Aggie Flashback with former A&M RB D'Andre "Tiki" Hardeman

Key quotes from Tiki Hardeman interview

"Right now I work for the city of Houston doing mechanic work, and I'm a trainer, a personal trainer. I'm trying to get these young kids ready for the next level in their careers. (My son) is special. He's kind of in a slump right now. He actually broke his ankle a couple of weeks ago. He's getting better. It's just one of those things that comes with playing this game. He's learning early that you have to play every play like it's your last, and you can't take anything for granted."

"(A&M's reputation as a running football team) played a major role in me coming here. You've got people like Greg Hill, Rodney Thomas and Leeland McElroy. As I was coming in for my freshman year, he was a guy that was a Heisman candidate. You couldn't really get any better than that, and the year before that they were undefeated. They had a ton of rushing yards and three running backs. Coming in, I knew we were going to have a couple of backs, because we had four backs sign that year, but I felt like I would be one of those backs in that rotation that would try to carry that torch of great running backs at Texas A&M."

"(The '95 Alamo Bowl) was some of the most physical practice that I had had at my whole time at A&M. Leeland happened to be hurt during that time, so they told us, 'You young guys have to step up.' Me, Eric (Bernard) and Sirr (Parker) -- going into the game, we knew that we had to step up. Leeland wasn't going to play. We just got out there, and it was our opportunity to prove who we were. We were just trying to make a name for ourselves. Sometimes you have people come in, and you kind of doubt yourself. You come from being the man in high school, then you get to college, and it pretty much starts all over again. At the time that we beat Michigan, we felt like we belonged here. That just gave me the extra motivation, the extra push, to go out and be the best I can be. It just so happened my sophomore year that I went out and had a great season. It was a great season to me. It worked out. It gave me the extra motivation to push to make myself a better football player."

"(I didn't feel like anyone was going to catch me during my 95-yard run against Baylor). I didn't. Not at that point, I didn't. If you go back to Ames -- to Iowa State -- I got caught at the two-yard line. It was like a 72-yard run. They caught me at the two-yard line, and they roasted me on the plane. They talked about me bad, bad, bad. "Good running backs don't get caught. Don't get caught. Don't get caught." When we got back to practice that next week, every time I touched the ball I was going 45- or 50-yards. I was preparing myself to never get caught again. Once I started doing that, Sirr started doing that, and Eric started doing that. We started pushing each other. Once I started getting those -- every time I touched the ball I went 40-yards. Once I broke, I was like, 'No, he's not going to (catch me).' The (scoreboard's) screen was helping me out a little bit too. I saw him on the screen, and I knew he wasn't going to catch me."

"With me, you go through life and go through certain things, and during (the time I was ineligible) I had to grow up. I had to grow up and right my wrongs and take care of my business. If I would have taken care of my business, I wouldn't have been in that situation to begin with. The best thing for me to do was to come back to school and get my education, because a lot of people thought I was going to come out at that time. I was like, 'No. No. No.' Both my mom and my grandmother were telling me that I'd better go back and take care of my business. At that point, I made the decision to come back, and it helped. Watching everybody play the game that you love so much -- it does something to you. You have to grow up and take care of your business. When I came back, my whole attitude and everything about me was different at that point."

"Going into the time that I was inelible, we played Louisville, Florida State and Lousianna Tech. We had five offensive touchdowns. All of them were from me. I had scored all the touchdowns at that point, so I felt like a fool. I started feeling mentally like, 'Man, come on. You've got to do better than this. You've got to do what you need to do to graduate, to get out of here.' It was a wake-up call for me, and at that point, I needed that. You get a little fame, and you let it go to your head. You think you're bigger than that, but you get brought back to reality. 'You don't want to take care of business? Okay, we've got somewhere for you to go.' That's why I stress to these kids, now that I'm training -- you can play sports all you want, but you need to finish your studies. Your brain is what tells your knees and things to move. You can't do anything without your academics. Your brain is what runs everything. Without that and taking care of business, you'll just be the athlete that everybody talks about like, 'Oh yeah, he was such a stud, but he couldn't get the grades.' That's why I stress the fact to every kid that comes across me that grades are first and foremost."

