Henson Diary, March, 30th
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.
Our road trip to Berlin turned out very well. Our team played much better on all sides and it was great to get a shut out on the road. It was real cold and foggy and it didn’t look like it was anymore than 1,500 in the stadium. We were much more efficient offensively, which was one thing that the coaches had stressed last week.
The trip to Berlin was definitely memorable though. The hotel we stayed at was right on a river that ran through that part of town. On Saturday morning, the day of the game, there was a huge anti-Nazi rally going on right outside the hotel which was followed by the pro-Nazi activists afterward. That’s definitely one thing that I never thought I would see in my lifetime. Before we flew home on Sunday, the team took a tour of Berlin for most of the afternoon. There are parts of Berlin where parts of the wall still stand, and we went by many of the other important landmarks, the Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg Gate, the cathedrals, Checkpoint Charlie. It’s a very historical city but depressing since everything there is based on tragic events.
Obviously, I have been keeping up with the moves that Dallas has been making. It's tough to see guys like Keyshawn and Larry Allen leave. That's part of pro sports, but they both were solid leaders for us and you knew what they were going to give you on Sunday. With the addition of Terrell Owens, you can't help but be excited about adding another explosive player to our offense. He has the unique ability to change the game every time he has his hands on the ball, and that really puts pressure on the defense. I know it did watching him play against us.
I have to say that it's nice to be under center for an extended amount of time again. I feel comfortable and in control of things. My coordinator gives me a lot of freedom at the line to change things when needed. That in itself will help me improve as a player. I'm as interested as anyone to see how my comfort level and speed at which I play improves with each game. That is the point of me coming over here. Obviously it's important to get the game experience to better prepare me for the upcoming NFL season, but it's also important to work on the little things that separate quarterbacks. Leading an offense, becoming efficient in the most important areas, third down and the red zone, how to come back from games when things don't go as well as planned.
Little things like that are what I really hope to take from this experience that you cannot simulate in practice or limited time in preseason games. And, of course, the obvious, winning the World Bowl. That is my one real goal before June comes because right now I'm not part of the Dallas Cowboys, I'm the quarterback for the Rhein Fire and we are trying to bring a championship to the city of Dusseldorf. Winning games is the ultimate measure of a quarterback and whatever it takes I'm going to do to make that happen.
As far as food it’s pretty good here. I don’t exactly have a kitchen in my room or anything, but I do the best with my sandwich maker. I make a pretty good grilled cheese, meat and cheese or whatever I can come up with the sandwich maker. When I have at home my favorite dish to make is steak chicken and baked potatoes. It’s hard to cook with my schedule, but when I get a chance that’s what I try to eat.
Me and the offensive linemen went out to eat last night for the first time at a steak house in Ratingen by the cathedral. We were actually the only ones in there, but it was nice. We spent the majority of time trying to figure out how to read the menu. We ended up having to just look at all the steaks we want, but it turned out well. Nick Steitz has to be the funniest linemen, but truthfully for only being together for this short amount of time these guys are as tight as any group that I’ve ever seen. I think that helps on the field. There together at least 20 hours of the day. It’s never quite with those guys, always a good time.
Our road trip to Berlin turned out very well. Our team played much better on all sides and it was great to get a shut out on the road. It was real cold and foggy and it didn’t look like it was anymore than 1,500 in the stadium. We were much more efficient offensively, which was one thing that the coaches had stressed last week.
The trip to Berlin was definitely memorable though. The hotel we stayed at was right on a river that ran through that part of town. On Saturday morning, the day of the game, there was a huge anti-Nazi rally going on right outside the hotel which was followed by the pro-Nazi activists afterward. That’s definitely one thing that I never thought I would see in my lifetime. Before we flew home on Sunday, the team took a tour of Berlin for most of the afternoon. There are parts of Berlin where parts of the wall still stand, and we went by many of the other important landmarks, the Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg Gate, the cathedrals, Checkpoint Charlie. It’s a very historical city but depressing since everything there is based on tragic events.
Obviously, I have been keeping up with the moves that Dallas has been making. It's tough to see guys like Keyshawn and Larry Allen leave. That's part of pro sports, but they both were solid leaders for us and you knew what they were going to give you on Sunday. With the addition of Terrell Owens, you can't help but be excited about adding another explosive player to our offense. He has the unique ability to change the game every time he has his hands on the ball, and that really puts pressure on the defense. I know it did watching him play against us.
I have to say that it's nice to be under center for an extended amount of time again. I feel comfortable and in control of things. My coordinator gives me a lot of freedom at the line to change things when needed. That in itself will help me improve as a player. I'm as interested as anyone to see how my comfort level and speed at which I play improves with each game. That is the point of me coming over here. Obviously it's important to get the game experience to better prepare me for the upcoming NFL season, but it's also important to work on the little things that separate quarterbacks. Leading an offense, becoming efficient in the most important areas, third down and the red zone, how to come back from games when things don't go as well as planned.
Little things like that are what I really hope to take from this experience that you cannot simulate in practice or limited time in preseason games. And, of course, the obvious, winning the World Bowl. That is my one real goal before June comes because right now I'm not part of the Dallas Cowboys, I'm the quarterback for the Rhein Fire and we are trying to bring a championship to the city of Dusseldorf. Winning games is the ultimate measure of a quarterback and whatever it takes I'm going to do to make that happen.
As far as food it’s pretty good here. I don’t exactly have a kitchen in my room or anything, but I do the best with my sandwich maker. I make a pretty good grilled cheese, meat and cheese or whatever I can come up with the sandwich maker. When I have at home my favorite dish to make is steak chicken and baked potatoes. It’s hard to cook with my schedule, but when I get a chance that’s what I try to eat.
Me and the offensive linemen went out to eat last night for the first time at a steak house in Ratingen by the cathedral. We were actually the only ones in there, but it was nice. We spent the majority of time trying to figure out how to read the menu. We ended up having to just look at all the steaks we want, but it turned out well. Nick Steitz has to be the funniest linemen, but truthfully for only being together for this short amount of time these guys are as tight as any group that I’ve ever seen. I think that helps on the field. There together at least 20 hours of the day. It’s never quite with those guys, always a good time.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:48 PM
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