Derrick Henry Net Worth, Biography, The Story of “King Henry”

1. Derrick Henry Facts

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2. Who is Derrick Henry? (Biography)

Most athletes dominate one level of football and then spend a career adjusting to the next. Derrick Henry is the rare exception. He is the only player ever to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season at the high school level (4,261 as a senior), the college level (2,219 at Alabama) and in the NFL (2,027 in 2020). A running back built like a linebacker has made a habit of outlasting everyone else’s expectations. This Derrick Henry biography follows that habit from a small Florida town to the top of the NFL’s all-time rushing charts.

At 32, an age when most running backs have long since faded, Henry is still the NFL’s active leader in career rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. He ranks 9th all-time in yards after passing Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson in Brazil in Week 3, and 3rd in rushing touchdowns. In his first two seasons in Baltimore he piled up 3,516 rushing yards, the most any back has ever produced in his first two years with a franchise. For readers who want Derrick Henry facts that go beyond a stat line, this guide covers the Heisman, the 99-yard run, the 250-yard game, and the quiet, unflashy habits behind a very long career.

The one gap in his résumé is a ring. The Derrick Henry Super Bowl question is the thread running through 2026, because he has said repeatedly that this season is about finally getting there with the Ravens. Below you will find the Derrick Henry stats, Derrick Henry highlights, the Derrick Henry draft story, his Derrick Henry contract, the Derrick Henry college years, a sober look at Derrick Henry net worth estimates, and an outlook for the rest of 2026.

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3. Early Life & Background Of Derrick Henry

Born in Yulee, raised by a village

Derrick Henry was born on January 4, 1994, in Yulee, Florida, a small community in Nassau County just north of Jacksonville. His parents, Stacy Veal and Derrick Henry Sr., were teenagers when he arrived, 15 and 16 according to widely reported biographical accounts. The family’s circumstances were not easy, and much of the day-to-day raising of young Derrick fell to his grandmother, Gladys Henry. She gave him the childhood nickname “Shocka”, a nod to how thoroughly his birth surprised everyone given how young his parents were. His mother later built a career as a hemodialysis technician.

Henry has credited Gladys as the most important influence of his youth, and her presence runs through his story like a recurring theme. Years later, in 2018, he kept a promise to her by finishing his degree at Alabama. He also wears a portrait of her as a tattoo. When fans see the stoic, almost unbothered demeanor Henry carries on the field, it helps to remember that it was shaped in a household where family, faith and work ethic were the main currencies.

A kid who was always too big for his age group

Henry’s size made him a local legend long before the internet found him. By the time he was two, the family joke goes, he would grab a football in a toy store and sprint away from an aunt as if she were a tackler. He began organized football at age six, and he was so much bigger than his peers that his family reportedly carried a copy of his birth certificate to games to prove his age to skeptical parents on the other sideline. Through grade school he played up in older age brackets because he could not make the weight limit for his own.

By middle school his dominance had produced an unofficial local custom. Opposing coaches informally agreed on what became known as the “Shocka Henry Rule,” under which Yulee would consider pulling him once the Hornets built a three-touchdown lead. Football was not his only sport. He was a talented baseball player, and one often-repeated story has him hitting a Little League home run that cleared a 200-foot fence and then a second, taller fence before landing on a school bus.

How he got into football

There was no single moment when Henry “got into” the sport; football was simply the thing he did best and loved most. At Yulee High School he competed in football, basketball and track, but his path was set early. He chose No. 2 at Yulee, a number he has explained as a tribute to the two things he plays for: God and his family. That small detail says a lot about how he frames his career, with a sense of obligation to the people behind him rather than the spotlight in front.

Did You Know? Derrick Henry wears No. 22 in the NFL as a tribute to Altee Tenpenny, a former Alabama teammate who died in a car accident in 2015. Tenpenny had told Henry that if he made the league, he should wear that number. Henry would have preferred his old No. 2, but an NFL rule at the time kept running backs between 20 and 49.

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4. Derrick Henry High School & College Career

Yulee High School: the greatest rushing résumé in prep history

If you look only at his high school numbers, you might assume there was a typo. Playing for the Yulee Hornets from 2009 to 2012, Henry rushed for more than 2,400 yards in every one of his four seasons, finishing with 12,124 career rushing yards, which broke the national high school record held by Ken Hall for almost 60 years. He also scored 153 rushing touchdowns.

