Sports Spotlight: Bernie Hendricks Jr., Ocoee High football

Ocoee High School wide receiver Bernie Hendricks Jr. is the epitome of a student-athlete. Hendricks recently finished up his football career at the school and holds a 3.7 GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society.
 

When did you first get into football?

When I was 4 and I started playing, because I like competing in contact (sports).
 

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in yourself since you first started playing?

Developing my speed and strength — seeing how fast I’ve gotten over the years and how strong (I am) — and my football IQ has gotten better as the years go by.
 

What has kept you motivated to stay in the sport for so long?

Learning leadership and becoming a better person. And I guess you could say taking out anger on the field, because sometimes I’ll be mad, and I’ll just use that for play — take it out on the field.
 

What’s your favorite part about playing wide receiver? The hardest part?

My favorite part is seeing everybody work together — one person gets the ball and everyone else blocks for him, and no matter who has the ball, they will still block. The hardest part of that position is blocking somebody when they don’t see you, and the ref sees them and they may give you a penalty.
 

Do you remember what it was like playing football your freshman year?

The first varsity game I went to, I was like, “OK, I think we’re going to win, because we beat them last year,” and then I saw the outcome, and I was like, “Oh, we can get them back.” Then we just kept losing, and I was like, “We have to change something” — we were scoring, but we weren’t moving as a team together. Then, playing on JV, the group I played with — mostly everybody are seniors now — had a close bond, so the freshman season was more successful because some of us played down in middle school and elementary school together.
 

Is there a highlight moment for you that sticks out?

I’d say my sophomore year — we were losing to Evans 12-7. We were coming right out of halftime, and I caught a kick return, and I scored and tied the game up.
 

What has this senior season year been like for you?

It was short, but it was joyful — a lot of things happened. We didn’t want it to go the way it did — a lot of things that we messed up on that we could have improved — but things happen.
 

Your football career at Ocoee is done, so what happens next for you?

I’m going to college, and right now, I’m thinking about engineering and mechanical stuff, but it might change when I go to college.