Rivalry with respect

Family football rivalries are common in Alabama, but the Hendrix twins don’t let it get in their way.

Though Tucker and Tanner Hendrix are literally on the sidelines this fall cheering for the University of Alabama and Auburn University, respectively, they say the rivalry never goes beyond good-natured teasing.

“We’ve been like best friends our whole lives, so we’re not going to have an in-the-house rivalry or anything crazy. We’ll still be cool with each other. We’ll probably talk a little trash here and there,” Tanner Hendrix said.

Tucker Hendrix has participated in competitive All-Star cheerleading since he was in elementary school, and he cheered for Ole Miss before transferring to Alabama. He first tried out for the Alabama team after high school but didn’t get selected, he said. After his first two years at Ole Miss, he gave it another shot at his “dream school.”

Going from cheer competitions, which focused on set routines, to leading a crowd from the sidelines was difficult at first, Tucker Hendrix said, but he loves the atmosphere on gameday.

“There’s such a huge crowd in college sports that it’s really easy to get behind cheering Ole Miss, Alabama — Auburn for him [Tanner] — and it’s just so cool. I’ve never experienced that before,” he said.

Tanner Hendrix, meanwhile, played football, basketball and baseball in his younger years and is new to the sport of cheerleading, joining the Auburn team on the sidelines for the first time this school year. However, growing up with his brother means Tanner was familiar with the sport long before he decided to try out.

“I was around cheer my whole life because of Tucker and I would always go to his competitions and practices. I was always interested in it but never really went and tried to practice it,” he said.

He said the help from his brother and the other Auburn cheerleaders was critical to helping him get selected from the April tryouts.

“I got coached up by all the returners and all the other people that were trying out. They all helped me so much,” Tanner Hendrix said.

The two Hoover High School alums say they like cheerleading because they get to represent their favorite schools. Tucker Hendrix participates in both gameday and competitive cheerleading at the collegiate level, while Tanner said the Auburn team only participates on gameday. Not going to competitions, however, enables the Auburn squad to spend more time interacting with the community.

“I’ve grown up a huge Auburn fan my whole life, and just being able to represent the AU on my chest for all these appearances and games and stuff like that is just going to be so much fun,” Tanner Hendrix said.

“Representing your school is just amazing and representing the All-Star schools I’ve been a part of, it’s been a huge part of it,” Tucker Hendrix said.

In his first summer of training with the Auburn team, Tanner Hendrix said he learned just how intense college cheerleading can be. They practice several days each week, including two-a-days at the end of summer, and have workouts outside of practice.

He also said he enjoyed the team environment as the more experienced cheerleaders showed him the ropes.

“It’s different having girl teammates, … but it’s cool because they’re over here coaching me,” Tanner Hendrix said. “… It helps me get better when they coach me because they can feel what I’m doing wrong and vice versa.”

There are around 10 to 12 men on both Auburn and Alabama’s cheer teams, and they can often be seen with megaphones and doing stunts.

While balancing the intensive practices and gamedays with college courses can be challenging, both brothers said they learned time management early with their lifelong involvement in various sports.

“I’ve always been on a team. I don’t know anything different,” Tucker Hendrix said.