Henson enjoying life as a Rhein-grown Cowboy
by Matt Mosley
07:54 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 10, 2006
When Drew Henson sat down to dinner with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner eight years ago, the subject of someday playing football in Dusseldorf, Germany, never came up.
Henson, who hit 70 homers for Brighton (Mich.) High School, would end up with a locker next to Derek Jeter at Yankee Stadium. He was supposed to play third base for the most famous baseball team on earth.
Yet here he is, three years removed from baseball, playing football in front of 5,000 German fans, most of whom bring whistles to the games.
"It's crazy we don't have more false starts," Henson said.
The former Michigan quarterback and highly coveted baseball prospect now is the most visible player in NFL Europe, which isn't saying a whole lot.
The rosters read like a "who's that?" list of marginal NFL talent. And in case you didn't know, the league requires that at least one international player be on the field for each snap.
On some plays, Henson is praying that the star player for France's Flash de la Courneuve (fullback Laurent Marceline) won't forget to pick up the blitz.
If he knew a lick of French, Henson might give Marceline some feedback. Earlier this season, Henson's Rhein Fire lined up with a Japanese wide receiver.
No disrespect to Japan's legacy of producing great American football players, but I'm not sure this is how you build a championship football team.
Nevertheless, Henson seems to be having the time of his life. He led the Fire to a 5-2 start before leaving last Saturday's game against Frankfurt with a sprained left medial collateral ligament. The injury shouldn't keep him from playing this weekend, but it did knock him out of a quick getaway to Prague.
Henson has thrown for nine touchdowns and 1,188 yards with only three interceptions, and he has the league's second-highest passer rating.
So far, the biggest thing he's had to overcome is "this awful cucumber sauce they put on everything." Things have gotten so bad for Henson on the food front that he spent $200 on ranch dressing, cheddar-white popcorn, Wheat Thins, deli turkey and the great American delicacy, squirt cheese.
For those of you who've never had squirt cheese on Ritz crackers, it's never too late to start.
Henson said he has the biggest room in the team hotel, which basically means he can stretch without both arms touching the walls. For a man who just sold his 8,000 square-foot home in Dallas, this must be like living in a closet.
"I had too much space in that house," said Henson during our recent phone conversation.
By the way, players receive $1,000 per game and get $25 for meals on off days. If you don't like the free meals at the team hotel, you're on your own.
Dusseldorf is about as far from Yankee Stadium as you can get, but Henson doesn't seem to mind. He laughs when talking about the group of guys who show up at every Rhein home game with a huge Texas flag with his name written across it.
Henson never has embraced his celebrity. In fact, he recoils from it. And that may be why he's enjoying his stay in Dusseldorf so much. No one recognizes him when he walks into a bar, and he's been given a brief respite from the expectations he's been trying to live up to for years.
"The biggest thing I've gotten over here is confidence," Henson said. "There's a comfort level that you reach when you can watch film, and you say 'next time I'm in that situation, I'll know what to do.' "
He's through worrying about his delivery and other things that have held him back.
"I'm just going to stick with what works," he said.
Now, if he could just find a color TV!
Random musings from a Lake Highlands coffee house: Am I the only one who thinks former Pacer Reggie Miller is really struggling as an analyst. A local (NBC) TV icon dropped by my house for Tuesday's Mavs-Spurs game and defended Miller's work ... Speaking of TV commentators, the melodramatic Jim Nantz is in town for this week's EDS Byron Nelson Championship (actually, I think he lives here). You can bet that Nantz will host a segment with his good pal Bill Parcells at some point during the CBS broadcast. Last year, I took some playful jabs at Nantz for his Parcells interview, but he failed to see the humor. He even responded to my column on a local radio show, saying, "I can't remember the name of the writer."
The local radio station, an ESPN affiliate, now plays that line every time I come on the station, which isn't very often ... If you guys haven't had a Hebrew National hot dog lately, you're missing out. I've been grilling about 10 of them on Sundays and then eating them all week for lunch. This is why sportswriters rarely live past the age of 48 ... I hate to break it to you like this, but I'll be on assignment next week and will not be writing this column. If that's too much for you to take, stop by the site Friday through Sunday and read my columns from the Byron Nelson ... Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo shot 71 in Monday's Nelson qualifier at Timarron Country Club in Southlake, Texas. Romo, who is freakishly long off the tee but a bit shaky around the green, finished four strokes of the pace in a field that included mostly professionals and a few elite college players ... Parcells is dealing with a shoulder injury right now, but it didn't prevent him from getting in 18 holes at Dallas National last Wednesday. From what I've heard, he carries an 11-handicap ... Saw Mission Impossible III at the new AMC 15 at North Park Center on Saturday. If you can get past the fact that Tom Cruise has been acting like a nutcase in real life, this is the best of the three movies. I have the attention span of gnat, but this film grabbed me from the start ... Let's meet back here in a couple of weeks.
