Drew Henson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

Henson has also been a member of the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions. In baseball, 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.

[edit] Early years

Henson 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. He 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.

[edit] College career

Henson chose to attend the University of Michigan, where he backed up starting quarterback Tom Brady during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. In 2000, as a junior, he served as the Wolverines' starting quarterback for most of the season, replacing Brady who had graduated, and leading the team to a share of the Big Ten title. Henson completed 131 passes in 217 attempts for 1,852 yards and 16 touchdowns with just four interceptions, and was regarded as a Heisman Trophy candidate for his senior year - which he gave up to focus on professional baseball.

[edit] Baseball career

Drew Henson
Third baseman - 2001 Columbus Clippers
Born: February 13, 1980 (1980-02-13) (age 30) San Diego, California
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 5, 2002 for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
September 28, 2003 for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
Batting average	.111
Hits	1
Runs scored	3
Teams
New York Yankees (2002-2003)

Henson was selected in the third round with the 97th overall selection in the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft. He began his minor league playing career with the Tampa Yankees, the Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. In his first year of playing, he batted .280 with 13 home runs. He began 2000 with Tampa, and after hitting .333, he was promoted to the AA Norwich Navigators and hit seven home runs before he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 2000. In 2001, he was traded back to the Yankees. While playing for the Yankees' AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers, Henson was often booed because he went to Michigan, and Columbus is also home to Michigan's rival Ohio State. Henson made his major league debut with the Yankees in 2002, but played in only three games. He struck out in his only at-bat. In 2003 he played in five games for New York, going one for eight and scoring two runs. He ended his brief major league career with only one hit in nine at bats (a .111 average) before announcing his retirement.

[edit] Football career

[edit] Dallas Cowboys

In 2004, he chose to give up baseball and return to football, 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.^[1]

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 just 10 of 18 pass completions for 78 yards and one touchdown.

In 2005, Henson had a poor training camp showing and landed third on the depth chart behind Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo. After the 2005 campaign, Parcells announced that Drew Henson would be allocated to NFL Europe league to work on his skills. In 2006, Henson was assigned to the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe, where he almost led them to the World Bowl only to finish third behind the Frankfurt Galaxy and the Amsterdam Admirals. On August 23, 2006, Parcells stated that Henson would not be on the Cowboys 2006 roster. With Bledsoe as the starter, and Romo having had a strong preseason, Parcells was not inclined to keep Henson on the roster. His official status was unclear until August 24, when he was officially released. Having cleared waivers, Henson was free to sign with any NFL team.

[edit] Minnesota Vikings

On September 27, Henson signed on to the practice squad of the Minnesota Vikings, but was then released on October 10. He was signed again by the Minnesota Vikings on December 6, 2006.

On March 15, 2007, Henson signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Vikings.^[2] However, he was cut from the team during training camp August 27, 2007.

[edit] Detroit Lions

On August 22, 2008, Henson was signed by the Detroit Lions. He was assigned No. 12. He was waived during final cuts on August 30 but was re-signed to the team's practice squad a day later.

Henson was promoted to the active roster on October 12 when quarterback Jon Kitna was declared out for the team's Week 5 contest with an injury. The team released fullback Moran Norris to make room for Henson on the active roster.

Shortly after the signing of quarterback Daunte Culpepper, Henson was waived by the Lions on November 12 when the team claimed wide receiver Adam Jennings off waivers from the Atlanta Falcons. Henson was re-signed to the team's practice squad two days later.^[3] On November 24, Henson was signed to a two year contract off the practice squad to become number 2 on the depth chart behind Daunte Culpepper. After relieving Culpepper in the 4th quarter of the 2008 Lions' Thanksgiving Day game, Henson was 1-for-2 passing, and fumbled on back-to-back plays. Culpepper also came out of a subsequent game for the final play of the fourth quarter where Henson stepped in and was sacked.

Henson was released by the Lions on April 28, 2009.

[edit] See also

• Lists of Michigan Wolverines football passing leaders

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career Football Stats from ESPN
• Drew Henson at Pro-Football-Reference.com
• Career statistics and player information from ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)