Derrick Henry's clutch mindset started long before his NFL career

There are good players, great players, and players who demand the moment. Derrick Henry has always belonged in that last group. Place the Baltimore Ravens star right next to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant in that sense, though he'll be the first to admit he needs some hardware for a little more justification.

Long before the stiff arms, the highlight runs, and the 2,000-yard NFL season, Henry built his identity on a simple belief. When the game is on the line, the ball should be in his hands. Not sometimes. Not situationally. Every time. As it turns out, that clutch gene and mentality didn’t develop in the NFL or during his time with the Alabama Crimson Tide. It started when he was still a prep star in high school.

During a recent appearance on the Ross Tucker Podcast, Henry admitted he’s been asking for the ball on every play since his prep days. It sounds like confidence, but when you look at the numbers, it starts to feel like common sense.

At Yulee High School, Henry didn't just dominate his competition. He rewrote history.

He finished his career with 12,124 rushing yards, breaking a national record that had stood for nearly six decades. As a freshman in 2009, he ran for 2,465 yards and 26 touchdowns. At one point, he even posted a 510-yard game, a record that stood until 2021.

That dominance followed him everywhere. Henry remains the only player to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a season at the high school, college, and professional levels. At each stop, he didn't just lead. He overwhelmed. He finished atop the nation in rushing yards and touchdowns at some point across all three stages of his career. And he almost did something even more historic recently. In 2024, Henry came just 79 yards shy of becoming the first player in NFL history to record multiple 2,000-yard seasons. It’s fair to wonder how that story ends if he had gotten a few more carries down the stretch. Something tells us he probably asked for the ball and an opportunity to carry his team several more times.

Then again, that question answers itself. Because if you ask him, there's never been any mystery. When the pressure rises and the game tightens, Derrick Henry doesn't just want the ball. He believes he's supposed to have it.