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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2015 • NEWS-LEADER / FERNANDINA BEACH, FLORIDA

Henry wins HeismanBETH JONES

News-Leader

Derrick Henry, 21, of Yulee became the 43rd running back to win the Heisman Memorial Trophy. And no one could have been less surprised than his former teammates at Yulee High School.

“While I was working, I was watching it,” said Keith White, Henry’s cousin who played offensive and defensive lineman at Yulee. “I knew he was going to win it.

“When people said he wouldn’t be a running back in the SEC, that made him work even harder.”

Winning the Heisman was a goal Henry set in high school.

“It’s just something he set his sights on,” said former teammate Kelvin Rainey. “He said in high school he wanted to win the Heisman.”

The 81st winner was announced Saturday night in New York City and his high school coach was there to wit-ness it.

“It was relief instantly, fol-lowed by happiness right after-wards,” said Bobby Ramsay, head football coach at Yulee High School. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be able to attend the ceremony.

“I didn’t get to spend too much time with him, but catch-ing up was the best part of the trip. We are so proud and humbled by him and what he has accomplished. He has really blossomed at Alabama.

“I think what the award shows is that you can do any-thing you want as a graduate of Yulee High School. You can go wherever and accomplish great things if you are willing to do the work and fight for what you want.”

Henry became just the second player from Alabama to win the Heisman; Mark Ingram won it in 2009, also at running back.

Henry was one of three finalists for the Heisman. He received 378 first-place points, beating out Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey (290) and Clemson quarterback DeShaun Watson (148).

The 6-foot-3, 242-pound junior tailback for the Crimson Tide leads the nation in rushing and touchdowns this season. Henry broke Herschel Walker’s SEC single-season rushing record and ties Tre Mason and Tim Tebow in touchdowns with

ALABAMA ATHLETICS

Derrick Henry of Yulee kisses the Heisman Memorial Trophy Saturday night. One of three finalists, the 6-foot-3, 242-pound running back is just the second player from the University of Alabama to capture the statue. The Heisman is awarded to the outstanding college football player in the U.S.

23. He also has four 200-yard games so far this season, an SEC record he shares with Walker and Bo Jackson.

In addition to the Heisman, Henry also won the Doak Walker, Maxwell and Walter Camp player of the year awards.

And he’s not finished yet. Alabama (No. 2) will take on No. 3 Michigan State at 8 p.m. New Year’s Eve in the Cotton Bowl in the College Football Playoff semifinal.

Clemson (No. 1) takes on No. 4 Oklahoma at 4 p.m. that day in the other semifinal.

“I’m so proud of him,”

said Pat Dunlap, who coached Henry in middle and high school. “He’s trying to keep everything in perspective. I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet.”

Dunlap remained in New York until Tuesday. A recep-tion was held Sunday night and the final event was planned for Monday, when Henry was officially inducted into the Heisman family.

Dunlap said when Henry transitioned from his sopho-more to junior season at Yulee the coach knew there was something different about the Hornet.

“It was obvious he was spe-

cial,” Dunlap said.And while coaches were

trying to teach Henry, they became the student.

“He forces you to coach people differently,” Dunlap said. “It was hard to come up with stuff.”

Ballots went out to 870 media personnel, 58 Heisman winners and one fan — 929 electors in all. Henry polled 1,832 points to win it.

“I already knew it,” said Zane Cruz, a sophomore line-backer at Charleston Southern University, who played against Henry and Alabama this sea-son. “I’m super glad he won it.

It’s well deserved. He works hard.”

Henry’s parents, Jastacia Veal and Derrick Sr., were in the audience Saturday night but other family members gathered in Jacksonville, where his grandmother is recovering.

“She keeps asking us if he’s won the trophy yet,” said Henry’s aunt, Gladys Henry-Jones, prior to Saturday’s award ceremony.

“I feel you in spirit and I love you so much. You made me who I am today,” Henry said to his grandmother, Gladys Henry, in his accep-tance speech.

