Add The California Post on Google By simply walking onto UCLA’s practice field Monday morning, Trent Hendrick made history.
The linebacker became the school’s first player to have practiced with an NFL team before joining the Bruins’ roster.
“He’s a nice addition of a kid that we trust and believe in as part of our family,” Bruins coach Bob Chesney said after his onetime star at James Madison started the acclimatization process with his new team as it opened its final week of fall training camp.
Unlike tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who is expected to play for LSU this season if he clears waivers after being released by the Cleveland Browns, Hendrick did not need to overcome similar obstacles because he did not sign with an NFL team after going undrafted out of James Madison.
After working out with the Bruins in the winter, Hendrick participated in spring rookie minicamp with the Browns and Kansas City Chiefs. He was able to rejoin the Bruins after being part of a group of 16 players who recently won a court order from a Louisiana judge granting them a fifth year of college eligibility.
Former NFL rookie Trent Hendrick participates in practice as part of a historic return to UCLA. (Isabella Serafini/UCLA Athletics) Isabella Serafini/UCLA Athletics Chesney said he expected the reigning Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year to play in the season opener against California next week. Additionally, Hendrick’s arrival did not cost anyone else a roster spot or scholarship because the Bruins were within limits.
Chesney said he was only willing to add Hendrick at this late stage because he would be a major plus.
“He’s a natural-born leader, he is a guy that understands the culture,” Chesney said. “It’s cool because he watched us come into JMU after that [Curt Cignetti] staff had left and he was one of the ties that bound the entire thing together and now he has a chance to come here and help with that process again.”
One of Hendrick’s first duties was finding a new number.
The No. 5 he wore at James Madison wasn’t available because it was retired in honor of safety Kenny Easley. So Hendrick slipped a blue No. 51 jersey over his head early in practice Monday and greeted an endless procession of teammates and coaches with hugs and hand slaps.
An extended visit with Bob Chesney Sr., the coach’s dad who is a volunteer working with the defensive line, ended with the elder Chesney saying, “Oh, baby!”
Hendrick did not participate in the brief team period reporters were allowed to observe, with Chesney saying he would have to complete a progression before practicing in full pads.
Arriving in the final week of training camp meant starting at the bottom – Hendrick took the final repetition in a point-of-attack drill, behind fellow linebackers Sammy Omosigho, Jalen Woods, Drew Spinogatti and Donavyn Pellot.
How might the addition of someone who made 106 tackles – including seven for loss and three sacks – last season along with two forced fumbles and three pass breakups impact those new teammates at his position?
“This is not a guy we don’t know, this is not a guy we don’t trust,” Chesney said, “so we had that conversation with the team and they all left at the end of it, the linebackers in particular, of [saying] thank you, I think that they said there’s many coaches in many programs that wouldn’t even have that conversation and a kid would just show up.
“So I think it’s important that we had those conversations about who he was as a player, that he’s guaranteed nothing and just like everybody on this team, whatever they get, they have to work for.”
Landing Hendrick took some considerable effort on the Bruins’ part after they reportedly beat out Cal and Virginia Tech, though this is one case in which they were thrilled to benefit from the continued professionalization of college sports.
“We’re slowly moving to more of a triple-A team for the NFL in a way,” Chesney said. “There’s probably more stability in the NFL – contractually, tampering the way their season works, there’s a million things [with] unionizing and collective bargaining, all the stuff that comes with it – but that’s going to happen at the next level where there’s going to be a couple of guys in that locker room that are going to disappear and a bunch of new guys are going to show up.”
