A Look at Henderson
Jeff Foley
Sunday May 6, 2001
You’d think, however, that when a big guy does catch the eye of a writer, that scribe would at least get the facts straight.
“There was one time a guy did a write-up on us in Arizona,” said Henderson, who was with the Rattlers from 1996 to 1999. “He sat there and talked with us for a half hour. He even tape recorded it.”
But there was a problem. While the 29-year-old Henderson is single -- he has never been hitched—that’s not what the reporter wrote. Instead, his story described Henderson as a wedded man.
Needless to say, this was news to Henderson’s girlfriend. News she wasn’t happy to hear.
“It was weird because the article came out on a Friday and we had a road game,” Henderson said during a recent phone interview. “My girlfriend called on the road and she goes, ‘Is there something you want to tell me?’ I was like, ‘No.’ She goes, ‘What about your wife?’ I said, ‘What wife?’”
Henderson quickly got in touch with the off-target writer.
“I was like, ‘Hey you’ve got to print a (retraction) or something.’”
For the record, Tony Henderson is not married.
IN THE BEGINNING
It may be hard to believe, but Henderson, a mountain of a man who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 280 pounds, was somewhat smaller than other children during his early youth. Seeing the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s on television made Henderson curious about the gridiron, though. So his mother signed him up for Pee Wee football when he was 9 -- Henderson had done some growing by that point and was no longer undersized --even calling in some favors to get her son on the roster of squad known as the Steelers.
“We were the Steelers, but we wore Houston Oilers uniforms,” said Henderson with a laugh.
Regardless, young Tony Henderson took immediate comfort in his football uniform.
“Not to be cocky, but I was just pretty much a little bit better than most of the other guys. I think the talent sort of stood out.”
What definitely stood out was Henderson’s focus and determination.
“I remember the first practice,” Henderson said. “We were just doing pass rush drills, trying to get to the quarterback. I remember, even at that age, being so locked into the quarterback that I wasn’t even worried about the guy that was over there (blocking).”
Henderson’s play, which eventually would earn him a full scholarship to the University of Michigan, garnered him the simplest of football accolades in that first year.
“We used to get little stickers on our helmets for good plays. I think by mid-season, they had to start putting stickers on the inside of my helmet. That was it. I could always play.”
LIFE WITH THE BIG BOYS
That ability to play took Henderson a long way. After starting for the football team as a sophomore at North Central High School in Indianapolis, Henderson, in perhaps a preview of his future in the Arena Football League, became the first player in state history to earn All-State status on offense and defense. College coaches came calling.
“And then it kind of sunk in that maybe it was an avenue where I could at least go to college for free and then maybe even after that play professionally,” Henderson said.
So the kid who grew up with visions of someday becoming a fireman signed on with Michigan’s famed Wolverines. He said he’ll never forget his freshman campaign.
“My freshman year our varsity line was Greg Skrepenak, a ten-year NFL guy, Steve Everitt, still in the NFL with the Rams, Joe Cocozzo, who played for the Chargers, and Doug Skene, who played for the Patriots. All of those guys got drafted into the NFL. I remember them sending me down on scout team and them just abusing me. All the moves that worked in high school, they didn’t work against these guys. I remember just going, ‘Damn, maybe I made the wrong decision. Maybe I should have went to IU.’”
There’s one moment in particular that Henderson’s memory will most likely never shake.
“That first practice with the varsity -- Everitt grabbed me and then Cocozzo grabbed me, and they ran about 40 yards down the field. They threw me down, both of them jumped on top of me. They said, ‘Welcome to Michigan, rookie.’ I got baptized.”
In high school, Henderson got by primarily on natural ability. Surrounded by the tree trunks doubling as Michigan linemen, however, he realized talent would no longer be enough. So he worked to get better.
The effort paid off. Henderson won a varsity letter four consecutive years (he graduated in four years) and started 24 games at nose tackle. He played in front of crowds that sometimes numbered more than 100,000 people; his hits were regularly seen on national television; and he participated in four post-season bowls, including two trips to the Rose
Bowl.
A two-time Second Team All-Big 10 selection, it seemed that the NFL would be Henderson’s next stop.
TKO
The NFL, however, was not where Henderson was meant to be.
“My window of opportunity opened up, but I couldn’t get in there,” Henderson said.
As the end of his senior season at Michigan approached, Henderson’s gridiron future appeared a lock. In preparation for the annual draft, NFL coaches from all across the country interviewed Henderson, telling them they liked what they saw.
But this is where Henderson’s story takes on the feel of so many others in the AFL, a league where a majority of players seem to be one mishap or unlucky break away from the bright lights of the NFL.
For Henderson, the unlucky break was a pinched nerve in his shoulder. Just three games away from closing out his collegiate career, Henderson was roughhousing with a teammate, who playfully socked him in the arm. That one punch did what no lineman had been able to do on a football field; it put Henderson out of commission. His arm went to sleep and he was forced to miss the Hula Bowl, where NFL scouts would be in full force.
From November 1994 to March 1996, Henderson was unable to lift weights. He put on 30 pounds; his girlfriend, who saw the money promised by an NFL career go up in smoke, broke up with him; and, without football, Henderson battled through some depression. The former All-American was down, but not for good.
“Life is not perfect,” Henderson said. “Coach (Mike Hohensee) always says, ‘Life is 10 percent what happens to you, 90 percent how you react to it.’”
Henderson wasn’t ready to quit on his dream of playing professional football.
LANDING INDOORS
When his arm finally awoke, Henderson quickly worked himself back into shape and his agent got him a tryout at a regional scouting combine. Several AFL teams expressed interest and Henderson signed with the Arizona Rattlers.
“I remember going in and being kind of skeptical. When I went out there to practice, the first guy I remember is Hunkie Cooper. I remember the first practice because he was just talking in the training room, and I was like, ‘Does that guy ever shut up?’ The trainer was like, ‘No, he doesn’t shut up, but he backs it up.’ Hunkie’s a small guy in stature, and I remember going out there and practicing and thinking, ‘That little guy talks a lot of smack but he does back it up.’”
Cooper proved to be more than Henderson guessed at first glance. So did life in the AFL.
“I’d say after the first game I played I had respect. This game’s a little bit different than the outdoor game, with a lineman being the Ironman, going both ways. Probably 60 percent of the time you’re out there, you’re winded. You’re probably good for the first series in the half, but after you run down the field a couple times, you’re playing sometimes on pure instinct. When I first came along, I was like, ‘We’ll see what this is all about.’ And it’s real football.”
WHAT HE DOES BEST
Life indoors has been good to Henderson. He’s rumbled into the end zone for rushing and receiving touchdowns (something he never got to do in high school or college); he’s experienced the joy of coming back from a four-touchdown deficit (when’s the last time an NFL team did that?); and he’s crashed over the boards and had fans spill beer on him (again, when’s the last time that happened in the NFL?).
Now in his sixth AFL season and approaching 30 years old, Henderson is old enough that people are beginning to ask how much longer he plans to play.
“When I can no longer perform up to my expectations, I’ll quit -- football is what I do best. I can read. I can do a lot of things. I’m a good son to my parents; I’m a good brother; I’m a good role model. But if I put down a list of what I do very well, football’s probably at the very top of it. And it’s what I love to do -- the game, the atmosphere, the smell, the crowd, people yelling at you.
“I’ve always been a guy that likes to inflict pain on the field -- and from 5:30 to 10 o’clock once a week, 14 times a year, I’m called upon to do that. And I don’t have a problem doing it.”
Once again, for the record, Tony Henderson is not married.
Jeff Foley was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2001.