“I’m a little nervous. I don’t do this every day...” Henry said. “Since a kid, this has been a lifetime goal and a dream of mine. I’m just so thankful.”

Henry thanked his youth and college coaches and his school.

“The best school in the country,” he said.

And he also spoke to his younger fans.

“I’m hoping I’m someone you can idolize yourself after... If you have dreams, go chase them,” he said. “I’m a living testament. I never thought I would be up here. God is good.

“Roll Tide.”

ALABAMA ATHLETICS

Henry with finalists Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey and Clemson quarterback DeShaun Watson and with Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

Henry addresses the crowd after win-ning the Hesiman, far left, and thanks fans after the cer-emony, left.HEISMAN.

COM

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DERRICK HENRYDERRICK HENRYRoad to the HeismanRoad to the Heisman

2C WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2015 HEISMAN SPECIAL News-Leader



3CWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2015 HEISMAN SPECIAL News-Leader

Heisman winner unstoppable ... even as a toddlerBETH JONES

News-Leader

“We couldn’t catch him,” Derrick Henry’s aunt, Gladys Henry-Jones, said of the the Heisman Trophy winner.

His grandparents, Gladys and Benjamin Henry, helped raise Henry from the time he was three months old. Every Saturday, his grandmother made her weekly trip to Fernandina Beach from Yulee to shop at Walmart.

“He always ran fast,” Henry-Jones said. “He was three and all I can remember was him running fast.

“He would be in Walmart running so fast through the aisles.”

And it wouldn’t be long before Henry used that speed in sports. He played baseball for Yulee Little League, foot-ball for Yulee Pop Warner and youth basketball at the Peck Center through the City of Fernandina Beach.

“We were rivals during Pop Warner,” said Kelvin Rainey, who later played football and basketball with Henry at Yulee middle and high schools. “Back then, he was just another kid with the size difference. He was a lot bigger, faster, stron-ger. Still the same kid today.”

Jeremy DeBerry, who grad-uated two years ahead of Henry

at YHS, remembers his Pop Warner teammate.

“He was a good running back but he was a little hesis-tant,” DeBerry said. “He kind of ran a little scared. As the season progressed, he went with the flow. Hitting is part of it.”

DeBerry did the hitting for Henry in high school.

“I blocked for him,” he said. “It was fun. Especially if I got my block right, he was going to score.”

Keith White, a 2011 grad-uate of YHS, played middle and high school football with Henry, his cousin.

“We grew up together,” said White, who played at New Mexico and then on the semi-pro level. “He was fun, outgo-ing and we were always outside with a football or a basketball. Just being kids, just having fun. We loved to compete.”

By the time the pair were in high school, White said his dou-ble-duty job as offensive and defensive lineman had gotten a lot tougher.

“I blocked for him and I had to hit him,” White said. “His sophomore year, it started to get harder.

“But he won some and I won some.”

White said Henry earned his teammates’ respect.

“He wanted to help the

SPECIAL

Derrick Henry’s family shared childhood photos of the Heisman Trophy winner.

team to win ... and win.”And win they did.“It was fun,” White said.He said he was confident

his younger cousin was going to win the Heisman Trophy Saturday.

“I knew he was going to win it. He worked hard,” White said. “When people said he wouldn’t be a running back in the SEC, that made him work even harder.”

Kelly Miltier knew when Henry played Pop Warner Peewees for him, he was a spe-cial player.

“But able to make a D1

schools is suprising,” he said. “We’re talking about the best running back in all of college football, from here in little Yulee.”

Miltier said coaching Henry as an 11- to 12-year-old had its own sort of issues.

“He wore like a size 12 shoe,” Miltier said. “He had to remove his cleats to make the weight standard.

“He was bigger than most of the kids. He was a shorter, leaner version of him now.”

In their two years in the Peewee division, Yulee had winning seasons.

