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Ronnie Bell, Mike Sainristil and Mazi Smith share thoughts on being named Michigan captains

Grant Bricker

By Grant Bricker

Published:

Ronnie Bell, Mike Sainristil, and Mazi Smith were all announced as 3 of the 5 captains for Michigan this season. They talked about what it means to them to be chosen for the role.

Michigan football posted a video of all their captains speaking about the opportunity. Ronnie Bell was up 1st.

Bell missed the majority of the 2021 season due to an ACL injury he suffered in Week 1 against Western Michigan. This is his 2nd time being named as a captain for the Wolverines. He feels the responsibility of being named a captain.

“I got talked a lot last year about being the head of the sword,” said Bell. “The 4 of us, and now the 5 of us. I just feel like it’s even more of a responsibility to do just that, be the head of the sword and lead the team.”

Sainristil has been with the team since 2019. He is happy to be considered for captaincy, and stated that his heart was racing when Jim Harbaugh was announcing the names. Sainristil wants to be someone who leads by action.

“As coach is saying the names, my heart’s racing,” said Sainristil. “I was asking myself: Is my name gonna get called? If it doesn’t, I’m making sure I’m ready to cheer for whoever it is. There was just a whole bunch of different thoughts at that time.”

Smith was another veteran who voted in. If his freshman had been told that he would be a captain eventually, he wouldn’t have believed it.

“If I had told freshman me that I was gonna be a captain, he wouldn’t have believed it,” said Smith. I’m big on respect, I’m big on honesty and loyalty.”

Grant Bricker

Grant Bricker covers the B1G for Saturday Tradition. His previous stops include the Williamson Homepage and Nashville Post.