Here’s the full interview with former Virginia Tech running back Andre Kendrick. There’s a lot of good stuff here that we couldn’t fit into the paper. He talks about his friendship with Michael Vick, his restaurant and his kids.

I know some of this information is dated. This interview was conducted back in September, before Kendrick’s restaurant opened and before Vick visited Lynchburg. I held onto these quotes because I wanted to write a big 10th anniversary story, but I held out for a possible interview with Vick when he came to the Hill City. Alas, I wasn’t able to talk to Vick. So I decided to just publish my interview with Kendrick. Enjoy.

Can you believe it’s been 10 years?
It’s gone by a little quicker, because I’ve got my little boys (D’Andre and DreSean) now. It’s kind of like starting from scratch watching them play little league and come up, so yeah, it’s kind of hard to believe I haven’t played a snap of football for almost 10 years.

When you think back on that game, what comes to mind first?
I felt like we were going to win that game, and I just wanted to win. That’s all I was thinking about, was doing anything in my power to help us win the game.

Do you remember your 63-yard kickoff return that followed Peter Warrick’s punt return for a touchdown?
Yeah, I remember everything about the game. I remember when all that happened, I told (starting tailback) Shyrone (Stith, who was injured right before halftime) to just sit back. I said, ‘I got em.’ I said, ‘We’re going to win this game.’ I told him, ‘Watch me work.’

Did that kick return give you guys a jolt?
We killed their momentum with that play. I just made an outside step like I was going one way and it gave my blockers just enough leverage on them to seal them off and it was just like smooth sailing from there.

Tell me about that touchdown run late in the third quarter that gave you guys a 29-28 lead.
I was zoned in by then. I remember they had a corner, Reggie Durden, that was talking a lot of trash when we were down, and I told him, ‘Just wait.’ I scored the first touchdown (to cut FSU’s lead to 28-23) and then came back to score the second touchdown. I think I tried to follow him all the way back to the line of scrimmage, like, ‘Yeah, what did I tell you?’

How much confidence did your second touchdown give the team? Did you think you were going to win the game at that point?
We were back in it. I just think a couple of mishaps and miscues … We were rookies to the national championship game, and I think we had a couple of things that didn’t go our way, and we kind of got away from what got us there. I take my hat off to Florida State. They had a good game plan, but I think if we played them 10 times, I think we could have at least beaten them five times. I don’t think they were a better team than us.

Tech was inside the FSU 5-yard line twice and came away with no points. Did you guys think you gave some opportunities away there?
If we get the fumble recovery in the end zone on the opening drive, we’re up 7-0, and all the momentum is on our side. The way our fans were, if we would have gotten any slight momentum, we might have turned the lights out. We had a couple of plays that we missed that I would have liked to have back. I think a fake field goal or something like that where we could have gotten some points there and could have gotten a comfortable lead, and the big plays wouldn’t have been as staggering and as drastic to us.

You accounted for 171 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. As far as personal statistics go, do you view that game as your best?
I just remember sitting in the room that night before. Mike (Vick, the Hokies starting quarterback) was my roommate, and I remember just sitting there and telling him, ‘We’re going to win this game tomorrow.’ I kept telling him that. We stayed up and talked until about 2 o’clock in the morning. We had a feeling that day that we were going to win that game, and I told him, I was just like, ‘I’m going to leave it all on the line,’ and that’s all we kept saying, ‘This is the biggest show on. Ain’t nobody else on, just us. Everybody is going to be watching us. This is what we’ve gotta do.’ I was blessed, because I had a determination that game. I couldn’t even take my jersey off at the end of the game, because I couldn’t believe we lost.

Any regrets?
I think the effort was there. I think we put forth the effort. I think we all left our hearts on the field in that regard, but I think playing in that environment maybe got to a couple players where we had some miscues and we had a couple of mental lapses. Florida State was a great team. They capitalized on all our mental lapses.

How happy are you that Vick is getting a second chance in the NFL?
I’ve been talking to Mike every day. I’ve been down every weekend since he’s been home. I’ve been to his house. We’ve spent a lot of time together lately. I think the main thing for Mike is he just needs some people he feels comfortable around right now, so I’ve been providing that for him, because he is my friend. Like I told him, I’m not even worried about the football aspect and what you’ve got going on. I just want to know how you are as a person. That guy did two years in jail.

How determined is he to get back out there and get his name back in good graces?
He’s a great guy. What he did is not good. That’s not my thing. I don’t even deal with animals. What he did is wrong, but I think enough is enough, and like they said, this is America. Give the man a chance. How can we give this man a chance, an opportunity to right his wrongs if all we do is keep bashing him and everything he does? People don’t talk about the good things he did, like the lives he saved and the surgeries he paid for these kids down in Atlanta, the Boys Club he’s given money to, Virginia Tech that he’s given $1 million to the (shooting) victims up there. They don’t talk about all that stuff. Yeah, what he did was wrong, but this guy is genuinely, truly a good guy. They say he’s blowing his money, but look how much he gave out to all these charities and good causes, but you never hear about that.

What did you and Vick talk about when you stayed up all night before the game?
We were just really cracking jokes. I was just saying, ‘Coach (Billy) Hite, once I get hot, he better keep me in the game.’ We were just talking stuff like that. I’m not going to say I knew, but I mentally prepared myself for the situation. It actually played out … I wish the ending would have been better, but it played out well.

