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Where is Henry’s head as he waits for Heisman announcement?
By Jessi Lee
Published:
Tide RB Derrick Henry is being ushered around in New York for interviews and meet-and-greets, and he is an overwhelming favorite to win college football’s most coveted individual award.
Derrick Henry set the SEC record for rush yards in a season w/1,986, breaking Herschel Walker's record from 1981: pic.twitter.com/LrclD9WoDk
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 12, 2015
When the Heisman presentation rolls around in a couple of hours, he’ll be sitting out there with Clemson QB Deshaun Watson and Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey, but where will his thoughts be?
With his grandmother Gladys Henry who is in a hospital bed in Florida.
According to al.com, Gladys raised Henry, whose parents were just 15 and 16 years old at the time he was born.
She taught him everything he knows, and she raised him to be the humble kind young man he is today. Henry’s cousin Keith White thinks she has had an influence on who he is on the field, too.
“By the grace of God and his grandma, he’s the man he is today,” White said. “She worked until she couldn’t work no more, and that’s what she instilled into Derrick.”
Henry is a workhorse for the Tide, and he is known for being just as strong, if not stronger, when the game reaches the fourth quarter. In both of his last two games, Henry had 40-plus carries, which is a new school record.
Gladys can take a great deal of pride in the man she raised. But on one of the most important days of his life, she can’t physically be there with him.
However, there’s no doubt she’ll be watching the Heisman presentation from her hospital bed, silently cheering on her beloved grandson. And in the acceptance speech Henry has already written in the case he wins, I’m sure there is mention of his favorite grandmother.
