfield
Other Notable Connections
The Michigan roster also includes five players from Connecticut. Furthermore, it’s a team that attracts talent from all over the world. That includes Marlin Klein from Germany and Aymeric Koumba from France.
The Wolverines’ opponent is not to be forgotten here. Although Seattle, Washington, is on the opposite coast of the country there is some Baystate pride on the Huskies roster as well. #41 Lance Holtzclaw is from Dorchester.
The big game kicks off at 7:30 pm on Monday, January 9th at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. It airs on ESPN. In addition to this college football championship featuring two undefeated teams and some of the best players in the game this year, (Michael Penix Jr. Washington, J.J. McCarthy, Michigan), we also have ten local Massachusetts players to cheer for.
Oddly enough, the two teams that did not make the championship, Alabama and Texas, do not have any Massachusetts players on their rosters. Therefore, the matchup we got has the most local presence possible.