The Spartans had a rocky 2025 football season, ending with a 1-11 overall record and a 0-5 MEAC record, but their post-season events are shining a positive light on the team. They have four players participating in the 2026 All State HBCU Legacy Bowl, the most since the first ever game in 2022 where they also had four players participate. The spotlight for the Spartans this year is on J.J. Evans, DreSean Kendrick, Vincent Byrd Jr., and Daylan Long as they are representing the green and gold on the nationally broadcasted stage.
For some of the players, this was a dream come true, giving them an opportunity to perform and showcase their talents in front of NFL scouts. The players also get to experience New Orleans culture, spending a week there during Mardi Gras leading up to the game. It takes place on February 21st 3:00 p.m. Central Time at Yulman Stadium.
“I get a sense of pride about it because it’s not about how we finished. We still produce good people,” Byrd Jr. said. “We might’ve not had the season that we wanted, but we’re still putting in the work and people are getting recognized for that, and we get to represent our school in the Legacy Bowl.”
Presented by the Black College Hall of Fame, the game was established in 2021 by James “Shack” Harris and Doug Williams, and features NFL draft-eligible players from HBCUs. 100 players will be in attendance this year making up two 50-player teams: Team Gaither, named after former Florida A&M football coach, Jake Gaither, and Team Robinson, honoring Grambling State football coach, Eddie Robinson.
The MEAC and CIAA players are coached by South Carolina State coach, Chennis Berry, and Johnson C. Smith coach, Maurice Flowers, representing Team Gaither. Team Robinson is represented by the SWAC and SIAC players, and are coached by Prairie View A&M coach, Tremaine Jackson, and Albany State coach, Quinn Gray Sr.
The invitation to the bowl game wasn’t the traditional invite that you would imagine, but it still followed a tradition that they have followed for a few years. Each player confirmed that they received the invitation through a direct message request from the HBCU Legacy Bowl Instagram page.
For Evans, this is his third school in his collegiate journey. Coming out of high school, he committed to Auburn University for two seasons, then transferred to North Alabama for two seasons, and finished his collegiate career here at Norfolk State. He finished the season recording 35 receptions, receiving 501 yards, recorded 70 yards as his longest reception, and had 6 touchdowns total.
“Honestly, I just felt like it was a blessing anytime you can play a game after your college career. I didn’t start to really get a chance to showcase my ability until towards the middle of the season,” Evans said. “I was happy because the season didn’t start off how I wanted it to, but once I got that (invitation), I was just really excited.”
At one point, playing for the Spartans was a family affair for Long. After transferring from Miami University in 2022, he played with his older brother, Tyler Long, for a season before his brother transferred to Austin Peay State University to finish out his collegiate career. Daylan Long has been holding it down for his family since then with the Spartans, finishing the season with nine tackles, one sack, and even recovered an interception.
“I was just grateful to be recognized. It’s a prestigious game so you want to get the opportunity to go up there, showcase your talents, put on for the scouts, and show people you are who you say you are,” said Long. “Ever since I got to Norfolk, I’ve been wanting to change the narrative on the program and on the city in general, so it feels good to bring something positive to the program and have something to celebrate after all the things we’ve been through.”
It was fate for Kendrick to make his way to Norfolk State after graduating from William and Mary, because he made the transition to become a Spartan with his dad, Andre Kendrick. Known as Coach Dre, he was teammates with Michael Vick at Virginia Tech, and they stayed connected after college. When Vick received the head coaching offer at NSU, he brought his longtime friend aboard his staff as a running backs coach, which influenced Kendrick’s decision to play for his dad and Vick, who he considers an uncle. While a Spartan, he had 56 receptions and received 746 yards, with his longest reception of 65 yards.
“What’s crazy is one of my teammates was like ‘Your invite is about to come, I know it,’ and literally that night, I went home and I saw the message and I texted him he was right,” Kendrick said about receiving his invitation. “Once you get a few players to go, it puts more of a light on the school for players next year and years to come – I think it’s all about being a trailblazer for stuff like that to get more eyes on the school.”
Out of all of the Spartan participants, Byrd Jr. is the only one that has been a Spartan his entire collegiate journey. A Stafford, Virginia native, he has been a starter for the past three seasons and had a feeling that the legacy bowl offer would find its way to him when the time was right. His journey began with the Spartans in 2022 where he was named to the All-MEAC Third Team, then boosted that honor up a notch in 2023 where he was named to the All-MEAC Preseason Second team, then secured both preseason and in-season All-MEAC Second Team selections in 2024.
“First thing I did was call my dad– I was like ‘I made it, I did it’. I was elated because all of my hard work paid off,” Byrd Jr. said about his reaction when he first received the Legacy Bowl invitation. “When you’re not doing as well as you think you want to do, you don’t think you’re gonna be where you want to be, but hard work does prevail in the end. Not everything goes the way you want it to go, and that’s okay, I was just happy to be a part of this journey and leave my mark and do something positive with that.”
Their journeys to this moment have been different, but they all have the similar goals of what they want to get out of this experience. If they had their one Cinderella wish after walking off the field, it would be for them to have left their all on the field, put on a show for the scouts, and solidify their spot on someone’s roster.
Spartan Echo 