“We didn’t make the play-offs,” said Miltier, who recent-ly took Yulee to the playoffs in the same division. “Our offense centered around him. We ran an I formation.

“He worked hard, he played hard and scored a lot but he didn’t take the limelight.”

By the time Henry was in middle school, Miltier was letting the high school coaches to be on the lookout for a rising star.

“I told them, ‘You need to keep an eye on him,’” Miltier said.

Miltier is proud to have

coached the Heisman win-ner and said a few months ago when he was at the high school, Henry made a point to stop what he was doing and chat with one of his first coaches.

“When former players rec-ognize a coach and stop to say hi, you know you had an impact and helped set the foundation for what he is today,” Miltier said.

“He’s the best athlete that’s come through at any age for me,” said Miltier, who has been coaching 17 years in all. “You knew what to expect

BETH JONESNews-Leader

“Here, I thought I was a really good basketball coach and it turned out I just had one of the best athletes in the world on my basketball team,” said Jonathan Ball, head boys bas-ketball at Yulee Middle School.

Derrick Henry played all three years for Ball.

“They say it takes a village to raise a child, and that’s what makes Derrick’s Yulee story so great,” Ball said. “Everyone has a Derrick story because the village really did raise him.

“The difference with Derrick is he bought in, he drank the Kool-Aid. He stayed away from the drinking and the drugs that consume so many young athletes and makes them just a statistic.

“He also did the things that aren’t exciting, the things that are hard for a young kid to discipline themselves enough to do. He spent time working on weaknesses. He was in the gym every day working hard; he was a gym rat.”

He still is.“Just look at how much

better of a pass blocker he has become for Alabama,” Ball said. “There are many kids with God-given athleticism and talent but you never hear about them because they either get caught up in the ways of the world or are lazy and won’t put in the work where it’s needed.

“Derrick’s story is encour-aging for any coach, teacher, guidance counselor or adminis-trator. Once you’ve been in this profession long enough, it real-ly is neat to see your kids start making it, and we’ve raised so many kids, not just Derrick, that are doing exciting things with their lives.”

Ball was also Henry’s teach-er at Yulee Middle School.

“As a middle schooler to say teaching and coaching Derrick was all rainbows and butterflies would be a lie,” Ball said. “He had moments where he was difficult like any typical middle school boy but the faculty and staff stayed after him. The com-munity raised him.

“Derrick changed his atti-tude, he bought in. Everything was ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir’ by his eighth-grade basketball season.”

Ball is 6-foot-2 but Henry surpassed him by his eighth-grade year.

“I remember he’d be wear-ing his basketball warm-ups around campus and he looked like he should have been a col-lege athlete as a 13-year-old,” Ball said. “He was dunking a basketball by seventh grade.”

Despite just six-minute quarters in middle school, Henry was still averaging 30-40 points per game for Yulee his last season.

“He had the prettiest spin move in the paint that was just unstoppable,” he said. “You can ask the other basketball coaches around the area; he could have easily played D1 basketball.

“When you have that much God-given athleticism and talent and you work hard like Derrick has, he could have been a professional athlete at whatever sport he wanted to. He loved to compete, it didn’t matter what it was.”

Henry was in sixth grade when Ball made his teaching and coaching debut.

“Derrick made my first few years of coaching basketball pretty easy,” Ball said. “Our playbook was simple, get Derrick the ball.”

In Henry’s seventh-grade season, the 11-3 Hornets lost the county title to Hilliard but won the conference crown.

“That was a big one,” Ball said.

In his final season at YMS, the Hornets avenged their loss to Hilliard and captured the county championship.

“Hilliard had a heck of a team at the time too,” Ball said. “We pressed them and jumped on them early. I think we went up 20-2 in the first

quarter.“Derrick got out in front

and was all alone and dunked in the game. The crowd went nuts and the Hilliard coach was going ballistic on his players. I haven’t had a middle-schooler dunk in a game since him.

But Yulee lost in the con-ference title game against Lakeside.

