Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry was named the Alabama Pro Athlete of the Year on Sunday by Alabama Sports Writers Association.
Henry, who played his college ball at Alabama, released a statement after being named the award’s recipient, according to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.
“It’s an honor to be named the Alabama Pro Athlete of the Year by the Alabama Sports Writers Association,” Henry said in a statement. “The time I spent playing football for Coach (Nick) Saban and the Crimson Tide were some of the best of my life, and I will always cherish my teammates, coaches and the fans who made my career at Alabama so memorable.”
Henry posted a sensational career at Alabama, totaling 3,591 rushing yards, 285 receiving yards and 45 total touchdowns in 39 career games.
In his junior season, King Henry posted a monster campaign that saw him rush for 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns, which was good enough to earn him a Heisman Trophy over Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey.
After three seasons with the Crimson Tide, Henry entered the 2016 NFL Draft, where he was selected by the Titans in the second round (No. 45 overall), a pick that proved to pay huge dividends for Tennessee.
Since then, Henry has become one of the faces of the franchise and arguably its best player. In 2019, he posted his best season as a pro, rushing for 1,540 and 16 touchdowns, both tops in the NFL.
He then went on to carry the Titans on his back through the first two rounds of the playoffs to the AFC Championship Game with a historic two-game stretch that saw him rush for an obscene 377 yards.
The Titans locked Henry up for the long haul in July, inking him to a four-year, $50 million contract.
