| Made in heaven, raised in hell. |
[09 Mar 2009|07:23pm] |
Antwan Hendricks was built to play football. To look at him is to know. Wide shoulders, strong legs, quick feet. Even the cocky dimpled smile his mother used to warn him would get him in trouble. His family was from the south, Florida and New Orleans, but he spent a good portion of his childhood in New York City where his father, Antwan Hendricks Sr., was a running back for the Jets during the 1980's.
The youngest of three boys, Antwan grew up in a sports crazed household where routinely suffered through the unbearable experience of defeat. With his father mostly absent, both traveling and enjoying the fruits of a pro football career, he and his brothers forged a deep and at times unforgiving bond. At the time his oldest brother reached high school, his mother and brothers moved down to Florida, where according to his father, "football players are made."
By the time Antwan reached high school, all of those beatings and losses he had endured over the years at the hands of his big brothers had started to pay dividends. His older brother Dominique was an All-ACC strong safety at his father's alma mater, Florida State, and Antwan spent his summers working on his footspeed and leg strength through grueling sled drills in the oppressive Florida heat. He entered high school at his full height of 6'0" and was a sturdy 210 pounds, and there was something to the fact he was the youngest of two now-legendary brothers at Coral Gables High School that drove him to meet already celestial expectations.
His oldest brother Anthony was most famous for his mean streak, a vicious middle linebacker and state-champion wrestler who from a young age was more than slightly recruited by a local gang to provide always needed muscle. Even as he fell off path, he made sure Dom and 'Twan never had the option.
By his senior year, he was one of the most heavily recruited and highly regarded running backs in the nation. He set a Dade County record for rushing yardage in a season with 2,953 yards and 34 touchdowns. He also set the single game rushing record with 377 yards and six TDs. He was listed as the best tailback on the The Florida Times-Union Super 75 list and earned "Super Prep All-American." That newspaper also rated him the seventh best prospect overall and the top-rated running back in Florida. In baseball, Antwan was an All-Conference center fielder and drew comparisons to Bo Jackson by a Marlins scout. In his first and only track season, Barber qualified for the 2000 Florida State Class A Championships in the 100 meters, with a time of 10.7 seconds.
Despite heavy recruitment from the major schools and gaurentees for an immediate starting role, it was assumed he would follow in his father and brother's footsteps to Florida State. In a decision that shocked the college football world, Antwan decided to attend FSU's major rival, The University of Miami. His father was shocked most of all, and felt so betrayed that he disowned Antwan for being disloyal.
Even with his father's reaction and a crowded returning backfield, Antwan's confidence did not waver. He liked Coach Coker and felt Miami had the best chance to win the National Championship. He started out as a "cocky kid with the New York accent and southern swagger," but his production endeared him to the rowdy Miami family.
He was named the Big East Freshmen of the Year, and his prediction was correct -- his first year, they won the National Championship on possibly the greatest collection of players in college football history -- splitting time with future first-rounders Clinton Portis and Willis McGahee and returning kicks. The team was an future NFL Pro Bowl squad waiting to happen -- Najeh Davenport at fullback, Andre Johnson at receiver, Jeremy Shockey at tight end; Bryant McKinnie and Vernon Carey at offensive tackles. hen they had D.J. Williams and Jonathon Vilma at linebackers, Vince Wilfork, Jerome McDougle, and William Joseph on the defensive line, Phillip Bucchanon, Mike Rumph, and Antrel Rolle at corner.
Among the other future first round picks on the team were two of his best friends, Kellen Winslow and the late Sean Taylor -- as well as one of his major mentors/influences, Ed Reed. Injuries plagued his promising college career yet he still managed to finish his career with his name in Miami's record books, finishing in the top 10 in rushing yards and touchdowns.
With the classic hypercompetitive Hurricane spirit, he recovered from those injuries and was determined to make his career a success. When he declared for the draft, former teammate Ed Reed reached out to him and he prepared for training camp with him and former U legend, Ray Lewis. Injury had tempered his ego, and now that he was removed from the college bubble and saw the work ethic of tenured NFL vets who he loved and respected up close, he slowly began a chance to a "sober Christian brother." This change was expediated after a year under Bill Parcells, and his friendship with safety Roy Williams. Through Roy's girlfriend, Kelly Rowland, he met his current girlfriend, a choreographer and dancer named Damaris Howard.
He was living a healthy, happy life that seemed destined for Super Bowl glory and a lasting marriage. Then, in August of 2007, tragedy struck when his brother Tone's son, Jordan, died of lukemia. Antwan dedicated the upcoming season to his memory and was named to his first Pro Bowl in 2008, playing with a visible anger that led to leading the league in broken tackles. Just as he seemed to be coping with that loss, his best friend and former college teammate, Redskins safety Sean Taylor, was murdered in November of the same year. His physical health began to regress; he couldn't sleep through the night and he wasn't showing his body the same careful attention he had earlier in his career. On the field, he was cloudy, and in professional football an unfocused mind is an injury waiting to happen.
When nagging toe and rib injuries shortened his breakout season, Antwan no longer had even football to occupy his mournful mind. He would lose himself in the music of Miles Davis, of Duke Ellington, and other jazz greats, typically with the help of oxycontin and cognac. He started to build up a dependence on painkillers and sleeping pills, self-medicating with Valium, Xanax, Zoloft. It became a slippery slope that led to other drugs, drugs even in his wild college days he had refused -- weed, coke. After repeated attempts to make him clean up his act, Dame came home to a powdery picture frame and a half-empty bottle, packed her things and left.
With Wade Phillips as coach, 'Twan had lapsed in his professionalism without much resistence. When he showed up for training camp still not fully healthy, however, his subsequent physical raised enough red flags that he was discreetly admitted into a treatment center. There, he was befriended by former rap star turned philanthorpist JaRon Crooks, who having lost his brother at a young age, helped him find peace with the losses he had endured. 'Twan recovered and before long, Dame had moved back in with him and he was once again on the field for the Cowboys' tumultuous 2008 season. Now, as a free agent unimpressed by the head coach and direction of the franchise, Antwan Hendricks is looking for a new city to call home.
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