Across those four years he averaged more than 250 yards per game and never rushed for fewer than 100 yards in a game. His senior year featured a Florida state-record 510-yard game against Jacksonville Jackson, a mark that stood until 2021. He averaged 327.8 yards per game and 9.2 yards per carry that fall. The honors were lavish: MaxPreps National Player of the Year and Athlete of the Year, the Maxwell Football Club’s national high school player of the year, a Parade All-American nod, a place on the USA Today All-USA team, and Florida’s Mr. Football and Gatorade Player of the Year awards. In 2013 he appeared on the cover of Parade magazine. In 2019, Yulee retired his No. 2 jersey, and his hometown later installed a welcome sign celebrating him.

Henry also showed athletic range beyond the gridiron. As a sprinter on the Yulee track team he ran a personal-best 11.11 seconds in the 100 meters in 2011. At the 2012 Nike SPARQ Combine in Orlando, he ran a 4.58 forty and jumped just over 40 inches vertically, posting the highest SPARQ score among more than 1,300 athletes. Recruiting services graded him as a five-star prospect, and 247Sports gave him a 99 rating. He was ranked the No. 1 athlete in the country in the class of 2013.

The recruiting decision

Henry fielded offers from USC, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Florida, Clemson and many others. He first committed to Georgia, then flipped to Alabama on September 28, 2012. He also played in the 2013 U.S. Army All-American Bowl, scoring a touchdown and a two-point conversion for the East squad.

Alabama: from backup to Heisman winner (2013–2015)

At Alabama under head coach Nick Saban, Henry had to wait his turn, which is part of why the numbers look almost sedate in his first two seasons.

2013 (freshman). Playing behind T.J. Yeldon and Kenyan Drake, Henry carried only 36 times but made them count: 382 yards and a long of 80 yards for a touchdown. His breakout moment came in the 2014 Sugar Bowl against Oklahoma, where he gained 100 yards on eight carries and added a 61-yard touchdown catch, even though Alabama lost 45–31. During that game, a Spanish-language broadcaster for ESPN Deportes dubbed him “El Tractorcito” (the Little Tractor) for his long, rolling stride. The nickname became an internet meme and followed him to the NFL.

2014 (sophomore). Henry split the workload with Yeldon and rushed for 990 yards and 11 touchdowns. He ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns in the SEC Championship Game win over Missouri, and 95 yards and a score in the College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Ohio State.

2015 (junior). With Yeldon gone, Henry became the featured back, and the season is one of the greatest in college football history. He scored a touchdown in every game, finished with 2,219 rushing yards and 28 rushing touchdowns on 395 carries, and led the nation in carries, yards, touchdowns and points scored. His season in highlights:

• Wisconsin (opener): 147 yards and 3 TDs in a 35–17 win.
• Texas A&M: 236 yards and 2 TDs in a 41–23 win.
• LSU: 210 yards and 3 TDs against rival Heisman candidate Leonard Fournette’s team in a 30–16 win.
• Mississippi State: 204 yards and 2 TDs in a 31–6 win.
• Iron Bowl vs. Auburn: 271 yards on 46 carries in a 29–13 win.
• SEC Championship vs. Florida: 189 yards on 44 carries in a 29–15 win.
• Cotton Bowl (playoff semifinal) vs. Michigan State: 75 yards and 2 TDs in a 38–0 shutout.
• National Championship vs. Clemson: 158 yards on 36 carries and 3 TDs in a 45–40 victory, which also made him Alabama’s all-time leading rusher, passing Shaun Alexander.

His 2,219 yards broke Herschel Walker’s SEC single-season rushing record. Henry won the 2015 Heisman Trophy over finalists Christian McCaffrey and Deshaun Watson. He also collected the Maxwell, Walter Camp and Doak Walker awards, and was a unanimous All-American. In the classroom, he majored in communications and officially graduated on May 4, 2018.

Did You Know? Henry holds an unusual combined record: 15,715 rushing yards across high school and college, the most ever combined at those two levels, and he has the most combined rushing touchdowns (317) across high school, college and the pros. No other player has rushed for 9,000-plus yards at both the high school and professional levels.

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5. Derrick Henry Draft Story & Combine Performance

The scouting report

Heading into the 2016 NFL Draft, most analysts projected Derrick Henry to land late in the first round or early in the second. The scouting consensus read like a recipe for a power runner. Evaluators loved his huge frame, violent running style, tackle-breaking ability, long-stride speed, conditioning and consistent production. The concerns were just as clear. Scouts worried about the wear and tear of a workhorse role at Alabama, his acceleration out of a standstill, his foot quickness and cutting ability, his pad level (he ran tall), a narrow base, and his pass-catching ability.