“Lakeside had like three boys Derrick’s size and locked him up,” Ball said. “But we sure were excited about win-ning that county championship against Hilliard.”

Henry and teammates Kelvin Rainey, D.J. Stewart and Zach Camp defeated the faculty his seventh-grade sea-son in a friendly game in front of the student body.

“It’s the only time we’ve ever lost that faculty game,” Ball said. “Some of our prideful faculty still won’t admit we lost that game but they beat us. We had a pretty good team too. We had Dr. (Deonia) Simmons, who could dunk.”

Henry’s family also thought basketball could be his sport.

“We thought he was going to the NBA because of his pas-sion,” said aunt Gladys Henry-Jones. “He was 6-7 years old and shooting ball three hours at a time.”

But Henry gave up basket-ball after his freshman season at Yulee High School.

“If I’m going to play run-ning back, I’ve got to put on muscle,” Henry said after his sophomore season in football.

“Basketball makes me sweat. I’ve been lifting weights and eating.”

Ball couldn’t be prouder of his former player.

“To watch a kid you’ve taught and coached grow and mature as a man and have suc-cess is what this teaching and coaching thing is all about,” Ball said. “I was really pleased with his Heisman speech and how he addressed the young kids that might be looking up to him, that they need to put God first and pray daily.

“That part was really spe-cial.

“Teachers and coaches pour so much of their heart and soul into these kids so to see them make it just brings tears of joy. So proud.”

Henry was a basketball standout but football came first

PHOTOS BY BETH JONES/NEWS-LEADER

Derrick Henry in action, above, for the Yulee Middle School boys basketball team. Below, he celebrates with his teammates and coach J.T. Medley after capturing the conference championship his seventh-grade season.




Before Derrick Henry ran his way into the record books at Alabama, the tailback was breaking records in middle and high school in Yulee. The 2015 Heisman Trophy winner set state records and two national records.

BETH JONESNews-Leader

Breaking records is noth-ing new for Derrick Henry of Yulee. He’s been at it since middle school.

Despite being sidelined when the Yulee Middle School Hornets had a three-score lead, he still managed to rush for a record 1,242 yards and scored 20 touchdowns his eighth-grade season.

“I could barely play the first half and I still had fun,” Henry said. “It was a great year.”

“If you were 18 points ahead, you had to take your starters out,” YMS coach J.T. Medley said. “The rule was basically in place because of Derrick. They wanted to take him out of the game. Sometimes the first quarter.

“Derrick had to come out of a lot of games.”

Keith White, Henry’s cousin and former teammate in middle and high school, remembers.

“He was bigger than every-body,” White said. “When he dropped two or three touch-downs, they took him out.”

That YMS rushing record was broken this year by Sanchez Albertie.

But Henry’s national career rushing record will be tough to match. In the region semifinal against Taylor County, Henry rushed for 485 yards on 58 carries to bypass Ken Hall’s record (11,232 yards) set from 1950-53 in Sugar Land, Texas. Henry had 11,613 yards, but he and the Hornets weren’t finished.

Yulee advanced to the 1-4A title game and beat East

Gadsden 16-13. Henry threw for a 30-yard touchdown and ran the ball 43 times for 205 yards and the other Hornet score.

His senior season came to an end with a loss to Bolles in the 4A state semifinal, a first for Yulee High School. He had 337 yards on 45 carries to set a state single-season record with 4,261 yards. He also set records with 55 touchdowns and 462 carries. He finished his career in Yulee with 2,212 yards.

Henry was the 4A player of the year and was voted by coaches and media around the state as the 2012 Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Football. He was also the Gatorade Florida Football player of the year.

“He strove for perfection and he wanted all of us to strive for perfection too,” fullback Jason Ray said in 2013, when Henry was named the county’s most valuable player for the third time. “We always ran through the hole together. We knew each other and how everything was going to hap-pen. By our senior year, every-thing was instinct.

