The Baltimore Ravens might have known they acquired an official cheat code when they signed Derrick Henry to the roster. The guy looks like he’s straight out of Madden—unstoppable, insurmountable, but most importantly, a humble man who just has football on his mind. Nobody knows that better than Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
After the 35-10 win at home, Harbaugh was having a hard time hiding the smile on his face. Even after a controversial consecutive timeout and giving up 5 yards for the mistake, his team left M&T Bank with newfound respect for Derrick Henry. Maybe Tom Brady was right when he called Derrick Henry a “freak.” For now, let’s jump to Harbaugh’s comments.
“He’s a pro!” Harbaugh said in the post-game presser. “He’s a really good guy. He’s very humble. He’s a man of faith. He’s a family man and he loves football. He thinks about it driving into work, he thinks about it, it’s football. Driving home, he thinks about it.” Well, it might be safe to say that Derrick Henry has surpassed all the expectations we had for him.
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Coach Harbaugh on @KingHenry_2's focus: pic.twitter.com/OldmzdetYP
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 30, 2024
In fact, Derrick Henry was just one yard short of making history in the NFL, joining the ranks of O.J. Simpson and Adrian Peterson. If he had a 200-yard game, it would have been the seventh of his career, tying him with Peterson and Simpson. But a 24-carry, 199-yard performance with a touchdown is not shabby at all.
Though he singlehandedly led the Ravens’ offense tonight, not being able to gain that one extra yard might be his biggest regret down the road. “That’s gonna haunt me for a long time,” the running back said after the game, where he had a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown on a 5-yard pass from Lamar Jackson.
But he did break one record today. He scored an 87-yard rushing touchdown on Baltimore’s first play against the Buffalo Bills–a feat no Raven has ever achieved in the franchise’s history. But this isn’t just due to luck or his strong, big body. Henry’s commitment to football comes from learning the smallest details about the team’s offense.
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Is Derrick Henry the most committed player in the NFL today? What do you think?
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John Harbaugh confirmed this in the rest of the post-game presser, saying, “He makes a play, he doesn’t make a play, he wants to learn something about the offense, he calls, he texts the coach. All he talks about is football. So, all he wants to be doing in this building is football because it matters so much to him.”
Well, Harbaugh isn’t the only one awestruck by Derrick Henry. League legends like Tom Brady also hold the running back in high regard.
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Tom Brady shows love to Derrick Henry
The 30-year-old RB has played against Tom Brady a couple of times, to say the least. But even after leaving the NFL, the 7x Super Bowl winner can’t take his eyes off the 4x Pro Bowler. The last win against the Dallas Cowboys was proof enough for Brady to believe in his nickname, “King Henry.” Check out what he had to say about Henry in his latest YouTube vlog.
“LFG. Player of the game is of course Ravens’ Derrick Henry. Of course, I have played against him for a long time, the way he runs through the holes fearlessly, he is such a freak,” Brady said in his vlog after Henry’s 151-yard, 2-TD performance against the Dallas Cowboys. “He showed off. He did what kings do,” Brady iterated further after watching Henry’s dominant run against Dallas.
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After giving Josh Allen the Jacksonville Jaguars treatment, the Ravens will be on the road visiting the Paycor Stadium to play against Joe Burrow, who is struggling to get his grips on the Cincinnati offense. Can Derrick Henry stiff-arm the Bengals? Let us know below.
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Is Derrick Henry the most committed player in the NFL today? What do you think?