The combine numbers

Henry’s measurements and testing results at the NFL Scouting Combine, however, challenged several of those concerns:

A 4.54 forty at 247 pounds is rare. In a separate test on the television show Sport Science, he recorded a 20-yard acceleration time of 2.63 seconds, the fastest of any offensive player tested that year, and bulldozed through 1,500 pounds of heavy bags in 1.397 seconds. The show’s analysts estimated that his open-field momentum was comparable to a wrecking ball swinging at roughly five miles an hour.

Draft night

The Tennessee Titans selected Henry in the second round with the 45th overall pick on April 30, 2016. He was the second running back taken that year, after Ezekiel Elliott (No. 4 overall). In Tennessee he was reunited with his former Alabama fullback Jalston Fowler. On May 9, 2016, he signed his rookie contract: four years, $5.4 million, with $3.3 million guaranteed and a $2.13 million signing bonus.

Fans looking back with the benefit of hindsight often point to this Derrick Henry draft slot as an enormous bargain. The man who went 45th overall is now on pace to finish among the NFL’s top ten all-time rushers. He wore No. 2 in training camp and preseason and switched to No. 22 after running back Dexter McCluster was released on September 2, 2016.

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6. Derrick Henry Professional Career Timeline

Milestone table

Tennessee Titans (2016–2023)

The apprenticeship (2016–2017). Henry began his career behind veteran DeMarco Murray, finishing his rookie year with 490 yards and 5 touchdowns on 110 carries. In 2017 he shared work with Murray and quarterback Marcus Mariota, rushing for 744 yards and 5 TDs, adding a 66-yard receiving touchdown from Mariota in the regular-season finale. The Titans made the playoffs, and with Murray hurt, Henry started the wild-card game at Kansas City, rushing for 156 yards and a touchdown as Tennessee won 22–21. Tennessee then lost to the Patriots in the divisional round.

The breakout (2018). The arrival of offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur and veteran back Dion Lewis pushed Henry into a part-time role for much of 2018. From Weeks 4 through 13 he averaged only about nine carries and 37 yards per game. Then everything flipped on December 6, 2018, when he turned a Jaguars matchup into a coming-out party with 238 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries, including a 99-yard touchdown that tied Tony Dorsett for the longest run in league history. He finished the year with 1,059 yards and 12 touchdowns and was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for December.

The rushing champion (2019). In 2019 Henry led the league in carries (303), rushing yards (1,540) and rushing touchdowns (16), narrowly edging Nick Chubb for the title by running 211 yards and three touchdowns against the Texans in the final game. He made his first Pro Bowl and was named second-team All-Pro. Then came the playoff run that turned him into a national figure, covered in the signature games section below.

The 2,000-yard season (2020). The Titans placed the franchise tag on him in March 2020 and then signed him to a four-year, $50 million contract in July. His payoff was one of the best seasons a running back has ever had: 2,027 rushing yards, 17 touchdowns and 5.4 yards per carry. He became the eighth player in NFL history to cross 2,000 yards and the second Titan after Chris Johnson (2009). He earned AP Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Pro.

The interrupted year (2021). Henry was leading the league in carries, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns when he suffered a Jones fracture in his foot during Week 8 against the Colts. He appeared in only eight games (937 yards, 10 TDs), and the Titans activated him from injured reserve for the divisional round, where they lost to the Bengals 19–16.

The workhorse years (2022–2023). Henry bounced back in 2022 with 349 carries (best in the league), 1,538 yards and 13 touchdowns, and in 2023 he rushed for 1,167 yards and 12 TDs, the most in the AFC. He made the Pro Bowl both years. It was also in 2023 that he had the strangest statistical game of his career, against the Texans, when he became the first player in NFL history with at least 20 touches and fewer than 15 scrimmage yards.

Baltimore Ravens (2024–present)

The signing (March 2024). After eight seasons in Tennessee and with his contract expiring, Henry signed with Baltimore on March 12, 2024, a two-year, $16 million contract worth up to $20 million, with $9 million fully guaranteed. Skeptics wondered how much a 30-year-old back still had left. The answer came quickly.

A career year at 30 (2024). Paired with quarterback Lamar Jackson, Henry rushed for 1,921 yards (second in the NFL behind Saquon Barkley), 16 touchdowns (tied for the league lead) and a career-best 5.9 yards per carry. His 1,921 yards remain the most ever by a player aged 30 or older. He became the first running back in history to post 1,500+ yards and 15+ rushing touchdowns in three different seasons. He earned a fifth Pro Bowl, second-team All-Pro honors, and a finalist nod for Offensive Player of the Year. In the playoffs he set a Ravens postseason rushing record with 186 yards and 2 TDs against Pittsburgh before the Ravens fell to Buffalo 27–25 in the divisional round.

