EAST LANSING – The No. 1 jersey might be worn by a player who has yet to take a snap for Michigan State football.
That doesn’t mean Kenny Soares Jr. doesn’t epitomize what new coach Pat Fitzgerald believes it means to be “The Spartan.” And the graduate transfer defensive end earned enough confidence from his new teammates to win the voting for an opportunity to wear the uniform number Fitzgerald set aside to serve as an honor within the program.
As Fitzgerald said, last week at Big Ten media days in Chicago, he pulled the No. 1 from circulation to reserve for a player “who represents who ‘The Spartan’ is.” The group of names up for the honor came from the team’s unity council and was then presented to the team for a full vote.
“I just always felt, like, everybody always played against a guy that was – and this is a general statement – who wore No. 1 was usually the guy who thought he was No. 1. And I’m kind of the anti-No. 1,” Fitzgerald said July 29 in Chicago. “I like the guy that cares about his teammates more than himself. I like the guy that cares about the program more than himself. Giving of yourself for the greater good – to me, that’s family.”
The program on Thursday night posted a graphic on social media, and then video of the announcement of Soares and the Spartans learning he had their approval to wear the No. 1, with Fitzgerald telling the team during their meeting on the video that eight players received votes.
Fitzgerald said in Chicago that the player who won the vote would have “an opportunity to wear No. 1 if they want. And if they have an affinity with their jersey, we’ll put a No. 1 sticker on their helmet.
“But they’ll be identified as ‘The Spartan.’ He’s the one that embodies our values, the work ethic, the commitment, the giving of himself for the greater good of his teammates better than anybody else. And to me, that’s not appointed, that’s earned every day and it’s recognized by your teammates.”
Soares is a 6-foot-2, 234-pound native of Trumbell, Connecticut, who began his college career playing for Fitzgerald at Northwestern. After three seasons with the Wildcats from 2022-24, Soares transferred to North Carolina State last year and had 80 tackles while playing 656 snaps in 13 games.
Soares was wearing No. 23 during MSU’s opening practice of preseason camp Thursday morning, just as he did during spring workouts. He wore No. 5 at Northwestern and No. 33 at N.C. State.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: New Michigan State football DE Kenny Soares Jr. is ‘The Spartan’ No. 1
Reporting by Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