“I would block somebody, and as soon as I made the block, he would cut off and be off to the races. He’s just Derrick. He’s a kid like us but in a really big body.”

Henry, an all-county player his freshman season, rushed for 2,468 yards on 313 touches and scored 23 touchdowns.

He followed up that season with a 2,788-yard sophomore season. He scored 39 TDs and returned a kickoff for a score against Bolles. He was all-First

Henry set national rushing record at Yulee High

Derrick Henry crushed the nation-

al career rushing record set by Ken

Hall. Hall, also known as the “Sugar

Land Express,” set the record in Sugar Land, Texas, from 1950-53. The pair

met for a photo shoot for Parade

magazine, far right. Right, Henry made

the cover as the U.S. Army All-American

player of the year his senior season.

Above, representa-tives present Henry

with his jersey.PHOTOS COURTESY

OF PARADE AND THE U.S.

ARMY ALL-AMERICAN BOWL

HENRY ON PARADE

Coast offensive player of the year and MaxPrep’s national sophomore of the year. Yulee finished as district runner-up to Bolles and earned the school’s first state playoff berth. The Hornets lost in the first round of the playoffs.

“I guess the one thing peo-ple don’t know about Derrick is how humble he is,” said Pat Dunlap after the season. He coached Henry in middle and high school. “People forget how young he is because he is so big but he means so much to us because he’s genuine. I truly believe the sky is the

limit for him.“He’s had a great work

ethic and developed that when he was very young. He always puts in the extra work. That is the difference between being good and being great. Derrick doesn’t require people to push him because he pushes him-self.”

Henry rushed for 2,610 yards and scored 33 times his junior season, earning MaxPrep’s first team All-American honors for juniors. He was first team all-state and all-area and was a finalist for Mr. Football.

“Every year I’ve stepped up my game,” Henry said after his junior season.

But he never forgot his teammates along the way.

“He made sure I knew I had helped him score,” said Jeremy DeBerry, who played defensive end at Yulee.

After his senior season, Henry was chosen to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio. He was named the player of the year and was featured in Parade magazine. While in Texas for the game, he met the man who had held the national record.

Although Henry verbally committed to Georgia, he reopened his recruitment the summer before his senior season.

The day the Hornets were set to play Glades Day School, Henry verbally committed to Alabama; the rest is history.

“He was very thorough in making his choice,” said Bobby Ramsay, head football coach at Yulee, who was in his sec-ond season with the Hornets Henry’s freshman season. “Sometimes the best choice and the most challenging are the same.”

Henry in middle school, left, and at Yulee High School, above.



JESSICA WATERSNews-Leader

On the surface, the Heisman trophy is all about numbers. After all, it was a combination of Derrick Henry’s 1,986 rushing yards in 2015, his 23 touchdowns and his countless local, state and national records — not to men-tion his 6-foot-3, 242-pound frame — that put the Alabama Crimson Tide running back at the top of the Heisman voting Saturday, pulling in 1,832 points to beat out Stanford run-ning back Christian McCaffrey (1,539) and Clemson’s quarter-back Deshaun Watson (1,165) to take home the famous stiff-arm trophy.

But beyond the stats and record-setting rushing totals, the man behind the No. 2 jer-sey has gained a reputation for being humble and hardworking. Those traits exhibited them-selves early, and those who knew Henry during his years growing up in Yulee often remember his personality as well as his imposing size and his talent on the football field.

“He’s just a kind, gentle, young man. Before I ever knew him as a football star I knew him as a human being and he’s all good and he’s never changed,” Yulee High School secretary Carol Rose told MaxPreps writer Mitch Stephens in November 2012. “Every day he pokes his head into my office and asks me how my family and I are doing. Kids don’t normally do that. He’s just a sweetheart.”

Building up to BamaThat’s not to say his

on-field talent was anything to scoff at — by the end of his senior year at Yulee High School, Henry had amassed 1,387 carries, 12,212 yards, 153 rushing touchdowns and an average 8.8 yards per carry.