What do you guys talk about now? Is it like old times?
In college, we were a wild bunch. We have families now, so we’ve toned it down. We don’t really talk about football a lot, you know. We talk about fishing. He’s going to take me out on the golf course and beat up on me on the golf course. … We don’t even go out a lot of times. When we go do something, if we’re not on the golf course or going fishing, we’re just at the house playing games or just talking about what we used to do and how much our lives have changed with our families and stuff. It’s not really a lot about football, until you get all the agents and commissioner calling and everything. Other than that … I care about him as a person. I don’t care about his career. If he doesn’t ever take another snap, he’s still going to be my friend.

Have you ever watched a replay of the Sugar Bowl?
Well, I’ll tell you a story. My kids, a lot of people have been telling them that I used to play football, and they’re like, ‘Dad, we’ve never seen you play football before. I didn’t know you could play football.’ So one day, that’s the only time. I never watched the whole game. My dad will watch it. My kids will watch it, but I can’t sit and watch the whole game.

So you put the tape in and just walked away?
Oh yeah. I went in the other room and watched T.V. They’re like, ‘Daddy, come here. Daddy, come here. That’s you.’ I said, ‘I told you I could play.’

Is it painful to think about how it ended?
I can’t watch the ending. That’s the bad part about it. I can watch a couple of quarters of it, but I can’t … I’ve never watched the ending of that game since we played it.

Do you have any keepsakes from that game? Do you still wear the ring from that season?
Yep. It’s the only ring I wear. I have four rings, but that’s the only ring I wear because it meant so much, because I actually played in this game and actually made a difference in this game. I’ve got my jersey, of course, that I’m going to hang up in my restaurant.

Where did you keep the jersey before?
I always had the jerseys in the closet, and my kids wanted to wear it for Halloween one weekend. I let them wear it for Halloween, and then I put them back down. I thought once I get my own establishment, I’m going to hang my jerseys up, and that’s what I’m going to do. I have a throwback burgundy and the national championship jersey that I’m going to hang up there.

Who else from that 1999 team do you keep up with? Do you talk to (former E.C. Glass teammate) Carl Bradley?
Me and Carl don’t talk a whole lot. I send emails to him and Facebook or whatever. We don’t talk a whole lot.

Is he still in Lynchburg?
No, he’s in Northern Virginia actually.

What’s he doing?
I think he’s teaching school.

Do you keep up with anybody else from that team?
I talk to Michael Hawkes. I talk to Emmett Johnson. I talk to Ricky Hall a lot.

Did anything else in your career compare to that championship game experience?
The game against Miami the next year, I think that stage was kind of big, because if we would have won that, we would have gone back to the national championship game. That stage was pretty huge, also. Nothing will compare to that national championship game. That was just a totally different atmosphere, totally different feeling, totally different preparation as far as the magnitude of the game. There was nothing like it, when you’re the only college game on and everybody is watching, the whole world is watching.

What is your prevailing memory from the Sugar Bowl?
Dang, we let that one slip away. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. I really can’t come to grips with it, because we had that game won. We just didn’t execute early or down the stretch.

The Hokies are still trying to get back to the big game. Did you think it was going to be this long before Tech got back to the championship game?
What a lot of people really don’t realize is when (E.C. Glass alum) Cornell Brown’s class went to Virginia Tech, that’s when it all got turned around. That’s when we started beating up on Miami. That’s when we started winning a lot of Big East championships, going to these BCS bowls. They started it, that class, and I think when we actually got to the national championship game, I think that we commanded the respect and we went out and proved to the country that we are Virginia Tech and we are for real and we’re going to be for real for a long time. … I think the national championship game catapulted us into that prime time college football, like a national power.

How have things been since football?
I’m working. I’m selling cars. I love doing it. I’m raising my boys. I’ve got a lovely wife (Tanika Kendrick). She’s keeping me straight. Right now, I’m coach. I’m coaching my sons. Actually, I’m more like a personal trainer, a personal coach. My kids play little league football, and I try not to interfere or step on any of the coaches’ toes unless they ask me something. I just give my opinion, whether they use it or not. My kids will definitely be right. They’re going to already know how to do it right. All they have to do is practice.

Are they going to run the ball like you?
Oh yeah. My little boy scored two touchdowns … he had two 50-yard touchdowns this weekend in a scrimmage.

Are they both going to be running backs?
My oldest is going to be a linebacker or something, but he really wants to play basketball.

You mentioned your restaurant before. Tell me about that?
I have a local business partner, Marcus Revely, and his dad is big in the restaurant business. … I went to Mike (Vick) and just asked him. I didn’t want no money from him or anything. Me and Marcus had that covered. I just wanted to know if he could give us a little free advertising. He let us call the place ‘7,’ and he’s going to come up and we’re going to do a lot of things in the community with that. We’re going to get him up here, and he’s going to talk to a couple of people and talk to some kids, and we’re going to sponsor a lot of things in our community.

What kind of restaurant is it going to be?
It’s going to be a nice place where you can get yourself a nice meal, fine dining, but at the same time it’s going to have a sports bar also. We’re going to have T.Vs and everything. We’re going to make it comfortable for everybody.

Have you found a spot for it?
We have a spot located in Wyndhurst.

When is it going to open?
We’re in talks with people. We’ve got the building pretty much secure. We’re going to go ahead and clean it up real good. I think early September is the date that we’re looking for.