Drew Henson

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Drew Henson bigraphy, stories - American baseball player

Drew Henson : biography

February 13, 1980 –

Drew Daniel Henson (born February 13, 1980) is a retired Major League Baseball third baseman and National Football League quarterback. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan.

During his football career, Henson was a member of the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions. At the start of his baseball career, he was drafted by the New York Yankees in the third round of the 1998 amateur draft and played for the organization during the 2002 and 2003 seasons until he retired from the sport in 2004.

College career

Henson, during the recruiting process, was originally planning on committing to Florida State University, but decided against it when Chris Weinke decided to enroll at FSU after a brief stint in Minor League Baseball.

Henson instead attended the University of Michigan, where he served as a backup to starting quarterback Tom Brady during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. In 1998, Henson accumulated 21 completions on 47 pass attempts, good for 254 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He saw action in seven of Michigan’s 13 games, including a win over #11 Arkansas in the Citrus Bowl.

In his sophomore season, Henson saw his number of pass attempts nearly double, throwing 90 times and completing 47 passes. He recorded 546 passing yards, along with three touchdowns and two interceptions in nine appearances. Henson would again see limited action when Michigan took on another bowl opponent with a higher ranking, #5 Alabama, in the Orange Bowl, and came out victorious with a 35–34 OT victory.

In 2000, Brady’s career at Michigan had ended and Henson, now a junior, would serve as the Wolverines’ starting quarterback for most of the season, appearing in nine of Michigan’s 12 games and leading the team to a share of the Big Ten title. Henson would throw for a career-high 312 yards in a road defeat to #21 Northwestern, 51–54, but also tie a school record with four passing touchdowns. In the regular season finale, Henson led the #19 Wolverines to Columbus to take on #12 Ohio State and threw again for over 300 yards en route to a 38–26 win. For the third time in his career, Michigan and Henson would face a Southeastern Conference team when Michigan went on to play Auburn in the Citrus Bowl and for the third time, Michigan again emerged victorious, winning 31–28. Henson recorded 294 yards passing on just 15 completions to go with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Henson ended the season with 146 passes in 237 attempts for 2,146 yards, along with 18 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Records

  • Most touchdowns (passing) in a game: 4 (T-1) (2000, vs. Northwestern)

Early years

Drew Henson is the son of Carol (Flynner) Henson and Dan Henson, a former college football coach at San Jose State, Utah, Arizona State, and Eastern Michigan.http://www.fanbase.com/4-Dan-Henson

Henson once attended Brighton High School in Brighton, Michigan, where he starred in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he completed 400 passes for 5,662 yards and 52 touchdowns in three seasons. As a sophomore defensive back, he added 47 tackles and five interceptions, and was also an excellent punter. In baseball, he hit a then national prep record 70 home runs, and was named the USA Today High School Player of the Year and the Gatorade High School Player of the Year.

Football career

Dallas Cowboys

After retiring from baseball, he returned to football in 2004, joining the Dallas Cowboys after they traded their third round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft to the Houston Texans in exchange for Henson’s services.

On Thanksgiving Day 2004, Henson started his first game for Dallas. Henson went 4–12 for 31 passing yards in the first half before leaving the game with the score tied at seven. Head coach Bill Parcells opted to insert veteran quarterback Vinny Testaverde and the team went on to win the game 21–7. Henson finished the 2004 season with 10 of 18 pass attempts completed for 78 yards and one touchdown.