Tom Kennedy didn't plan on being a two-sport athlete, but hard work in the weight room helped create the opportunity for him. An All-Northeast Conference performer in lacrosse, he's also become a standout wide receiver for the Bulldogs' football team.

VITALS

Tom Kennedy
Bryant

No. 4
Year: Senior
Position: Midfield
Height: 5-11
Weight: 190
Clean: 300
Bench: 330
Squat: 450
Vertical Jump: 35

For most of his Farmingdale (N.Y.) High School career, Tom Kennedy figured he’d go to college to play football, his favorite sport. But with lacrosse as his other passion, the opportunity to play two sports in college was not out of the question.

Late in Kennedy’s senior year, Bryant coach Mike Pressler offered him the opportunity to pursue both sports in college. He jumped at the chance, and joined the Bulldogs after being a member of the football team in the fall of his freshman year of college.

Kennedy was an avid weight lifter in high school, but he said having Bryant strength and conditioning coach Craig Buckley advising him only fueled his passion. He learned how to properly execute certain workouts, like power cleans and squats.
 

From there, Kennedy took off. Doubling as a wide receiver for Bryant’s football team, the lacrosse midfielder has some of the top numbers of the team in the clean, bench, squat and vertical jump.

It all boils down to performance on the field. That’s what motivates Kennedy, who was first-team All-Northeast Conference with 24 goals and 15 assists in lacrosse last season. A three-year starter, he enters his senior year with 52 career goals.

In football, he is Bryant's leading receiver with 41 catches for 703 yards and seven touchdowns. He's coming off of a monster game in which he helped Bryant beat Sacred Heart 48-45. Kennedy had five catches for 151 yards and three touchdowns to earn NEC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

“I know that the effort that I put into the weight room is going to help me out on the field,” he said. “Obviously, I want to be the best that I can possibly be. I want see how good I can be. I don’t want to ask, ‘What if I did this or what did if I did that?’”