Former All-American kicker Kendall Trainor now shares a lot of laughs when recounting his historic 1988 senior season at Arkansas.
The Fredonia, Kan., native had put up pretty good numbers through his first three seasons in Fayetteville. But it was after the 1988 season began on shaky ground, that the 6-foot-1 dual-sport athlete proceeded to have the greatest season a Razorback kicker has ever had.
When the dust had settled for the 10-2 Razorbacks, Trainor had converted 88.9 percent of his field goals on the season, going 25 for 28, and had ended his career by making his final 24 kicks. That streak is still tops in Arkansas history and was just one field goal short of the national record.
Facing competitive pressure from incoming freshman Todd Wright, Trainor put in extra work prior to his senior season, which resulted with a torn quad muscle that summer.
“When I saw Todd kick, I knew there was going to be a battle for the job in the fall,” Trainor recalls. “I probably worked harder on my kicking that summer than I had the previous two summers. But when I came into camp after the injury, I couldn’t kick every day. Todd came into camp and was kicking every day, and making everything. So that kind of pushed me a little bit.”
Trainor, who was also a member of the Razorbacks’ 1987 World Series baseball team, was ultimately named the starting kicker heading into the ’88 football season. But after a lackluster start, Head Coach Ken Hatfield considered pulling the plug on the veteran.
“Coach Hatfield had said that in order for us to be successful as a team that year, we were going to have to be 90 percent on our field goals – so we had that as our goal,” Trainor said. “But, as you know, the season didn’t start off that way.”
Not so funny at the time, Trainor can now laugh at how poorly those first two and a half games went.
He missed on a 57-yarder in the season-opening 63-14 win over Pacific, then booted a 55-yard field goal the following week, in a 30-26 win over Tulsa.
But when Ole Miss came to Little Rock a week later, a disastrous first half nearly derailed Trainor’s entire career. In addition to missing an extra point, his first field goal attempt came up short, while his second attempt sailed over the upright, just before halftime. Tension was running high as Arkansas went to the locker room struggling with the underdog Rebels.
“I still swear, to this day, that second field goal was inside the upright – I was extremely frustrated not getting that call,” he said, before humorously adding, “The refs must have been from Ole Miss or something.”
Still, Trainor was just 1-for-4 on the season, and kicking coach Ken Turner could not hide his frustration as he stormed through the locker room at the intermission.
“Coach Turner came into the locker room yelling, ‘Where’s Trainor? Where’s that choker?'” Trainor said. “He went out of his way to walk by my locker and just kept talking about me.”
An upset Trainor then jumped up and tried to follow Turner into the coaches’ locker room, before deep snapper Richey Miller intervened and tried to calm him down.
“Richey grabbed me and took me back to my locker, but I just sat there and fumed the whole halftime – seemed like forever,” he now says with a chuckle. “I got irritated enough that I stood up on a chair and told the rest of the team that I wasn’t going to miss another field goal all year. Some guys, like Rick Apolskis and Jim Mabry, were very supportive, but I’m sure some guys were rolling their eyes.”
When the team returned to the field, Trainor removed the kicking shoe he had been using in games, and replaced it with a shoe he had only used in practice. Then came the tipping point … as Trainor tossed his old shoe toward the trashcan, he missed.
“And all I hear is this voice yelling, ‘Dang Trainor, you can’t even make it in the trashcan,’ … I looked up, and it was my brother, Kevin,” he said with a big laugh. “When I figured out it was him, it kind of broke the ice before I went back out for the second half.”
His younger sibling, Kevin Trainor, has now spent the past three decades at the University of Arkansas, currently serving as the chief public relations officer for Razorback Athletics. Yet, it was his “brotherly love” that night that may have been one his most impactful accomplishments.
When big brother re-took the field against the Rebels, it was with a renewed determination. After the Hogs fell behind 13-12 in the third quarter, Trainor proceeded to score the game’s final nine points, connecting on field goals of 31, 38 and 42 yards, and propelling the Hogs to a 21-13 victory.
“When we went back out in the second half, we had several opportunities, and the rest is history,” he said with a big grin.
Not long after that, Coach Turner received a call from former Razorback All-American kicker Steve Little, who had been watching Trainor from afar. Little said it looked like Trainor was planting his left foot too close to the tee.
