Derrick Henry sends message to high school player who is closing in on his all-time rushing record
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Derrick Henry has dazzled fans on the football field for years, whether that was at Alabama just over a decade ago or today as one of the best players in the NFL at any position.
Before all that, though, the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner made a name for himself at Yulee High School in Florida, where he rushed for a national high school record 12,124 yards. The rest, of course, is history.
But that high school rushing mark might be in jeopardy. That’s because Myles McLaughlin, a senior at Knox Community High School in Indiana, needs 1,121 yards in his final four games to break the record.
Henry, who saw highlights of McLaughlin on Instagram, gave the youngster some words of encouragement on Tuesday.
“(He’s) running tough, breaking tackles. He’s a beast,” Henry said, during an interview on Kay Adams’ “Up and Adams” show on FanDuel TV. “Go break it, man. (Records are) meant to be broken. I’ve had it for 10-plus years. Go get it. Go break the record, man. I hope you win a state championship with it.”
McLaughlin ran for just under 1,600 yards as a freshman in 2022, according to MaxPreps. After surpassing 2,500 yards as a sophomore and 2,800 yards as a junior, he’s over 4,000 yards as a senior. He’s also scored an eye-popping 61 touchdowns.
There’s one other key detail Henry noticed about McLaughlin, too.
“He got that No. 2 on,” Henry, who wore the same number in college before donning No. 22 in the pros, said. “Go break that record. Go get it.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
