Drew Henson's NFL Europe Diary
Drew Henson's NFL Europe Diary
February 16, 2006
NFL Europe
Drew Henson has come to NFL Europe to get more game experience after spending the past two seasons as the backup quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. Henson shared time with Tom Brady as a starter at Michigan, before turning his hand to baseball, playing with the New York Yankees. Now with the Rhein Fire, Henson will write a season-long diary for NFLEurope.com, keeping fans up to date with what happens on and off the field in NFL Europe.
I tossed around the thought of coming to NFL Europe last year with the Cowboys, but it wasn’t good timing. I just came back from playing baseball with the New York Yankees so that wasn’t really a good time. When playing at quarterback the fastest way to improve is to get game reps and this is the best and only option. I don’t know if the Cowboys organization would’ve asked me to come over here, but I went to our owner Jerry Jones and said: ‘If you guys want me to come to NFL Europe then I’m all for it.’
I want to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, so the fastest way for me to improve is to play games. Practice is good, but it only can go so far. Watching from the sidelines helps, but the fastest way for me to make progress is to play games. On top of playing football, how often do you get the chance to go to Europe, spend three months and live for free at age 25. That was my thinking about this decision initially. I’ll get back from Europe around the same time that they finish the off season program. I’ll still have the same break that my teammates will before the start of training camp. I’ll play ten or eleven games whereas if I stay here, I’ll just have mini camps. To me it’s a no-brainer. I’ve talked to some guys on our staff that has played and everyone had good things to say about it. I was hoping he’d send me here and it all worked out.
My family took the decision well because ultimately they just want me to be happy and they want success for me. They both plan on coming over to watch a couple of games.
What I’m looking forward to the most during this training camp is to get a lot of snaps. I’m ready to get in this new system and hear what other coaches have to say and I get to look at things the way they do. The more coaches I can get around will only help me improve and make me better.
During this first week in training camp nothing has really came as a shock to me. I know how it is and this is just like an NFL training camp. Our combination and set up is the same as the Dallas Cowboys. We live apartment style and we use modules for our classrooms, so for the most part it’s all the same. I really haven’t had to make that much of an adjustment being here, because training camp is training camp. It’s not meant to be posh and comfortable. You’re here to work.
When I found out that I was coming to the Rhein Fire I got on Google earth. I didn’t know what city Rhein was in, so I finally figured it out that it was Düsseldorf. I talked to a couple of my buddies who’ve been to Germany to see what they had to say. I heard that it was probably the prettiest city out of all the other teams in our league. I heard about downtown, the restaurant and the shops. I heard that all of that is suppose to be great, so it’ll be a great three month vacation. I’m going to like hanging out with my girl friend to just live life.
From a football perspective I’m going to enjoy playing games over there and the goal is to go over there and win the World Bowl. Anytime that you’re on a team, regardless if it’s only four months, your job is to win the championship. It’s not about me having numbers. If the team has success, a lot of guys are going to be able to turn that around and make something out of it when they get back here.
This is my first time going to Europe, but I’ve been to the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada. I’ve probably only had one off-season in my life, between both sports. I love to travel, but it’s never really been there that much for me.
February 16, 2006
NFL Europe
Drew Henson has come to NFL Europe to get more game experience after spending the past two seasons as the backup quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. Henson shared time with Tom Brady as a starter at Michigan, before turning his hand to baseball, playing with the New York Yankees. Now with the Rhein Fire, Henson will write a season-long diary for NFLEurope.com, keeping fans up to date with what happens on and off the field in NFL Europe.
I tossed around the thought of coming to NFL Europe last year with the Cowboys, but it wasn’t good timing. I just came back from playing baseball with the New York Yankees so that wasn’t really a good time. When playing at quarterback the fastest way to improve is to get game reps and this is the best and only option. I don’t know if the Cowboys organization would’ve asked me to come over here, but I went to our owner Jerry Jones and said: ‘If you guys want me to come to NFL Europe then I’m all for it.’
I want to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, so the fastest way for me to improve is to play games. Practice is good, but it only can go so far. Watching from the sidelines helps, but the fastest way for me to make progress is to play games. On top of playing football, how often do you get the chance to go to Europe, spend three months and live for free at age 25. That was my thinking about this decision initially. I’ll get back from Europe around the same time that they finish the off season program. I’ll still have the same break that my teammates will before the start of training camp. I’ll play ten or eleven games whereas if I stay here, I’ll just have mini camps. To me it’s a no-brainer. I’ve talked to some guys on our staff that has played and everyone had good things to say about it. I was hoping he’d send me here and it all worked out.
My family took the decision well because ultimately they just want me to be happy and they want success for me. They both plan on coming over to watch a couple of games.
What I’m looking forward to the most during this training camp is to get a lot of snaps. I’m ready to get in this new system and hear what other coaches have to say and I get to look at things the way they do. The more coaches I can get around will only help me improve and make me better.
During this first week in training camp nothing has really came as a shock to me. I know how it is and this is just like an NFL training camp. Our combination and set up is the same as the Dallas Cowboys. We live apartment style and we use modules for our classrooms, so for the most part it’s all the same. I really haven’t had to make that much of an adjustment being here, because training camp is training camp. It’s not meant to be posh and comfortable. You’re here to work.
When I found out that I was coming to the Rhein Fire I got on Google earth. I didn’t know what city Rhein was in, so I finally figured it out that it was Düsseldorf. I talked to a couple of my buddies who’ve been to Germany to see what they had to say. I heard that it was probably the prettiest city out of all the other teams in our league. I heard about downtown, the restaurant and the shops. I heard that all of that is suppose to be great, so it’ll be a great three month vacation. I’m going to like hanging out with my girl friend to just live life.
From a football perspective I’m going to enjoy playing games over there and the goal is to go over there and win the World Bowl. Anytime that you’re on a team, regardless if it’s only four months, your job is to win the championship. It’s not about me having numbers. If the team has success, a lot of guys are going to be able to turn that around and make something out of it when they get back here.
This is my first time going to Europe, but I’ve been to the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada. I’ve probably only had one off-season in my life, between both sports. I love to travel, but it’s never really been there that much for me.
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