Drew Henson Article
We all know the story of Drew Henson, but the New York Post recently had a nice feature article about Henson's career path. He currently is trying to make it as a scout.
The article really emphasizes how difficult of a situation he was put in when he was just 20. While most of us were worrying about some exams at that age, or rather just getting drunk, he had three big options. It is easy to say that we want to be incredible at multiple sports, but for him that might have cost him a successful professional career. It certainly would have been incredibly stressful to manage.
https://nypost.com/2020/04/11/yankees-bust-drew-henson-chasing-new-dream-after-years-of-misses/
What could've been had he returned.
I always thought the roster for the Fall 2001 team was part of what went into his math on not returning. The 2000 team was loaded with NFL talent on OL and at the skill positions. As we all saw, the 2001 team was ... not.
Chris Perry, Maquise Walker, Ron Bellamy, Bennie Joppru, Jonathan Goodwin, Kurt Anderson... Tony Pape? OK, the list falls off pretty quickly, but the cupboard wasn't exactly bare.
There are some names that look big in the rear view mirror, but outside of a solid year from Goodwin and the spectacular show put on by Marvelous Marquise (whose 2001 season was as much of a one-man band as I can remember at Michigan), those guys were not so good in 2001.
Perry -- he had teased as a freshman in 2000 behind A-Train, but he was generally ass in 2001 (his YPC dropped from 5.4 to 4.1 from '00 to '01). Huge attitude problem, and did not run hard at all that year. It came together beautifully for him in 2003, when he turned it around in a huge way ... forming up most of our memories of him. But 2001? For his talent level, and considering what the team needed out of him, he flat out sucked.
Bellamy -- my man Ron was rounding into a Dude in 2002, but in '01 he was very inexperienced and rather pedestrian: 14 catches on the entire season, despite being a "starter" for most of the year.
Joppru - another guy who had a fantastic final year (2002), but was basically invisible in 2001 with 12 total catches on the year rotating in behind Billy Seymour.
I'll agree that the cupboard wasn't nearly as bare as it was in say 2008 (when Lloyd handed RR a roster that was almost entirely devoid of Michigan-level talent ... that OL was unspeakably untalented). But you can bet your bottom dollar Drew knew the '01 offense was going to struggle. And he was going to get hit ... a lot.
April 13th, 2020 at 11:43 PM ^
To be fair, a lot of those 2001 receiving stats (other than Walkers') might have looked a lot better with a senior Henson throwing the ball instead of a sophomore Navarre. A better passing attack might have made things easier for Perry and Askew as well.
Yeah I am thinking our defense would have prevented us from getting to the NC game. The defense got exposed quite a bit in the MSU and Tennessee games
That being said, we probably beat Ohio St and Tressel the Butthole that year with Henson. Ohio St wasn't that good that season
I don't know. I think Michigan with Henson in 2001 is probably in the NC game - granted they probably get throttled by Miami. They lost to MSU by 2 in clock gate. They lost at Washington by 5 in a game that they controlled for the first 50 minutes (they were up 12-6 with about 10 minutes to play and we're kicking a FG to go up by 9) and lost to OSU by 6. It's all speculation but I'd think with Henson they win all 3 of those games.
If he stays Michigan beats Ohio State. That game was so painful to watch.
too soon. . .
The best there never was.
Holy fuck, the first 5 paragraphs of this article are painful to read. I get that he's trying to establish Henson's connections to greatness, but by the end, where he's talking about brady living in jeter's house, and his wife having gone to the same school as Matthew Stafford, he's completely gone off the rails.
What happened to Drew being a scout for the Yankees a couple of years ago? Now he is trying to do it in the NFL? Seems he jumps around too much.
Its interesting that he mentions how tired and beaten up he was after the 2000 season, junior year. That certainly would have factored in to his decision. Losing Terrell and the OL would have hurt, but Michigan was reloading with NFL talent back then and the drop off would have been minimal. He would have been a Heisman candidate in 2001 and the 1st overall in the following NFL draft.
I read that his dad and he have a tense relationship. His dad seemed like a bit of an arrogant buffoon back then, often appearing on WDFN and directing his son's career. Perhaps he meddled too much.
Agreed on all fronts except the reloading talent part. See post above -- ignoring the QB position, the 2001 offensive personnel grouping was a huge dropoff from 2000.
Good interview with Henson on the Eli Zaret/Denny McLain/Bob Page podcast last week.
Henson admits in the interview that he consistently made decisions too quickly, without thinking them through.
Drew Henson is NOT BEAVER STRONG !!
This article just brings up too many painful memories of a top 5 quarterback Jason Kapsner not working out.
Kapsner was older than Henson and had already graduated by 2000. We don't know that he didn't work out, he never actually got his shot.
Tough situation, but if he had just gone straight to baseball at 18 and taken his time moving through the minors; or if he had devoted himself fully to playing football, and he had not been pushed to play when Brady was the better QB, he might have been successful at either of the sports. Going back and forth, and being pushed ahead of what his performance had earned, turned out to be a mistake.
I sometimes feel for the guy. "Golden Boy" as a teenager and then everything falls apart, compared to what he could have been. May be his family took the Federer model too far. They took too long to concentrate on one sport. NFL and MLB both have very demanding requirements to succeed at the Pro level, especially the two positions he played.
If he chose either one or devoted more time as a QB, he may have had a different outcome.
Stupidest decision ever for him and Michigan.
We would have beaten osu and Tressel never gets off to a good start against us, the magnitude of that possibility just pisses me off.
He shoulda stuck with football, he never proved he could hit an MLB curve ball but showed what he could do with nfl talent around him, sigh.
Arguably the most talented QB ever to play at Michigan.
Don't care. One of my 3 or 4 least favorite M athletes.
double post.. sorry
I agree with the comments above. Henson was very talented but it was obvious that an OSU alum was bribing him away from Michigan.
So maybe Drew isn't a big Michigan fan and coming to Michigan was just convenient to his parents home in Brighton(?) so taking more money than he was worth was just a windfall to be taken. I doubt he really thought he was that good.
I don't fault Henson for his decisions. I do fault Carr for playing him so much so early (I think Carr saw a high ceiling and a threat to leave.) I kind of even like Henson from his interview but it looks to me like Michigan was only a stepping stone for him.
Sounds like sour grapes.
Henson had a great year in 2000 and would have been a Heisman candidate had he stayed. It's hard to say no to $17 million in a sport that's a lot less demanding physically than football. I wish he would have stayed but there is no reason to begrudge his decision.
He should have stayed at Michigan and completed degree here. I think if he had a great senior season he would have been the first QB taken in the NFL draft that following April.
April 14th, 2020 at 12:02 AM ^
I always enjoyed covering him
April 14th, 2020 at 12:09 AM ^
Henson was so much better than #10. Not sure what Coach Carr saw in that kid.