East Lansing, Mich. – In an exciting development for collegiate sports, Michigan State’s sixth-year linebacker Sam Edwards has been named a student-athlete representative on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors. This board is the top governing body for Division I sports, overseeing vital aspects like the budget, litigation matters, and infractions processes.
The NCAA announced this new governance structure in August 2025, which emphasizes enhanced participation from student-athletes, including their right to vote on several committees involved in governance and sports oversight.
Edwards expressed his enthusiasm about this role, stating, “To serve and represent the voice of football student-athletes at the highest level is a great honor and privilege. I look forward to listening, learning, and engaging with the presidents, chancellors, and commissioners on the board to ensure a future for the sport that we can all be proud of. Go Green!” The next board meeting is set for October 28.
The NCAA Division I Board of Directors includes 17 members, 14 of whom have voting rights. Edwards isn’t new to such representation, having already served as the Big Ten representative on the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee Student-Athlete Connection Group. He has also contributed to Michigan State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for three years.
As a four-year letterwinner, Edwards has played in 36 games over his six years with the Spartans. He was elected co-captain for the 2025 season by his teammates. Edwards has also excelled academically, receiving the Academic All-District honors twice and being named to the final ballot for the Academic All-America Team. Furthermore, he has secured Academic All-Big Ten honors for four consecutive years and earned the team’s Scholar-Athlete Award for three straight seasons.
This fall, he was recognized as a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy, which marks him as one of the nation’s top scholar-athletes in college football.
Edwards graduated with a double major in political theory and constitutional democracy as well as international relations in May 2024. He completed a political economy minor in December 2024 and began a master’s program in marketing research in spring 2025. Edwards boasts an impressive 3.904 GPA during his undergraduate studies, and he currently holds a perfect 4.0 GPA in graduate school.
On the football field, he contributes across multiple special teams units and has been the long snapper for field goals and PATs over the past two seasons.
Beyond football, Edwards is committed to community service, participating in events like the student-athlete food drive, the Beautiful Lives Project, and volunteering for various educational and health-related causes.
With this appointment, Edwards becomes just the fourth football player ever to serve on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, joining an exclusive group that also includes players from Tulsa, Rutgers, and the University of Incarnate Word. He is the first to take on this role under the new NCAA governance model established in August 2025.
