Richmond`s `Nip` Henderson—Quick As A Cat
David Chappell
Thursday April 17, 2003
While only twenty-three years old, Henderson still possesses quite an impressive athletic resume. A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Henderson was a two-way starter at Spartanburg’s James Byrne High School for four years under head coach Bobby Bentley. In high school, Henderson starred as a dangerous receiver on offense and a fleet cornerback on defense.
In 1997, Henderson was recruited to Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina by head football coach Steve Patton. Henderson made an immediate impact for the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs, and was named 1997 South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Freshman Defensive Player of the Year. During his first two years at Gardner-Webb, Henderson was named an Honorable Mention All-Conference selection. While at Gardner-Webb, Henderson played at defensive back and was also a speedy punt return man. But coach Patton also used Henderson as a “secret weapon” on offense on occasion. Henderson explained, “I came in for trick plays on offense at receiver. At receiver I caught five passes and three went for touchdowns, so the trick plays kind of worked.”
During Henderson’s last two years at Gardner-Webb, the Bulldogs football program advanced from Division II status to Division I-AA status. Henderson was especially busy during his junior and senior years, as in addition to playing football he also ran track for the Bulldogs.
Henderson’s Gardner-Webb connection, along with some excellent combine workouts, is what principally got him into Richmond last year as a member of the 2002 Richmond Speed. According to Henderson the offensive line coach at Gardner-Webb, Ken Jones, and Speed head coach Richard Davis “go way back.” Davis wanted Henderson to play for the Speed last year, and Henderson wanted to come to Richmond, but there was one small problem. Henderson was adamant that he obtain his college degree from Gardner-Webb first. Henderson explained, “I wanted to graduate first before I came to Richmond to play ball for the Speed.”
Through some scheduling ingenuity and a lot of hard work last summer, Henderson not only played a major role for the Speed as a defensive specialist at the end of last season, but he also simultaneously worked on getting his degree from Gardner-Webb University. Henderson said, “What I was able to do, I had to go to class during my summer school first session so that’s why I was late getting to Richmond last year. I got to Richmond at the end of June. Then my second semester last summer I had an independent study program so I could come to Richmond and play ball and send my work back to Gardner-Webb through the mail.”
Amazingly, Henderson received his degree from Gardner-Webb University on Saturday August 3, 2002, and on that very same day he traveled to Fayetteville, North Carolina and started for the Speed in their first round playoff game against the Cape Fear Wildcats. Henderson said, “I’ll never forget August 3rd.” Henderson’s schedule on August 3rd last year was indeed mind-boggling. Henderson explained, “I left Richmond at twelve o’clock that night, got home to Spartanburg at six o’clock a.m. and then had graduation rehearsal two hours later at around eight o’clock in Shelby, North Carolina. I received my degree around noon in Shelby. Four o’clock that same day I was in Fayetteville and played a full game against Cape Fear that night.”
Henderson attributes his success on the football field to an abundance of speed and quickness. “My daddy told me a long time ago that I would never be 6’5” and 250 pounds, so I had better be as fast as possible,” Henderson commented. Henderson’s father, James W. Henderson who is a minister in Spartanburg, is clearly ‘Nip’ Henderson’s biggest influence in life as well as on the football field. According to Henderson, his father, who was also a college athlete, is a father, guardian, mentor and pastor to him all rolled up into one. The youngest of three athletic brothers, Henderson also now has a younger “sister” in his life, a very young girl that the family has taken in due to difficult hardships that befell the youngster. Henderson says, “I treat her like my adopted sister.”
There was a big difference in playing arena football last season as opposed to the outdoor game, Henderson explained. “The biggest difference between college and the pros is the speed of the game, and they’re better athletes too in the pros. The competition is much faster in arena2. I was used to stationary receivers in college, and then all of a sudden I had to deal with that high motion in af2 that gives them a head start.” Henderson credits last year’s Richmond veterans, including Kevin Harvey, Jeff Townsley and Tyrone Laster for helping him get adapted to the indoor game as quickly as he did.
Despite Richmond’s 0-2 start, Henderson has high hopes for this year and believes the 2003 Speed squad is a better one than last year’s team. Henderson noted, “We have a lot of rookies this year, but the secondary is so much faster than it was last year. We have Richard Holland back, and we have Deshane Dennis who can really burn and Troy Wright who is another burner. We have a lot of speed in the secondary and we can cover guys, which is really important in arena football. Defensively, we are way ahead of last year.” On offense, Henderson believes the Speed will ultimately be fine with Kevin Harvey and Jeff Townsley in the mix. Henderson was also happy that he was able to play some offense himself last week at Albany, catching a pass, and hopes that he might also be worked in as a return man during the season.
So, what does the future hold in store for ‘Nip’ Henderson? At least for the immediate future, Henderson is happy to be back in Richmond this year. “I’m thankful to Coach Davis for bringing me back this season, because he got rid of a lot of the old players from last year,” Henderson said. Commenting that af2 is an excellent developmental league, Henderson said that in addition to helping the Speed garner wins, he is looking to hone his skills, improve his fundamentals and get on film in hopes of eventually moving up to the AFL. “I do want to go to Arena1, Lord willing and if the Lord blesses me in that way,” Henderson said. Further down the road, Henderson says coaching might be in his future, and he has done some preliminary looking into that possibility this past off-season.
Coach Davis has nothing but superlatives to say about Henderson. “He’s special, I hope that my son grows up to be like Nip. I love him; we love having him with the Richmond Speed. He’s just a great young man, period.” According to Davis, Henderson brings far more to the Richmond team than merely his speed, quickness and athletic prowess. “Nip’s a warrior. He’s consistent and he loves to practice. He’s very intelligent and communicates well with others.”
Henderson has brought up his thoughts about possibly coaching to his current coach. Davis joked that he “has counseled him aggressively to reconsider.” But then Davis turned serious about Henderson possibly coaching in the future and said, “He is certainly good enough and he is certainly intelligent enough and all of those things, but I hope someday Nip works with kids, younger kids especially, because Nip’s got an ability to make you feel good about yourself.” But Davis concluded, “Wherever Nip’s headed, it doesn’t matter. Buy stock there because he’s going to do well.”
David Chappell is a native of Richmond, Virginia. He has closely followed local sports in Richmond and vicinity for over thirty years, and Arena Football 2 since its inception. David currently writes extensively for a website that he co-founded which documents professional wrestling in Virginia and surrounding areas from 1974-1986. A former elected prosecutor, David is currently a practicing attorney in a large downtown Richmond law firm.
