Drew Henson

Drew Henson

Detroit Lions
Career information
College:	Michigan
NFL draft:	2003 / Round: 6 / Pick: 192
Career history
Dallas Cowboys (2004-2005) Minnesota Vikings (2006-2007)* Detroit Lions (2008-present) *Offseason and/or practice squad member only
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status:	Active
Career highlights and awards
No notable achievements

Template:Infobox MLB retired Drew Daniel Henson (born February 13, 1980 in Template:City-state) is a former professional baseball player and current American football quarterback who is a practice squad player for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. 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 and Minnesota Vikings. In baseball, he was drafted by the New York Yankees in the third round of the 1998 amateur draft and played for the organization until he retired from the sport in 2004.

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 [1] and was selected in the 3rd round with the 97th overall selection in the 1998 MLB Draft.[2] 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. 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 aaaaaaa.

College career

At Michigan, Henson 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, displacing Brady, 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.

Baseball career

Henson played professional baseball for the Columbus Clippers, then the AAA affiliate of the Yankees, during the next two years, but only had nine at-bats and just one hit -- a single -- in parts of two seasons with New York.

Football career

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.[3]

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.

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.[4] However, he was cut from the team during training camp August 27, 2007.

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.

See also

• Lists of Michigan Wolverines football passing leaders

External links

• Template:Pro-football-reference
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
• Henson's minor league statistics at The Baseball Cube
• Drew Henson, 10 years later Livingston Daily article