Denver Broncos‘ defensive lineman, Matt Henningsen is more than an NFL star! Bearing the nickname, “The Mad Scientist,” he brings together his intellectual capabilities with his athletic skills in the fields. Joining as a walk-on at Wisconsin, he was the first since 1990 who started as a freshman with phenomenal records in 2018. Securing the title of two-time Academic All-American, he completed his graduation summa cum laude in Electrical Engineering and pursued a Master’s in machine learning.

Indeed, Henningsen’s skills are incomparable, and his parents, Peter and Helen Henningsen, are excessively proud of him. Whether it is his fascination with technology, or displaying his football skills on the NFL fields, he has excelled prolifically in his passions, for which he credits his parents.

Who are Peter and Helen Henningsen?

Matt’s parents, Peter and Helen Henningsen, professionally were lawyers, having retired from the field recently. Helen completed her graduation and went on to pursue her law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison). And, it is the same university from which Peter earned his degree. Since they valued academics intensely, even Matt developed a similar ethic toward his studies.

Not just Matt, but his three older brothers have also achieved success in both academics and football. And, for whatever his parents have done for them, Matt is very grateful. Posting on his Instagram handle, he shared an image in which he was posing alongside his parents on January 30, 2017. He wrote, “I love these two so much. They have done so much for me and I can’t thank each of them enough. I wouldn’t be where I am without them… they deserve them ten times more than I do. I love you, Mom and Dad,” he declared through his post.

How have Matt Henningsen’s parents supported his multi-talented achievements?

As Matt mentions in his IG profile, he believes in journey before destination. And, he wants to keep his journey as varied as possible. He is not only a DL for the Denver Broncos. Additionally, Matt is also a chess player and a technology enthusiast. He had declared to his parents that he would secure a 4.0 GPA in college.

But, Helen humorously notes as mentioned in The Athletics article from December 2021, “We kind of used to laugh at his goals a little bit, which I suppose we shouldn’t say that.” He indeed proved to them that he could achieve anything on which he had set his mind.

Helen further mentioned in the same article, “He doesn’t like [getting B grades]. But our message to him was, ‘Listen, you’re playing football and right now, your focus is football comes first.’” She recalled how passionately he talked about things, whether talking about his advanced engineering work or football. Helen acknowledged that Matt’s backup plan was ‘not a bad Plan B.’ His dual pursuits keep him steady on his brain and feet, allowing him to explore new possibilities in his life.