He played college football at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School where he was an All-American end.

Exendine was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1970.

Though never having played the game before arriving at the institute, Exendine was named to Walter Camp's third-team All-American team in 1906.

Vanderbilt running back Honus Craig called this his hardest game,[2] giving special praise to Exendine as "the fastest end I ever saw."

He later practiced law in Oklahoma and served with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.