Last year, Cody Hendrickson of Cromwell was considered by many knowledgeable football fans to be one of the best nine-man players in Minnesota. Hendrickson just completed his freshman season at University of Minnesota Crookston.
"I felt the year, as far as our football record goes, was a little disappointing because we could have done a lot better," explained Hendrickson. "But as a freshman, it was a building year [for me] and also for our program...because we had a class of 30 or more freshmen. There were also a lot of seniors that helped give us advice and experience along the way."
Crookston finished the season with a 2-9 record, which made for more losses for Hendrickson in one year of college than in four years as starting quarterback for the Cards.
"Hendrickson was quite simply a once-in-a-lifetime player," recalled Cards coach Jeff Gronner. "He was a good athlete but [more than that] he had all the skills and intangibles you want in a football player and a leader. He had a phenomenal arm, great hands, saw holes well and ran the option great. His best gifts were the football instincts he had on defense to read plays before they actually developed."
Hendrickson made the switch over to cornerback this season after playing quarterback and safety in high school.
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"There were bigger guys and faster guys, plus they were more athletic," Hendrickson said. "It also was kind of weird to play only one way the entire game and watch the offense while I was on the sidelines. To deal with the changes I asked advice and help from older players and watched and learned from what they did."
The beginning of the season saw Hendrickson in about 10 plays per game. By the third game, he started seeing more action and in the final game he played the entire time.
"I pretty much started the last game against Upper Iowa University because we traveled only three corners, and on the opening kickoff one was injured," explained Hendrickson. "I played most of the game, including both overtimes. I was also on every special team's starting unit besides backup on the punt team as gunner."
Crookston fell in their final game of the season 37-36 to Upper Iowa in double overtime.
Despite a lot of playing time, the ultra-competitive Hendrickson feels he has a lot more work to do to become a more important part of Crookston's defense next year.
"I'll be hitting the weight room this off season so I can be more help in the running game," said Hendrickson. "Hopefully our program will continue to grow so we can be a force in the NSIC."
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) was handily won by the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs who finished with a perfect 10-0 record. Crookston went 2-9 overall and 1-9 in the NSIC.
