Former Alabama All-American Derrick Henry left the Tennessee Titans last offseason with something to prove. Over the previous six seasons, Henry had run for 8,268 yards and 80 touchdowns. He had 1,157 more rushing yards and 29 more rushing touchdowns than any other player in the NFL in that span.
But at 30 years old, Henry’s best offer in free agency was a two-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens that left six running backs ahead of him on the NFL’s 2024 pay chart.
Henry responded by running for 1,921 yards in 2024, the 11th-most in one season in NFL history. He also led the league in rushing touchdowns for the third time in his career.
Henry said questions about his ability to produce at his age did serve as motivation in 2024. After Baltimore’s second-round exit from the AFC playoffs last season, Henry said he’ll have a different chip on his shoulder during the 2025 season and hopes the rest of the Ravens will carry it, too.
“To be honest with you, I mean, last year I kind of felt that a lot,” Henry said during an appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” “and I just wanted to prove that I can still dominate this league and be a great player coming here and helping them and doing my job effectively.
“But I feel like now the chip, it’s not just that. I think it’s like for us as a team because I feel like we have everything we need to win a Super Bowl, win a championship. And I feel like the whole team should have that chip on their shoulder for us to go out there and prove that, so I don’t really try to think of it as much as me having a chip on my shoulder. But I just like to think, like: What are my other teammates thinking, how’re they approaching it, how do they feel?
“And we should all feel the same way, having that chip up, wanting to get what we want and working hard every day to make each other better to get that to happen.”
Last season, Henry joined six other running backs as players who have piled up at least 1,000 career rushing yards in the playoffs with 1,002 in nine games. But the closest he has gotten to the Super Bowl has been the Titans’ 35-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 19, 2020.
“It would mean everything because that’s what I want,” Henry said of his career goal of a victory in the NFL championship game. “That’s all I need, man. I got to get there. I got to get to the mountaintop. Pray to God, I get there before it’s all said and done.”
As Henry prepares for the 2025 NFL season as a 31-year-old ball-carrier, when will it all be said and done for him?
“I don’t know,” Henry said. “I don’t try to put, like, a timetable on when I want to be done. I think whenever I feel like it’s time to hang them up, I’ll hang them up. Until then, you’re going to see me.”
Four NFL players have had more than 5,000 rushing yards after turning 30 years old – Frank Gore with 7,161, Walter Payton with 6,522, Emmitt Smith with 5,789 and John Riggins with 5,683.
Smith, Payton and Gore rank first through third, respectively, in career rushing yards in NFL history. Henry passed Riggins during the 2024 season to reach 19th on the league’s all-time rushing chart with 11,423 yards.
To break Smith’s NFL career record of 18,355 rushing yards, Henry would have to become the most prolific post-30 running back in NFL history.
“Lord bless me to have the opportunity,” Henry said. “That’d be a hell of an accomplishment. But right now, I want the Super Bowl.”
The Ravens have completed their offseason work schedule. Baltimore’s rookies will report for training camp on July 15, followed by the veterans on July 22. The Ravens will kick off their three-game preseason schedule on Aug. 7 against the Indianapolis Colts.
Henry hasn’t carried the football in a preseason game since Aug. 25, 2018.