“This county could play football for 500 years, and you’d never see another one as good as Derrick. Not unless there was a massive popu-lation boom. You look at his physical size and speed; to be a 10th-grader and do the things he’s done is really remark-able,” Yulee coach Bobby Ramsay told the Florida Times-Union in October 2010.

“I know I’m going to talk about him one day, hopefully, with my grand kids. I’ll tell them that I used to play against him in practice and we were great friends,” teammate Zach Camp told the Times-Union in August 2011.

Henry’s selection as a member of the 2012 U.S. Army All-American Bowl team was due to both his personality and his playing skills.

“Derrick is a talented athlete whose leadership and teamwork qualities have made him a standout at Yulee High School,” stated the U.S. Army All-American Bowl news release. “Only the strongest wear the Army colors, and Derrick possesses mental, emotional and phys-ical strengths similar to the Army Strong Soldier, that have afforded him that honor. We are proud to welcome all of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl players and commend each of them on their selection.”

Likewise, Henry’s selec-tion as the 2012-13 Gatorade Florida Football Player of the Year was due to more than yards gained.

“The award, which recog-nizes not only outstanding ath-letic excellence but also high standards of academic achieve-ment and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Henry as

Florida’s best high school foot-ball player,” stated a Gatorade news release in November 2012. “Henry has maintained a B average in the classroom. In addition to donating his time as a youth football instructor, he has volunteered on behalf of the Special Olympics and as the lead fundraiser for the Yulee High football program.”

In November 2012, Henry broke the national career-rush-ing yards record.

Breaking Ken Hall’s pre-vious record of 11,232 yards earned Henry praise for his football skills, but his work ethic and attitude also played a part in that achievement, Ramsay said.

“He’s got a lot of God-given gifts, but he never sat back and said he was going to rest on his laurels. He always works. He’s much more patient and has more vision. I’m a defen-sive guy and I’m not going to write the book on running backs. I’m sort of like the guy who touches up the Mona Lisa. I don’t want to create a new painting. I just want to make it look nicer,” Ramsay said in late 2012.

Henry, who was scouted by college teams early and had received his first offer from a college recruiter by the end of his ninth-grade year, showed enough potential by the end of his high school career that Ramsay told MaxPreps in 2012, “I cashed in my Greatest Player Ever Card early in my career.”

However, even in the midst of the publicity garnered by record-setting on-field perfor-mances, Henry never failed to give credit to his teammates.

“Breaking this record means a lot to me,” Henry said after surpassing Hall’s record. “I’m glad I could share it with my coaches, my teammates and all of Yulee. They all helped me get to this point.”

Henry’s loyalty extends beyond his teammates or even his classmates, as he noted to MaxPreps in 2012.

“When I was in the eighth grade, I took a look at the pri-vate schools. I imagined myself there, but I couldn’t. This is where I was born and raised. I’d been here since I was a lit-tle boy. All the sports I played growing up (were) right here in Yulee. I figured I might as well stay put right here and help to put my town on the map and make something out of it,” Henry told MaxPreps. “Every time I go out on Friday night I feel like I’m protecting (Yulee). I try to represent it the right way. This has always felt like home. I just feel like Yulee is a part of me.”

Yulee might have been home to Henry, but by as early as 2011, his reputation was spreading far beyond the north-east corner of Florida.

“Derrick Henry is one of the most impressive stars of the 2013 class,” ESPN.com wrote in 2011, as college teams continued to court Henry toward the end of his high school career.

Even with a national stage, Henry didn’t forget where he came from.

“Coach (Pat) Dunlap has been with me since I was young. He’s been with me from Day 1; working with me and supporting me. Coach (J.T.) Medley taught me to have a strong work ethic and a men-tality to always be positive and believe in my goals and myself. It’s a blessing to have coaches and mentors like this in my life,” Henry told ESPN.com writer Jim McCormick.

Roll TideAfter an early, tentative

pledge to attend the University of Georgia and wear the Bulldog jersey, Henry made a firm commitment to Alabama.