07:54 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 10, 2006
When Drew Henson sat down to dinner with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner eight years ago, the subject of someday playing football in Dusseldorf, Germany, never came up.
Henson, who hit 70 homers for Brighton (Mich.) High School, would end up with a locker next to Derek Jeter at Yankee Stadium. He was supposed to play third base for the most famous baseball team on earth.
Yet here he is, three years removed from baseball, playing football in front of 5,000 German fans, most of whom bring whistles to the games.
"It's crazy we don't have more false starts," Henson said.
The former Michigan quarterback and highly coveted baseball prospect now is the most visible player in NFL Europe, which isn't saying a whole lot.
The rosters read like a "who's that?" list of marginal NFL talent. And in case you didn't know, the league requires that at least one international player be on the field for each snap.
On some plays, Henson is praying that the star player for France's Flash de la Courneuve (fullback Laurent Marceline) won't forget to pick up the blitz.
If he knew a lick of French, Henson might give Marceline some feedback. Earlier this season, Henson's Rhein Fire lined up with a Japanese wide receiver.
No disrespect to Japan's legacy of producing great American football players, but I'm not sure this is how you build a championship football team.
Nevertheless, Henson seems to be having the time of his life. He led the Fire to a 5-2 start before leaving last Saturday's game against Frankfurt with a sprained left medial collateral ligament. The injury shouldn't keep him from playing this weekend, but it did knock him out of a quick getaway to Prague.
Henson has thrown for nine touchdowns and 1,188 yards with only three interceptions, and he has the league's second-highest passer rating.
So far, the biggest thing he's had to overcome is "this awful cucumber sauce they put on everything." Things have gotten so bad for Henson on the food front that he spent $200 on ranch dressing, cheddar-white popcorn, Wheat Thins, deli turkey and the great American delicacy, squirt cheese.
For those of you who've never had squirt cheese on Ritz crackers, it's never too late to start.
Henson said he has the biggest room in the team hotel, which basically means he can stretch without both arms touching the walls. For a man who just sold his 8,000 square-foot home in Dallas, this must be like living in a closet.
"I had too much space in that house," said Henson during our recent phone conversation.
By the way, players receive $1,000 per game and get $25 for meals on off days. If you don't like the free meals at the team hotel, you're on your own.
Dusseldorf is about as far from Yankee Stadium as you can get, but Henson doesn't seem to mind. He laughs when talking about the group of guys who show up at every Rhein home game with a huge Texas flag with his name written across it.
Henson never has embraced his celebrity. In fact, he recoils from it. And that may be why he's enjoying his stay in Dusseldorf so much. No one recognizes him when he walks into a bar, and he's been given a brief respite from the expectations he's been trying to live up to for years.
"The biggest thing I've gotten over here is confidence," Henson said. "There's a comfort level that you reach when you can watch film, and you say 'next time I'm in that situation, I'll know what to do.' "
He's through worrying about his delivery and other things that have held him back.
"I'm just going to stick with what works," he said.
Now, if he could just find a color TV!
Random musings from a Lake Highlands coffee house: Am I the only one who thinks former Pacer Reggie Miller is really struggling as an analyst. A local (NBC) TV icon dropped by my house for Tuesday's Mavs-Spurs game and defended Miller's work ... Speaking of TV commentators, the melodramatic Jim Nantz is in town for this week's EDS Byron Nelson Championship (actually, I think he lives here). You can bet that Nantz will host a segment with his good pal Bill Parcells at some point during the CBS broadcast. Last year, I took some playful jabs at Nantz for his Parcells interview, but he failed to see the humor. He even responded to my column on a local radio show, saying, "I can't remember the name of the writer."
The local radio station, an ESPN affiliate, now plays that line every time I come on the station, which isn't very often ... If you guys haven't had a Hebrew National hot dog lately, you're missing out. I've been grilling about 10 of them on Sundays and then eating them all week for lunch. This is why sportswriters rarely live past the age of 48 ... I hate to break it to you like this, but I'll be on assignment next week and will not be writing this column. If that's too much for you to take, stop by the site Friday through Sunday and read my columns from the Byron Nelson ... Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo shot 71 in Monday's Nelson qualifier at Timarron Country Club in Southlake, Texas. Romo, who is freakishly long off the tee but a bit shaky around the green, finished four strokes of the pace in a field that included mostly professionals and a few elite college players ... Parcells is dealing with a shoulder injury right now, but it didn't prevent him from getting in 18 holes at Dallas National last Wednesday. From what I've heard, he carries an 11-handicap ... Saw Mission Impossible III at the new AMC 15 at North Park Center on Saturday. If you can get past the fact that Tom Cruise has been acting like a nutcase in real life, this is the best of the three movies. I have the attention span of gnat, but this film grabbed me from the start ... Let's meet back here in a couple of weeks.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:26 PM
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