The Tennessee Volunteers will honor former defensive tackle John Henderson before Sunday’s season opener against Utah State. Henderson will be featured as the Legend of the Game, celebrating a career in Knoxville that spanned from 1999-2001, in his first appearance at Neyland Stadium since his final game, a 38-0 shutout of Vanderibilt in 2001.

At Tennessee, Henderson totaled 165 tackles and 20.5 sacks. He was a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award as a senior, despite missing two games with injuries.

After missing his freshman season in 1998 due to the old partial qualifier rules, Henderson made early contributions in 1999. He took over as Tennessee’s starting defensive tackle midway through his sophomore season for an injured Billy Ratlff. After making his initial start against Georgia, Henderson would start every game for the remainder of his collegiate career.

Henderson was selected No. 9 overall in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. As a rookie, Henderson set his career highs for sacks with 6.5 to go with 53 tackles and two fumble recoveries. Henderson’s professional career spanned 10 seasons with the Jaguars and Oakland Raiders and made two Pro Bowl appearances (2004 and 2006). He retired in 2011 with 489 tackles and 29 sacks.