“I love the program, I love the coaches. I love coach (Nick) Saban and the rest of the coaches and the other players. I just feel like I have a chance to be very successful at that program on the field and off the field,” Henry told ESPN.com in September 2012, when he made his verbal com-mitment to the Crimson Tide. “They have been superior at my position and superior in the SEC over the last three or four years. It’s looking good at Alabama, and I’m just ready to get down there and get to work. … As I watched Mark (Ingram) and Trent (Richardson) in that program, they grew tremendously from their freshman to their junior years. Mark won the Heisman and Trent won the Doak Walker. So I know if I go to Alabama, the sky is the limit — I can do anything I want to.”

Across the board, from water cooler talk to profes-sional college football analysts, Henry was predicted to take college football by storm.

“Derrick Henry could be what Alabama fans always wanted Jalston Fowler to be: A legitimate threat in every game. … With his size and speed, you won’t see him bust-ing out many runs for 20-plus yards, but he could bulldoze his way past the line of scrimmage for a solid five or more yards on most plays. He can get the first downs and keep the chains moving,” Bleacher Report ana-lyst Jimmy McMurrey wrote in July 2012. “… He may not be a future Heisman contender, but his ridiculous size and strength mixed with good speed and agility would make him a potent role player at Alabama.”

Henry suffered a fractured fibula and torn ligaments in his ankle during a scrimmage in April 2013, but even that setback did not appear to phase his attitude, and he took the struggles of his first year in stride.

“It is different. I am at ground zero again, trying to work my way up. Anytime I can learn by watching or being in the weight room, talking to some of my new teammates, anything I can do to get better, which helps me out as a play-er, I’m willing to do it to be successful,” he told MaxPreps reporter Joseph Santoliquito in March 2013. “I get teased sometimes (by the upperclass-men), but they see in my eyes that I really want to improve through my work ethic.”

Combined with the chal-lenging shift from high school football to college ball, the inju-ry and the resulting metal plate in his leg might have put a temporary damper on Henry’s steamroll toward football stardom, but by fall 2013, he was healed and back on path, capping his first college season with an 80-yard touchdown run against Arkansas that marked the end of a 52-0 blowout.

“Henry will run past you, by you and through you. Watching Henry perform during (a 2013) scrimmage, you never would have known he was a few months removed from leg sur-gery. Henry ran 11 times for 38 yards and a touchdown, and afterward was singled out by Nick Saban for his play. He has the size, power, determination and 4.5 speed to be a legend-ary player for Saban’s team,” Patrick Schmidt of Rant Sports wrote in August 2013.

“As great as (T.J.) Yeldon is — and he’s one of the top-two backs in the conference — the player I’m most looking forward to seeing is Henry. We

have never really seen a player quite like him before, and it may be a long time before we see a player enter college like him again. He’s a special player on a special team playing for a special coach. This combina-tion could mean Henry is one of the game’s more transcen-dent players who will have you saying ‘wow’ every time he touches the ball,” Schmidt wrote.

Sophomore successIt was in 2014 that Henry’s

charge toward the Heisman picked up steam with a perfor-mance in the Sugar Bowl that garnered national attention and once again put Henry in the spotlight.

“Have you heard the one about Derrick Henry? Superman wears Derrick Henry pajamas to bed. The Boogeyman checks under his bed for Derrick Henry before he goes to sleep at night,” Bleacher Report’s Marc Torrence wrote in July 2014. “In many Alabama circles, the rising sophomore running back from Yulee has already risen to legend status after his Sugar Bowl performance that included this now-famous stat line: eight carries, 100 yards, one touchdown, one catch, 63 yards, one touchdown.”

Henry’s performance in the 2014 Iron Bowl gained the sophomore player yet more attention. Rushing five times for 72 yards and a touchdown in Alabama’s bowl win over Auburn, Henry was averaging 8.52 yards per attempt — or nearly a first down every carry — by the end of the 2014 season.

