The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Twenty-four starts and four years later, Henderson was done with foot- ball at Michigan — he just wasn't ready to be done with football. When former U-M linebacker and team- mate Matt Dyson, a fifth-round pick of Los Angeles Raiders, asked him to join him on the West Coast in an attempt to keep the dream alive the next year, Henderson packed up his stuff after Thanksgiving, found a job and continued his training. Though a few NFL teams called, Henderson realized his best bet might be one of two options: Arena Football or the Canadian Football League. "When you played arena football, they paid for transportation and housing. You got to play football, get some film to NFL teams and go from there," Henderson recalled. Or, in his case, stay there. Hender- son played nine years for four differ- ent AFL teams, spending the majority of his years (four) in Arizona playing defensive line and linebacker on de- fense, fullback on offense. Every ros- ter had at least a few former Big Ten standouts, he recalled, while some even featured future NFL All-Pros. Iowa quarterback Kurt Warner was one. Beating him with Arizona in the 1997 AFL championship game was a highlight of Henderson's career. "There were a lot of guys I knew, and I had bragging rights. Anytime they wanted to talk I'd say, 'I've got three [Big Ten championship] rings. What about you?'" he recalled. "But The Tony Henderson File Michigan Accomplishments: Four-year letterman, 1991-94 … Second team All-Big Ten, 1992 and '94 … Earned the Frederick Matthaei Award in 1992 as the team's top junior to be for accomplishments on and off the field … Started 24 career games, limited to three starts in 1993 due to injury … Earned three Big Ten championship rings and made the travel squad (though he didn't play) as a true freshman in 1990 … Finished with 119 tackles in four years (75 solo). Professional Accomplishments: Henderson spent nine years in the Arena Football League, including four years in Arizona, where he won a world title in 1997. He also spent a year in Hartford, Chicago, Raleigh, Atlanta and New Orleans. Michigan Memory: Henderson has uncles in the Marines, cousins in the Army and nephews in the Navy. When the time came to make a decision, though, he chose Michigan over his mother's wish, the military. "She knew I'd have a job for life after the military, but for the most part Coach Bo [Schembechler] recruited me. I re- member the day he retired and then took the job with the Detroit Tigers," Henderson recalled. "I got home and even though my mom's not a sports fan, she heard it on the radio said, 'You'd better go upstairs and turn on ESPN. I think that coach from Michigan retired.'" Coach Gary Moeller reiterated later that night Michigan still wanted him, promising a smooth transition. That was good enough for Henderson, and even his mother. "She was just happy the phone stopped ringing 15 times a day and the letters stopped coming," Henderson said with a laugh. Current Occupation: Head football coach (first year) and strength coach at T.C. Howe High School in Indianapolis. Henderson led his team to the school's first league title since 1992. Education: Henderson graduated with his liberal arts de- gree in 1995, with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Family: Henderson and his wife of four years, Jennifer, reside in Indianapolis with daughter Olivia (2) and son Jameson (1). JANUARY 2012 THE WOLVERINE 61 Henderson spent nine years in the Arena Football League, including four years in Arizona, where he won a championship in '97. PHOTO COURTESY TONY HENDERSON Arena Football was a great experi- ence because I wasn't ready to stop playing football. I was 22 or 23 and ready to play, and I was going to any- way when the NFL said no." Playing in stuffy indoor arenas wasn't easy, he continued, especially in a league designed for endurance. "You're at the bottom level, ev- erybody is sitting on top of you and there's no air flow. You get tired, and fast," he said. "The substitution rules of that game, you can't come in and out. It's a system where if you come out, if you get injured, you've got to put somebody in there to play the rest of that quarter. There are other very specific rules that keep it competitive. "At the end of the 1997 season, I got a nice, big, fat, gold ring with diamonds in it. The owner was Jerry Colangelo [Phoenix Suns, Arizona Diamondbacks], and at the time, that was the only team he owned that had won a championship. It's not as pretty as my Michigan rings, but it's pretty." The experience primed Henderson for the next step in his career. He coached in the arena league and was a coordinator and strength coach in the Indianapolis area for alma mater North Central and Warren Central before becoming the head coach in addition to his strength coach and coordinator duties at T.C. Howe last year. He led the school to its first India- napolis Public Schools title since 1992 and earned league coach of the year honors, to boot, having arena ball to thank. "There are a lot of nuances that transcend to the big field game, and a lot of things I've done as a coordina- tor and a head coach now that have more arena background than out- door," he said. "I probably learned more about play calling and strategy in those nine years than in my high school and college years. As I got older, I had to pay more attention breaking down film. That led to be- ing a coach." ❏