Empire’s Trevor Kennedy making most of opportunity

Trevor Kennedy was just about convinced he’d reached the end of the professional football line.
He had brief stints with Tampa Bay and Green Bay in the NFL and Winnipeg in the CFL. His career had been sidetracked by injuries.
He had a profession picked out: Human Resource Management. He had the city picked out: Los Angeles. He had several interviews scheduled.
Then he fielded a phone call from the Spokane Empire. Coach Adam Shackleford offered a tryout, not necessarily a job, because Kennedy had been out of football for a while. Kennedy’s highlight video was impressive but a little outdated.
Kennedy paid his own way to the workout in Miami and raised eyebrows by running 40 yards in 4.4 seconds. That led to a contract and a training camp invitation. He quickly moved from receiver to running back and the team felt comfortable enough to release a veteran Indoor Football League back.
“Before I was granted this opportunity I was actually thinking about hanging it up,” Kennedy said. “Coach Shack took a chance on me and it’s paying off for both of us at the moment.”
That’s a bit of an understatement. Kennedy, who hasn’t fumbled since the season opener and is often the first priority of opposing defenses, has become the IFL’s most productive running back. He leads the league in scoring (27 touchdowns), points per game (20.2) and rushing yards per game (68.9), and he’s third in all-purpose yardage (122.4).
Nebraska’s Jameel Sewell is a distant second in rushing yards (52.3) and points (14.6).
Why did Kennedy take one last shot at football?
“The fact that I believe I have the talent to play on Sunday as well as in any league,” said Kennedy, who was a standout receiver at Division II Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania. “I’m a competitor. They told me if I made it to the open tryout they’d give me a real look.
“I was like, man, if I give everything I got in this last one and it doesn’t work out, I would be able to close the door.”
Now doors seem to be opening up for 6-foot, 205-pound Kennedy.
“I talked to an NFL team Monday,” Shackleford said. “The thing is he’s been out (of football) two years so he’s going to have to do everything he can to prove himself and he’s probably going to have to do it for a full season. And the other thing he’s battled in the past is injuries. He’s going to have to prove he can stay healthy.”
New practice digs
Spokane (7-1) will spend the week practicing in the Arena in preparation for Billings (4-5) on Saturday. In fact, the team is holding meetings, eating breakfast and watching film at the facility as well as practicing.
The Empire typically practices at the Spokane Soccer Center, which has a lower roof that limits long passes and the kicking game, and occasionally outdoors.
Spokane’s only previous practice at the Arena this season was a walk-through last Thursday.
“This is the first time our receivers, our quarterback, our defensive backs actually get the natural feel the whole week,” linebacker Nick Haag said. “You come in here for games, it’s different with the angles. When you’re outside and you have cones as boundaries, sometimes guys are making plays over the cones. If there’s a wall, what’s the outcome there?”
New guys
Spokane signed two players last week and one, defensive end D.J. Yendrey, came up with one sack against Tri-Cities on Friday. He arrived in Spokane on Thursday night.
The other addition was Diondre Borel, who played in seven games for AFL champion San Jose last season. Borel threw for nearly 7,000 yards as a quarterback at Utah State. He converted to receiver in the pro ranks and spent time with Green Bay, Tampa Bay and Tennessee.
“He has a role coming,” Shackleford said. “You could see him at quarterback, you could see him at wide receiver. He was with the Packers for a season on the practice squad and he said he even played some cover corner. He’s just a really good athlete.”