“So, we went and watched some film, and sure enough I was really getting close to the tee, which was causing me to be inconsistent with the direction of the kicks,” Trainor said.
During practice, Turner began placing a knee pad between the tee and where Trainor’s plant-foot should land.
“We started practicing with that knee pad for a couple of weeks, until we got into the groove,” Trainor said. “And honestly, the rest of the season seemed like easy sailing. It was like money.”
As promised, he never missed another kick as a Razorback. He still holds the school-record with five field goals in a game, and actually did it twice that season. He booted fields goals of 30, 30, 49, 34 and 19 yards, and added four extra points, in a 53-10 win over TCU. He then repeated the feat in a 25-20 win over Texas A&M in the conference finale, splitting the uprights five times to help secure the first of Arkansas’ two consecutive Southwest Conference titles.
His 28-yard field goal in Austin, also proved to be the difference in a key 27-24 win over Texas.
“Anytime someone would mention anything about the streak, I’d say, ‘Let’s not bring that up and jinx me’ – kind of like pitchers with no-hitters going,” he said.
Arkansas was 10-0 heading to Miami for the regular-season finale, but was a 17-point underdog against the No. 2 Hurricanes. Down 3-0 in the first quarter, the Razorbacks faced fourth down, just inside Miami’s side of the field. They could either punt or attempt a 58-yard field goal.
“The first time I really felt any pressure was when we went down to Miami, because we had been curb-stomped (51-7) by them the year before. But Coach Hatfield had us all in the mindset that we could compete and win that game,” Trainor said. “We had stalled out on that drive, and were not known as a gambling team. But Coach called me over during the timeout and asked if I could make this kick. Of course, I said, ‘Yeah, I can make it.’
“Then I started thinking that I could really put us in a bad spot if I missed, not to mention, the streak was on the line. I started questioning whether I should have said yes or not. But Jimmy Simpson, my holder, just said, ‘You got this, just hit it smooth.’ But I did not hit that ball very good at all, pushed it to the right a little bit.”
The sailing football grazed the inside of the right upright, bounced on the crossbar and went through, tying the score at 3-3. It was Trainor’s 23rd straight successful kick and the longest of his career – yet, still nine yards shy of Little’s 67-yard school-record. The Razorbacks eventually held a fourth-quarter lead, until a late Miami field goal gave the home team an 18-16 win.
The Hogs then fell to Troy Aikman and UCLA in the Cotton Bowl, as Trainer’s 49-yard field goal was the only points Arkansas could muster in the 17-3 defeat. It was also the final kick of his collegiate career.
His 69 career field goals is still fifth on the Razorbacks’ all-time list, while his 73.9 career percentage is third on the list.
Looking back, he praises the roles Turner and Wright contributed to his success that season.
“Coach Turner was significant in getting me back in the right frame of mind, thinking about things the right way. Really, just simplifying things and focusing on the fundamentals of the kicks,” Trainor said. “I credit Todd Wright a lot as well. We were very competitive and we didn’t miss many kicks in practice. He probably taught me a lot more about being consistent with my performance throughout the week, instead of just focusing on game days.
“He was the guy that really pushed me to be my best every day. I owe a lot to him.”
Trainor was drafted by the then-Phoenix Cardinals in the ninth round of the NFL Draft, but was unable to dethrone veteran Al Del Greco as the team’s placekicker. He also had stints with Dallas, Cleveland, San Francisco and Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers had actually traded him to Atlanta prior to the 1989 season-opener, where he was slated to be the Falcons’ Game 1 starter. Unfortunately, he broke his shoulder trying the make a tackle on a kickoff the previous week and was unable to pass the physical.
He received some call-backs during the season, but after nothing panned out, he spent two seasons in New Jersey, playing in the World League of American Football.
“I chased that dream for about four years, then ended up coming back to Northwest Arkansas and getting a temporary job with Walmart,” Trainor said.
After advancing into the company’s management training program, he went on to spend 26 years in the retailer’s home office. He left in 2017 to begin working as an independent consultant.
Through the years, the 56-year-old Trainor has continued to coach his kids’ youth sports teams, and enjoys passing along many of the memories and lessons he learned along the way.
In 2015, Trainor was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor, and will forever be remembered for “the streak,” 35 years ago.
“Obviously, there is a sense of pride.” he said. “It’s a really cool memory to draw from, because it taught me that you’re only going to be as good as your expectations.”
