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WATCH: Derrick Henry reflects on high school career while watching his pre-Alabama highlight film

Wade-Peeryby: Wade Peery02/12/22
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(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry is one of the greatest running backs to ever play the game. He’s dominated at every level he’s played on. Fun fact: Henry is the only running back in the history of the game to run for over 2,000 yards in a season in high school (all four years of high school), college (2,219 yards), and the NFL (2,027 yards).

Recently, the legendary tailback decided to watch his high school highlight tape from his days at Yulee High School (Yulee, Florida). Henry established himself as one of the greatest running backs in high school football history. He pounded and pummeled his way through defenders to the tune of 12,124 rushing yards–setting the national high school career rushing yards record. The record Henry broke, Ken Hall’s 11,232 rushing yards for Sugar Land High School (Texas) in the early 1950s, stood for 51 years.

The Tennessee Titans tailback got to watch his high school highlights and relive the memories.

Derrick Henry on his high school days

Here’s the transcribed version of his interview with CBS Sports HQ. He first talked about reliving the memories of his high school days.

“Some great memories, man. Friday night football. Playing in front of my hometown. We wanted to go out there and…have a great game each and every week. Playing with my friends and teammates that I grew up with. Some of the best memories of my life. And a time I will never forget and I’ll always cherish it,” Henry said.

Then the reporter for CBS Sports asked Henry if he’d seen the New York Times story about what it was like tackling him in high school. The story was written by Ben Shpigel and it’s absolutely hilarious. “Yeah, I did see it. My coach from high school’s wife, she sent it to me. I thought it was kind of funny that they would take the time out and do that. I saw the funny story. So, it was pretty cool. And it was funny as well,” the former Heisman Trophy winner said.

It’s tough to fathom another running back dominating on all three levels the way Henry has. It was puzzling as to why the Titans decided to give him a limited amount of touches during his first two seasons in the NFL. But they finally figured it out and realized that Derrick Henry is ridiculous at football. Certain players were born to play the game and there’s no question it was part of his destiny.