At the end of the day, LSU sophomore linebacker Kendell Beckwith would rather be in the woods than on the field.
“I’m not like a lot of other college football players,” Beckwith said. “I’m a country boy.”
The 6-foot-2-inch, 245-pound linebacker has always had a love for the outdoors. He grew up on 50 acres of land just outside of Clinton, Louisiana, a small town near the state’s border with Mississippi.
As children, his brothers Justin and Wendell Jr. enjoyed playing football in the small pasture next to their house, but Kendell had his eyes on something else: horses.
“Before he could even walk, Kendell loved horses,” said Kendell’s mother, Urhonda. “He started riding horses when he was around 4 years old. He didn’t get into football until middle school, and even then, he spent most of his time with his horses.”
When Kendell was 7 years old, he got his own horse. Since then, his childhood interest for horses has budded into a full-on passion.
Each of the three brothers is a gifted athlete on the football field. The oldest of the three, Wendell Jr., was a two-year letterman at Tulane University. The youngest, Justin, is a junior wide receiver at East Feliciana High School. Kendell is different because he’s the only Beckwith brother with this love for horses.
“I don’t even know why I like horses so much,” Kendell said. “My parents used to do a lot of trail rides and stuff, but I’m the only one of my brothers like that. My older brother isn’t really into them, my younger brother doesn’t have interest in them, but me, for some reason, I’ve always had a love for horses. It’s how I was born.”
Kendell is in a breakout year at middle linebacker for the Tigers. Through eight games, he’s third in total tackles on the Tigers’ roster with 52. Four of the 52 tackles have been tackles for loss, and 1.5 have been sacks. He also had a 29-yard interception return for a touchdown against New Mexico State University.
Although Kendell has made a statement on the field, it wasn’t until the end of his high school career that he began seriously watching football.
“I started watching football on TV when I started getting recruited — probably like my junior or senior year of high school,” Kendell said. “I always liked playing football. When I was getting recruited, I started watching the teams that were looking at me, but I was always a fan of playing football. I wasn’t really a big fan of watching football, just playing it.”
Even amid the whirlwind that stems from being an LSU football player, Kendell always finds time to step away from the bustle of the city and recharge.
Every Sunday, Kendell makes the drive back to Clinton to spend time with his family and his horses. Only about 30 miles away, the proximity to home and what he loves was a big reason he chose to play football in Baton Rouge.
“My family and my horses being close by were a big draw for me to come to LSU,” Kendell said. “I don’t know what I would have done if I was far away. My dad would have probably ended up selling them or something. I didn’t want that.”
Urhonda said although Kendell’s horses were a part of his decision to be a Tiger, there also was a focus on education that set LSU apart from Alabama, Ole Miss and Mississippi State, other schools from which he received offers.
“I really think that LSU’s academic program drew him to the school more than anything,” Urhonda said. “Initially, he wanted to become a veterinarian, so he was really focused on that aspect of LSU. On top of that, his horses still being at home was a big influence.”
During his bye weekend before LSU’s matchup against No. 4 Alabama, Kendell was home riding and caring for his horses. He has three horses of his own: Spirit, an 8-year-old quarter horse mare, and her colts Rambo and Rosé.
Kendell said his two favorites are Rambo and Rosé, which are each a year old. By staying in Louisiana for college, Kendell was able to be close to Spirit when she gave birth to Rambo this year. The Beckwiths keep Spirit in the pasture next to their house and keep the younger horses down the road at Kendell’s great-grandmother’s house.
“I haven’t been able to see which one is faster, but I think Rambo is,” Kendell said. “Rosé is a little more muscular, so he’s not too fast, but Rambo is slimmer and built to run.”
One weekend, Kendell was able to bring two of his good friends on the team, sophomore defensive end Lewis Neal and sophomore defensive back Tre’Davious White, home to Clinton to meet his family and his horses.
“It was quite the experience — it was my second time riding a horse,” Neal said. “When we got up there, I was like, ‘Man, I can’t believe you’ve got me doing this.’ My ride was good, but when that horse started nodding his head, I was ready to get off.”
Neal was able to get his horse moving for a ride, but White had a little more trouble getting his horse to do what he wanted.
“Kendell’s horse was stubborn,” White said. “I got on, and she’d want to ride for a minute, then she’d just stop. I was kicking her, and she just wouldn’t go anywhere. But when Kendell got on, she just rode off. I won’t ride that horse anymore.”
Hailing from Wilson, North Carolina, Neal said he was used to Carolina barbecue but wasn’t ready for the Beckwith style of Louisiana cooking.
When Urhonda made dinner for the boys, Neal said he was surprised by how spicy the food was.
“When I went down there, they cooked for us. His mom made some gumbo — that was my first time ever having gumbo,” Neal said. “They do a lot of cooking. It was great gumbo, but it was hot. I had to drink three bottles of water. My mouth was burning.”
When they began school at LSU, Kendell and Neal were roommates. They became close, and their similar appearances have even led some to think the two are brothers.
Neal said Kendell’s country attitude isn’t just an act — he’s been that way since they met freshman year.
“He’s a country boy because that’s all he likes, horses. That’s all he talks about,” Neal said. “And he watches History Channel. He likes watching Animal Planet and all that. He doesn’t watch much football or anything. He just watches Discovery Channel and Animal Planet and stuff about horses.”
When he isn’t riding his horses in the pasture next to his house, Kendell is in the acres of woods behind his house doing another activity he loves: hunting.
“He’s got videos of him shooting his hunting guns,” Neal said. “He’s actually got some videos on his iPad of him getting some hogs.”
Although he loves to hunt anything, including hogs, Kendell focuses on hunting deer. He said he loves spending hours deep in the woods with his 7 mm Remington Magnum rifle, but he’s hoping to learn how to hunt in other ways as well.
“I like going out with my 7 Mag, but I need to know how to bow hunt,” Kendell said. “I think I’m going to learn how sometime soon.”
With the season more than halfway over, Kendell said he hopes to continue to play at his current level and make a difference on the Tigers’ defense. Although he loves football and playing for LSU is a point of pride for him, he said he’s anxious to hang up his cleats and get home to his family and his country way of life.
“After football season is over, I’ll be able to go home and ride my horses more and do some hunting,” Kendell said. “I can’t wait.”