“He’s a hard worker; he’s a fine young man; tries to do everything the right way on and off the field, so we’re encouraged by his progress and we think that he’s capable of making a tremendous con-tribution to our team in a lot of different ways,” Alabama

coach Nick Saban said in an SEC coaches teleconference in August 2014, Torrence wrote at 247sports.com.

“While Henry is built sim-ilar to a thoroughbred — with a finely sculpted physique — (University of Georgia running back Todd) Gurley is built like a brick house … with thighs that make it look as though he’s smuggling oak wood stumps — which actually does sound Commodore-ish. Gurley is undoubtedly a NFL franchise-caliber back who deserves to be drafted in the top 10 of next year’s draft. For Henry to compare favorably to him goes to show you just how special he is,” Baldwin added in his Aug. 7, 2014, report at Saturday Down South.

Named among 2014’s “Scariest Players in College Football” by the NFL’s College Football 24/7 for his “ability and the fear it strikes into the hearts of opposing players and coaches,” Henry’s size and skill had already gained him the respect of opponents and the notice of football pundits by the end the 2014 season.

“No 6-foot-3, 241-pound human being should run as fast or move his feet as well as Henry. Short of an actual rhi-noceros, he is the last thing a tired defense wants to tackle,” wrote Bleacher Report’s Brian Leigh. “When he’s plugged in fresh during the fourth quarter of a physical game, he is acid on top of a flesh-wound.”

Even more telling was Henry’s reputation with his coaches.

“He’s kind of like the coach’s dream, when you write it down on paper how you want a guy to practice every day, that’s what Derrick does. He enjoys learning the game, he’s still learning the game,” Alabama running backs coach Burton Burns told TideSports.com in December 2014. “He comes there with an open mind every day asking ‘How can I get better?’ That’s what you

love about him. That’s what has paid off for him down the stretch (of games).”

And in the midst of the growing fame, Henry’s humili-ty held strong.

“Some people are going to think you’re crazy, but I’m just always willing to get better. Anything I can do to get extra work, I’m always willing to. … I feel like I have a lot more to prove. I don’t really try to play to the hype. I just try to tune it out and just focus on me getting better as a player and for my team,” he told Sports Illustrated on Nov. 12, 2014.

The rush to the topThe 2015 Crimson Tide

football season featured back-to-back-to-back Henry triumphs on the field, and the amassed 1,986 rushing yards shattered Herschel Walker’s SEC single-season record that stood unchallenged since 1981.

With the numbers adding up, backed up by a solid work ethic and a true understanding of the word “teamwork,” it was little surprise to fans or ana-lysts when Henry’s name start-ed popping up as a candidate for some of college football’s most prestigious awards.

Now, with the 2015 football season heading into the cham-pionships and the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award for player of the year, and the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back all in his possession, Henry is looking forward to getting back on the gridiron. And he is still humble as ever.

“Whatever I have to do to help my team win. I don’t care how many carries it is. As long as it’s successful and we’ve got the ball, I’m all for it,” Henry told USA Today.

Henry’s sentiments fol-lowing the announcement of his win of the Heisman trophy Saturday were no different.

“It’s all about the team, the team, the team, the team.”

Man behind No. 2 jersey humble, hardworking

ALABAMA ATHLETICS

Derrick Henry carries the ball against the Florida Gators in the SEC championship.

BETH JONES/NEWS-LEADER

With his parents by his side, Derrick Henry verbally committed to the University of Alabama during his senior season at Yulee High School. He was surrounded by his coaches, teammates, family and friends.

TUSCALOOSA NEWS

Derrick Henry during the Sugar Bowl last year. Alabama plays in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve.



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BEFORE THE HEISMAN


Derrick Henry on and off the field during his four years at Yulee High School. The 2013 graduate is the 2015 Heisman Memorial Trophy winner.

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Photo by Robert SuttonCourtesy University of Alabama

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