Derrick Henry's former teammates at Yulee High School in Florida saw it all coming long before the NFL came along. I saw the menacing power of the human locomotive, I saw its unexpected speed, I saw its crushing arms, I saw its unbridled swagger when the stakes were high.
They watched the 30-year-old before King Henry took the throne with the Titans and now with the Ravens as one of the NFL's leading rushers, averaging 119 carries for 704 yards, a 5.9-yard average and eight touchdowns.
“I know for a fact that a lot of the teams we played were working on low tackles, leg tackles with derricks, having guys make gang tackles and getting a lot of guys closer to the ball. ” Zach Camp told Selby. Say. “I know for a lot of people the emphasis was on tackling him low and not trying to get up high where he could get strong and push his arm. ”
Camp played wide receiver with Henry at Urie.
“It’s still the same, dude,” he said. “Bound outside, he beat one defender and finished the run with his arms out at an angle. It was something that people never noticed because they didn't realize how fast he was moving. He had such long strides that it didn't seem like he was moving that fast, but he did. He was covering more ground with that stride, so every time he gets closer to the edge, it's going to be deceptive sometimes, you think.'' He has angles and runs. I might be able to finish it. People never really saw it. ”
Brycen Gagnon played outside linebacker at Yulee High School.
“I remember one night practice, and one of the safeties in his class was a good, hard-hitting safety, and I thought he was going to hit the derrick on the toss, and he ended up losing his helmet. 'I got hit so hard,''' Gagnon recalled with a laugh.
Henry is a 6-foot-3, 247-pound running back that Jerry Jones should have signed with the Cowboys for a bargain price of two years and $16 million. King Henry is an outlier in an era where running backs have become less valuable.
“He just seems to be gaining momentum,” Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke said.
Okereke competed against King Henry twice a year as a colt.
“He's a very difficult tackle because he's a big guy, he's fast and he's got a really good strong arm,” Okereke said. “He used it on me. I've cut it down and tackled him before and he's caught me before, so it was a good fight.”
King Henry is like a terrifying freight train roaring down the tracks towards would-be tacklers.
“You have to get low and run through to him, and you have to be ready to cut his stiff arm down,” Okereke said.
When asked if there was a player like him in the league, Okereke said, “I think no, just the combination of size, speed and athleticism.”
Giants defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Rochus played against Henry at Southern Miss while he was at Alabama.
“We want to stop them before they start,” said the man they call Nacho.
If you don't, you'll usually end up paying a hell of a price for a bad defender.
“He's big, but he runs high, so he gives me a lot of targets,” Nacho said. “But for other young children, it's a different story.”
“If you see [the stiff-arm] “When he comes, you have to dive for his ankle or something because he’s going to bounce his head off the ground,” Gagnon said. “Deadly is the best word, yes.”
Gagnon weighed in at 215 pounds with Urie. Henry's score was somewhere between 220 and 230. I wasn't always able to practice perfectly.
“If you hit that guy every day, he's going to leave you in no time. He was a burden in high school and obviously still is,” Gagnon said.
Now he's a king among men, then he was a man among men.
“We used Derrick in special pass rush situations and brought him in late in the game to get at the quarterback,” Camp said. “Sometimes we put him in on kickoff returns when we needed a big play.
“We were down by a few points in a big district game against Bolles School, so I just decided that I wanted Derrick to take the kickoff and line up in the middle, but I was going to lead the block. , he was going to pick the ball up. He bounced the ball a few times, picked it up, made a few misses and then brought it home for a big score when he really, really needed it to get back in the game. Thank you.”
No one is surprised by King Henry's actions.
“He was always a guy who went the extra mile,” Camp said. “To me, he always seemed unstoppable. He always seemed almost Superman-like, no matter what people threw at him, he would overcome it, that type of thing. thing.
“What I told reporters before he went into the Jordan effect is that he does better in situations where people think he's an underdog, which rarely happens to him. , they weren't negative considering he came into the season after coming back from injury and some of the things he went through at Tennessee, but people started talking about, “Oh yeah.” He is getting old. Is his heyday over? I kept telling people, “Okay, he's not a normal person.'' He's not your average Joe, that's for sure. I think any little thing that Derrick can use as an edge, he uses as an edge for himself. I think he'll thrive in those situations and I think he'll welcome those challenges. ”
Legendary Browns running back Jim Brown would return to the huddle expressionless after a violent collision with Giants MLB pitcher Sam Huff. Henry is a silent assassin.
“Probably the scariest thing was that he barely spoke during the game,” Gagnon said. “No pranks needed. Just business.”
Giants cornerback Adoree' Jackson played with King Henry for the Titans from 2017 to 2020.
“He's a good, honest guy,” Jackson said. “He's just a pleasure to be around, a great teammate and a great presence in the locker room.”
It's the same as with Yuri.
Gagnon: “He's always been a very honest person and always seems to be there and help in any way he can, whether it's doing a car wash to raise money for soccer or helping teammates with things like jumping, the little things.'' Please start the truck or something.”
Camp: “He's a regular guy. He's really funny. He likes to lighten the mood. He likes to make people feel comfortable. He's just one of those guys.”
The Urie boys have stayed in touch with King Henry (10,206 career rushing yards) and are watching with pride as he, along with QB Lamar Jackson, give the Ravens a poisonous offense.
“I know I’m happy to see him in Baltimore,” Camp said. “I'm happy he's progressing well and has a chance to compete for a championship, hopefully. I think he gives the kind of solid edge that Baltimore has been known for in the past. I like the method.
“This could be the place where he cements a Hall of Fame career.”
Fit for a king.
