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It's not often that you find a college football player who ultimately dreams of "getting to Canada." But Morehouse (Ga.) College junior Achille Hendje's football successes haven't been typical, either.
The 2005 Blake alumnus never set foot on the gridiron until his junior year at the Silver Spring school. In fact, his crowning athletic achievement as a prepster was starting on the Bengals' Class 4A state runner-up basketball team as a senior.
But since walking onto the Division II football program as a freshman, the dynamic 6-foot-2 wideout has become a star with the Maroon Tigers. He emerged in 2008 as the go-to guy for quarterbacks William Brack and Christ Sterling, notching team-highs with 46 catches, 680 yards and seven touchdown receptions for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's second-place finisher. In a Sept. 7 victory over conference rival Fort Valley State, Hendje posted career highs with 8 catches and 175 yards.
Not bad for a walk-on.
"I'm a more natural basketball player; that's pretty much what I grew up playing," said Hendje. "I knew more about basketball, I was more natural at basketball, but I guess I was a better football player. So I knew my whole goal was to play college football and I was recruited by [Division] I-AA schools like Towson, Wagner (N.Y.) and Hofstra (N.Y.). But Morehouse was pretty much the school that gave me a shot."
Hendje wasn't altogether a neophyte, either; he was a preferred walk-on, as the Maroon Tigers saw his potential on the outside, though he played tight end at Blake. After redshirting as a freshman, he's improved every year as the team's home-run hitter, catching 9 passes for 200 yards in 2006 and 19 for 355 in '07, before leading the SIAC in receiving this fall.
He's gotten good enough that he's already thinking about the next level. Hendje has a year of eligibility left — though he will graduate this spring — but the Morehouse coaching staff has begun receiving calls from both Arena Football League and Canadian Football League squads, interested in acquiring his abilities.
The prospects of playing up north already have Hendje preoccupied.
"I've been to Montreal once with my mom and my sister as just something to do one summer, just sightseeing," he said. "But you know, the field's 120 yards. That's definitely good for a receiver; more room to make plays. So I'm just waiting for scouts to talk to me directly."
Morehouse has some recent pedigree at an even higher level; defensive end Isaac Keys, who played for the Maroon Tigers in the late 1990s, played two years with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals. Kavlin Pearson, a star running back for the school a couple years later, is currently a defensive back for the Detroit Lions.
Hendje isn't talking himself into NFL prospects, though as a freshman, he paid close attention to 2005 All-SIAC Morehouse wideout Raymond Johnson, who played in the Arena League. But he does think he's got a future in the sport.
"I have a year of eligibility left, so I don't know," said Hendje. "I definitely found my niche."
