By Vincent Jones, Jr.
Striving to achieve your goals should be a part of anybody’s plan of action in regards to how successful you want to be. Success by no means comes easy, but with hard work and dedication anything is possible. Redshirt senior Rico Kennedy is on a fast track to complete everything he has set out to do and is doing it in his own way.
Kennedy is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and is a graduate of Dillard High School. While putting up amazing stats for the Panthers, he was told by Division I scouts he did not pass the “eye test”. This would not be the first taste of adversity that Rico would face. After graduating and beating the odds, Rico attended West Point for a year before taking a year off from football as a whole.
“I continued to train and work out every day,” Kennedy stated. “I knew that my time would come I just had to be patient.”
Currently, Kennedy is a student-athlete at Morgan State University where he has played linebacker for the previous four years. Upon his arrival at Morgan State, Kennedy has earned multiple accolades due to his stellar performances on the field. Kennedy is a two time Phil Steele Preseason All-MEAC first team selection and has been placed on the Watch List for the Black College Football Player of the Year Award in the year of 2018 and 2019.
“Playing the game of football has become natural for me, almost like an instinct that is within me,” Kennedy says. When I graduated from high school I was more of a finesse player, I did not have the size that I truly wanted. By working hard I put on the necessary muscle weight to excel at my position.”
Kennedy is aware of the importance of doing what is right for you and not following a crowd. “I used to always get caught up by the big name schools only because of their name, not by what they had to offer” Kennedy elaborated. “I knew that going to another school and not playing until my senior year wasn’t me.”
“We are elated and ecstatic about him accomplishing what we knew he could do” Kennedy’s father Art Kennedy and mother Yolanda Kennedy said. “He had to take a look back on life to decide where he wanted to go. We always knew he had the tools he just needed the right opportunity.”
With the beginning of the 2019 season approaching, Kennedy is set to have another outstanding season where he hopes to achieve his lifelong dream to be in the NFL. Rico is also on track to graduate in December with a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Engineering.
“You have to keep God first with everything you do” Kennedy emphasized. “I pray every night and I know that if I do what is asked of me God will handle the rest. Anybody that wants to play at the next level or do anything that interests them, they have to make sure that God is ordering their steps.”
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