Ever since enrolling early at Arizona State to compete for the starting quarterback job, freshman Ethan Long has held a variety of titles, nicknames, and positions.

From taking reps at quarterback to becoming a blocker on the team’s punt team, Long has truly turned into an effective swiss army knife. His versatility has drawn comparisons to the likes of New Orleans Saints’ quarterback Taysom Hill all while being dubbed ‘Captain America’ had coach Herm Edwards.

Now, the freshman from West Linn, Oregon has added a new title to what is an already growing list of responsibilities.

Team Captain.

“I don’t know, I can’t describe the feeling,” Long remarked. “I don’t want to say I wanted to cry, because like that’s soft, but choked up for sure. That’s just such an honor that the coaching staff could just see me as a leader on the team, especially as a freshman.”

Quite honestly, no one actually knows if Long is the first-ever freshman football captain at Arizona State. The selection of a freshman as a captain is certainly unprecedented in many ways with age only being the first of the oddities in Long’s case.

The second is surprisingly that Long is not a starter for the Sun Devils on the offensive or defensive side of the ball. As mentioned earlier, Long has played a variety of key roles for ASU, but none have come with the distinction of being a first-teamer.

Despite only being on campus for nearly half a year and not having the official role as a starter, it’s no secret that Long will have an immediate impact as a freshman.

Freshman. A term that Long confesses he doesn’t always believe in.

“I hate to say ‘freshman’ term, but- that’s what I am status-wise,” Long admitted. “On the field, I feel like the guys around me, there’s a mutual respect between all of us. There’s a lot of players out on the field that you guys will probably see that are freshmen, that when it comes to the game, the role freshman doesn’t really fit in the category of how they play, and so that’s just how I try to come out every day.

“Just because my grade is a freshman doesn’t mean that I try to play as a freshman. I try to play above and beyond and play with some of the leader guys, so that’s what I’m trying to do this year.”

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Avoiding freshman mistakes that ultimately come with playing collegiate football at a young age are almost inevitable. Fortunately for Long, he will have help in doing so in the form of someone who was able to largely avoid those mistakes as a freshman.

Last season, then-freshman Darien Butler was second on the team in tackles all while becoming an established leader for what was one of the youngest defenses in the nation. It was a group that at times had five freshmen on the field.

Butler joins Long as the only underclassmen captains for the Sun Devils as they are joined alongside by veterans junior Eno Benjamin, seniors Cohl Cabral and Kobe Williams.

An honor that came as a shock to Butler despite head coach Herm Edwards and others hinting throughout preseason practice that the team’s defense was now his to lead.

“Something that really surprised me,” Butler stated. “Every day I come out here I try to get better every day, I never try to stay the same. All our coaches stress that they say that you get better or you get worse, and you never stay the same.”

Given Butler’s early success as a Sun Devil it may be easy for some to forget about the sophomore’s recruitment out of high school, or the lack thereof.

Coming out of Narbonne high school in California, Butler was a three-star recruit, according to Rivals, and held offers from only one other Pac-12 school in Colorado with his other notable offers coming from Boston College and San Jose State.

Thirteen starts as a freshman later, Butler is now an integral part of a defense that looks to take the next step and become one of the elite units in the Pac-12.

“Where I’m at right now, I never saw myself here,” Butler confessed. “I’m going to be honest with you, it’s something that really surprised me. Being here with the guys that I’m here with right now, who I trust 100 percent, it’s amazing man, I’m just blessed.”

Now with the title as team captain and the distinction of being the proverbial leader of the team’s defense, Butler will look to lead by example.

The sophomore wants to establish a significant measure of confidence between his teammates through not only his words, but by his daily actions on the field. This is a practice that Butler already has put into place and hopes to be one that helps build the bond with his fellow Sun Devils.

“I want my teammates to trust me a lot,” Butler said. “I want them to have confidence in me, I want them to know that they can depend on me, I want them to know that they can follow me. I will lead them the right way, so that’s something that’s I take that seriously. It’s not like I can come out here and half-ass a workout or something because we got freshmen out here too, you know guys who look up to the older guys like ‘what are they doing?’ We got to set a perfect example for them and let them know that there’s a standard here and that standard needs to be held high.”

For both underclassmen captains, the anointment of a new title serves as a new challenge for both. One that comes beyond the honor of simply being called a captain on the team.

Both players view their new role as one that challenges them to not only continue their current actions, but one that pushes them individually while helping those around them.

For Long, that comes in the form of continually earning the respect of his peers around him, an effort that will be assisted by the freshman’s team-first mentality.

On the other hand, Butler will continue to focus on avoiding a sense of complacency or satisfaction that he has made it. Instead, choosing to focus on never staying the same, with a focus on a refining his craft.

“With Cohl and Eno and some vets in the program, that they have solidified their respect, and I’m still building my respect,” Long commented. “Being able to build that is exciting for me for sure, and, I don’t know, I don’t think there’s a difference in how someone looks at me, and I hope there isn’t, because I’m not going to be better or above anyone else. I’m going to be, if anything, there to serve them and there to help them out.”

“I don’t want to have that sophomore slump year that everybody talks about,” Butler remarked. “I try to come out here every day with the same mindset to get better, I just got to keep improving, that’s it. I never want to stay the same ever.”

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