Eric Kendricks

Classroom

Eric has been a consistent performer in the classroom. His grade point average has hovered around the 3.0 mark for his career and is currently at 3.2. He was named to the Pac-12 Conference All-Academic teams (honorable mention) in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Kendricks was listed on the UCLA Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. He is a Political Science major.

Character

Eric is a person who has consistently had to outwork the opponent to achieve his path to success. He has done this not only in the classroom, but also on the field of play. He has demonstrated the highest level of integrity and work ethic while at UCLA and the results have been reflected in football, where he ranks among the school’s all-time top 10 in tackles and in school where his GPA has hovered around 3.0 and he has made six appearances on the honor roll. After a redshirt freshman season in which he earned the Charles Pike Scout Team Player of the Year Award, Eric has found the inner strength to be at his best each and every day. He was selected as a captain for the 2013 team and was chosen honorable mention all-conference and honorable mention Academic all-conference. At the team’s annual banquet following the 2013 season, he was presented the N.N. Sugarman Award for Best Leadership. Kendricks has led the team in tackles the past two seasons and become the first player at UCLA to register at least 100 tackles in back-to-back seasons since 1988-89.

Community

Eric has taken time out of his busy schedule to give back to his community on numerous occasions. He has visited with and spoken to youth sports teams in the Los Angeles inner city area and worked at youth camps at the elementary and middle school levels. Eric has also been involved with the Prime Time Games in which he has interacted as a coach and mentor alongside children with developmental disabilities. He has been a part of the UCLA Marathon Kids program in which student-athletes encourage the youth to reach the finish line at the Bruin track and present awards at the on-campus conclusion of a five-month 26.2 mile walk/run for youth in the greater Los Angeles area. He has also helped out at a soup kitchen in a downtown area, taken part in holiday gift wrapping and gift exchange with underpriveledged families and helped feed the homeless a Thanksgiving meal in 2013. In addition, Kendricks filmed a public service announcement for SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions). In high school, he worked with his coaches to help at various Special Olympics events.

Competition

Kendricks enters the season with the most starts on the team (28) and ranks eighth on the all-time school list for tackles (332). He has earned honorable mention All-Conference honors the past two seasons after topping the team in tackles each year. He led the Pac-12 in tackles average in 2012 (10.6 per game and was the first UCLA player to do so since 2004) and placed third in the league in 2013 (8.8). His total of 150 tackles in the 2012 season were the most by a UCLA player since 1978 and the third-highest mark in school history. He served as team co-captain in the 2013 season. Kendricks became the first UCLA player to achieve back-to-back 100-tackle seasons (150 in 2012 and 106 in 2013) since 1988-89. Prior to the 2014 season, he has been named to the Bednarik, Butkus, Nagurski, Lott and Lombardi Award Watch Lists which honor players as the tops at their position or as the top defender in the nation.