"(Coming back to finish my degree) was a great experience for me. It was an unbelievable experience. It was different. I came back. I was a lot more mature. I didn't have all the distractions of being a big-time football player, and I realized how easy it was -- how easy it was to just come and take care of your business. Then I have kids, and I'm telling them, 'You need to go to college and get a degree.' And I was like, 'How am I telling all these kids this when I haven't take care of my business? You need to buckle down.' I had been putting this off probably about five years, but I would always let an excuse come up to make it -- 'Oh, I can't do it. This is why I can't.' I was like, 'Man, you know what? Stop it. Stop it.' I called and they told me I could get accepted. At first, they told me I couldn't get accepted, but then I talked to somebody else. They said I could get accepted."

" I quit my job that Wendnesday, and I said I wasn't coming back. They said, 'What are you doing?' I said, 'I'm going to finsih my degree.' My mind was made up. My wife -- she was motivating me. It was her decision. She said, 'Just go, baby. Just go. Just go.' I was like, 'Okay, you sure?' She was like, 'Just go, baby. Just go.' I left. I came and stayed down there for the whole time. I would come down and stay with my family on the weekends, but it was hard coming back every Monday morning coming back and leaving my family. It paid off in the long run. That's what it's about -- finishing what I started. I wouldn't have been alright until I finished what I started, because all the reasons I came down here, all the blood, sweat and tears I went through -- they don't mean anything if you don't come back and get your degree. You're right there. You're that close. Come on, Tiki."

"(Finishing my degree with Dante Hall helped a lot). We got to work with the football team. That was amazing in itself to see those young guys. It's a lot different than when we were there, but I'm happy for them. They have a lot going on. Coach Sumlin is doing great things for these kids. He's putting them in the right direction. It's set up right now. Right now, if you don't succeed, it's on you. You can't blame anybody but yourself if you don't succeed."

"I told (Dante Hall) before I came to school that I had to pay $1600 or $1700 dollars in parking tickets myself. I racked up my share of tickets also. It's just being mature. Being young, you want to jump out of your car and run to class. At the end of the day, it was stupid. We were young and dumb. As a more mature man, I walked all over campus. I didn't have a problem. You've got twenty minutes. Okay. I just got to stepping and went from class to class -- East campus to West campus. You've got to do what you've got to do. If you're dedicated, you'll get there. We were just young and parked where we wanted to park. We weren't thinking about how much it was going to cost us in the long run."

"(Sumlin) has brought a lot of swag to what they have going on -- to the whole environment of football with the DJ at practice. They have loud music and kids dancing and having fun at practice. I was thinking, 'Man, we would never have had that with Slocum. He didn't play that.' It's a different time now. It's a different time, a different age. The kids are responding to it. I like those two ends, Garret and Hall. The strong safety -- Donovan Wilson. They have the athletes. They're coming together. I just saw a lot different. When I saw the first game this year, the defense is on point. Chavis -- from what I can tell, he's doing a great job. The running backs -- when I was there, Brandon Williams was playing running back, and then I saw him at cornerback. Man, there's something special going on down there. I hate that I didn't make the game, but I guess they're growing up. To see those kids grow up and see what they're becoming now -- Tra Carson had a good game running the ball. O-line was blocking very well, and those are some big, old guys. They were opening holes, and Tra was running everything  right."

"Then you have Kyler and Kyle. I think the thing with the two quarterbacks -- a lot of quarterbacks would have set it down when they put Kyler in, but (Allen) came back. He came back in, took care of business and actually played a little bit better. I think that's a good thing. They're pushing one another -- friendly competition. That's what makes us better. If we compete with one another, everybody gets better. That makes us a better team. I see that. Everybody's pushing one another to be the best they can be. It doesn't hurt to have someone like Larry Jackson as your strength and conditioning coach. They've got everything coming together. I'm just proud to say I'm an Aggie right now. I got so emotional watching that game. It was a good time."

"Right now, I'm probably about 242 (pounds). I work out hard. Right now I'm doing more running than anything. I do a lot of cardio. The other day I ran about 3 miles in 22 minutes. The thing about it is -- and I get on to myself about it sometimes -- what if I had worked out this hard back then? It is what it is. I'm just working out and trying to keep these kids trained up and keeping them ready to go."

"The '97 game in the rain. That was one of the good games. I had a good game. There was one game in Stillwater against Oklahoma State. It was my sophomore year, I think, and I caught a sweep. I clipped the sideline. It wasn't that long, but that run just felt good to me. I tried to find some of my old film, but I can't find any of my old film. I ran for 100 yards that day too."