Drew Henson

Drew Daniel Henson (born February 13, 1980) is a retired Major League Baseball third baseman and National Football League quarterback. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan.

During his football career, Henson was a member of the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions. At the start of his baseball career, he was drafted by the New York Yankees in the third round of the 1998 amateur draft and played for the organization during the 2002 and 2003 seasons until he retired from the sport in 2004.

Early years
Drew Henson is the son of Carol (Flynner) Henson and Dan Henson, a former college football coach at San Jose State, Utah, Arizona State, and Eastern Michigan.

Henson attended Brighton High School in Brighton, Michigan, where he starred in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he completed 400 passes for 5,662 yards and 52 touchdowns in three seasons. As a sophomore defensive back, he added 47 tackles and five interceptions, and was also an excellent punter. In baseball, he hit a then national prep record 70 home runs, and was named the USA Today High School Player of the Year and the Gatorade High School Player of the Year.

College career
Henson during the recruiting process was originally planning on committing to Florida State University, but decided against it when Chris Weinke decided to enroll at FSU after a brief stint in Minor League Baseball.

Henson instead attended the University of Michigan, where he served as a backup to starting quarterback Tom Brady during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. In 1998, Henson accumulated 21 completions on 47 pass attempts, good for 254 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He saw action in seven of Michigan's 13 games, including a win over #11 Arkansas in the Citrus Bowl.

In his sophomore season, Henson saw his number of pass attempts nearly double, throwing 90 times and completing 47 passes. He recorded 546 passing yards, along with three touchdowns and two interceptions in nine appearances. Henson would again see limited action when Michigan took on another bowl opponent with a higher ranking, #5 Alabama, in the Orange Bowl, and came out victorious with a 35–34 victory.

In 2000, Brady's career at Michigan had ended and Henson, now a junior, would serve as the Wolverines' starting quarterback for most of the season, appearing in nine of Michigan's 12 games and leading the team to a share of the Big Ten title. Henson would throw for a career-high 312 yards in a road defeat to #21 Northwestern, 51–54, but also tie a school record with four passing touchdowns. In the regular season finale, Henson led the #19 Wolverines to Columbus to take on #12 Ohio State and threw again for over 300 yards en route to a 38–26 win. For the third time in his career, Henson would face a Southeastern Conference team when Michigan went on to play Auburn in the Citrus Bowl and for the third time, again emerged victorious, winning 31–28. Henson recorded 294 yards passing on just 15 completions to go with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Henson ended the season with 146 passes in 237 attempts for 2,146 yards, along with 18 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Records

 * Most touchdowns (passing) in a game: 4 (T-1) (2000, vs. Northwestern)

Baseball career
Henson was selected in the third round with the 97th overall selection in the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft. He began his minor league playing career with the Tampa Yankees, the Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. In his first year of playing, he batted .280 with 13 home runs. He began 2000 with Tampa, and after hitting .333, he was promoted to the AA Norwich Navigators and hit seven home runs before he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds with fellow prospects Jackson Melián and Ed Yarnall for Denny Neagle in 2000.

In 2001, he was traded back to the Yankees with Michael Coleman for Wily Mo Pena. While playing for the Yankees' AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers, Henson was often booed because he went to Michigan. Columbus, Ohio is home to Michigan's arch rival Ohio State University.

Henson made his major league debut with the Yankees in 2002, playing in only three games. He struck out in his only at-bat. In 2003 he played in five games for New York, going one for eight and scoring two runs. He ended his brief major league career with only one hit in nine at bats (a .111 average) before announcing his retirement.

Dallas Cowboys
After retiring from baseball, he returned to football in 2004, joining the Dallas Cowboys after they traded their third round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft to the Houston Texans in exchange for Henson's services.

On Thanksgiving Day 2004, Henson started his first game for Dallas. Henson went 4–12 for 31 passing yards in the first half before leaving the game with the score tied at seven. Head coach Bill Parcells opted to insert veteran quarterback Vinny Testaverde and the team went on to win the game 21–7. Henson finished the 2004 season with 10 of 18 pass attempts completed for 78 yards and one touchdown.

In 2005, Henson had a poor training camp showing and landed third on the depth chart behind Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo. After the 2005 campaign, Parcells announced that Drew Henson would be allocated to NFL Europe league to work on his skills. In 2006, Henson was assigned to the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe, where he almost led them to the World Bowl only to finish third behind the Frankfurt Galaxy and the Amsterdam Admirals. On August 23, 2006, Parcells stated that Henson would not be on the Cowboys 2006 roster. With Bledsoe as the starter, and Romo having had a strong preseason, Parcells was not inclined to keep Henson on the roster. His official status was unclear until August 24, when he was officially released. Having cleared waivers, Henson was free to sign with any NFL team.

Minnesota Vikings
On September 27, Henson signed on to the practice squad of the Minnesota Vikings, but was then released on October 10. He was signed again by the Minnesota Vikings on December 6, 2006.

On March 15, 2007, Henson signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Vikings. However, he was cut from the team during training camp August 27, 2007.

Detroit Lions
On August 22, 2008, Henson was signed by the Detroit Lions. He was assigned No. 12. He was waived during final cuts on August 30 but was re-signed to the team's practice squad a day later.

Henson was promoted to the active roster on October 12 when quarterback Jon Kitna was declared out for the team's Week 5 contest with an injury. The team released fullback Moran Norris to make room for Henson on the active roster.

Shortly after the signing of quarterback Daunte Culpepper, Henson was waived by the Lions on November 12 when the team claimed wide receiver Adam Jennings off waivers from the Atlanta Falcons. Henson was re-signed to the team's practice squad two days later. On November 24, Henson was signed to a two year contract off the practice squad to become number 2 on the depth chart behind Daunte Culpepper. After relieving Culpepper in the 4th quarter of the 2008 Lions' Thanksgiving Day game, Henson was 1-for-2 passing, and fumbled on back-to-back plays. Culpepper also came out of a subsequent game for the final play of the fourth quarter where Henson stepped in and was sacked.

Henson was released by the Lions on April 28, 2009. According to the Detroit Free Press, Henson is now retired from professional sports.