The extension and a historic 2025. On May 14, 2025, the Ravens and Henry agreed to a two-year, $30 million extension with $25 million guaranteed. He answered with 1,595 yards, 16 rushing TDs and 5.2 yards per carry in all 17 games. On December 27 at Lambeau Field, he ran for 216 yards and four touchdowns in a 41–24 win, passing O.J. Simpson and Adrian Peterson for the most 200-yard games in NFL history (seven) and moving into the top ten in career rushing yards. The season ended in heartbreak, however. Baltimore finished 8–9 after a 26–24 loss to the Steelers in Week 18 and missed the playoffs. Henry passed 13,000 career rushing yards in that game. In January 2026, the franchise ended John Harbaugh’s 18-year run as head coach.

2026: a new era. Jesse Minter took over as head coach in 2026, and Declan Doyle is the new offensive coordinator. Henry opened the year with a vintage game and has been central to the offense through three weeks, covered in detail in the stats and outlook sections below.

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7. Derrick Henry Season-by-Season Stats Breakdown

Regular season rushing and receiving

Through Week 3. Henry led the NFL in carries, yards and rushing TDs in 2019 and 2020, and in carries in 2022. He tied for the league lead in rushing TDs in 2024.

By franchise

Postseason

What the numbers reveal

He gets better with age on a per-carry basis. In his first two years with Tennessee he averaged 4.5 and 4.2 yards per carry, and in his first two years in Baltimore, 5.9 and 5.2. That happened even though Baltimore’s passing game requires defenses to respect a quarterback who is also one of the league’s best runners. In 2025, Henry ranked first in the league for the number of defenders in the box he faced, which makes his 1,595 yards more impressive. Over his first two Ravens seasons he has produced 3,859 scrimmage yards and 34 touchdowns in 34 games.

Contact data tells the story of a changed role. In 2020, Pro Football Reference credits Henry with 954 yards before contact and 1,073 yards after contact. In 2024 the split flipped: 1,012 before contact (a robust 3.1 per carry) and 909 after. Better blocking and defenses preoccupied with Jackson gave him a running start. The new offensive approach in 2026 has so far leaned more on his power: through three games he has averaged 1.9 yards before contact and 2.7 after per carry.

The receiving profile stays small. Henry has 194 receptions for 1,839 yards in 156 games. Only twice in his career has he topped 20 receptions in a season. His career-best came in 2022 with 33 catches for 398 yards. Remarkably, the running back has also thrown ten passes, completing seven for 37 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in the regular season, for a passer rating of 115.4.

The 2026 start. After three games Henry has 66 carries, 301 yards (a 100.3-yard average) and 6 rushing touchdowns, though his 4.6 yards per carry is below his career mark. By game:

Did You Know? Derrick Henry has posted double-digit rushing touchdowns in eight consecutive seasons (2018 through 2025). He is also one of only a handful of players to reach 1,000 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in seven different seasons.

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8. Derrick Henry Signature Plays & Games

Every great back has a short list of games that defined him. Henry’s is long, so here are the ones that matter most.

Alabama, 2015: the Iron Bowl and the title game

Henry’s 271 yards on 46 carries against Auburn is a snapshot of a runner who got stronger as the game wore on, and the 189 yards on 44 carries in the SEC title game followed that same pattern. Then came the national championship against Clemson, where he handled 36 carries for 158 yards and three touchdowns in a 45–40 classic. The performance sealed the Heisman and the title.

December 6, 2018: the 99-yard run

Against the Jaguars he broke a 99-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, shedding three would-be tacklers along the way. It matched Tony Dorsett for the longest rush in NFL history. He finished with 238 rushing yards and four touchdowns on just 17 carries, becoming the first player to reach 200 yards and four touchdowns on fewer than 22 carries and breaking Chris Johnson’s franchise single-game rushing record. The performance changed how Tennessee used him for the rest of his time there.

January 4, 2020: Patriots, on his birthday

The Titans were the sixth seed facing the defending champion Patriots in the wild-card round. Henry, playing on his 26th birthday, ran for 182 yards, the most ever against a Bill Belichick-coached team, and added a 22-yard reception in a 20–13 road win. He became the first rushing champion to run for 100 yards in a playoff game since Terrell Davis in 1998.

January 11, 2020: the one-man wrecking crew in Baltimore

A week later at top-seeded Baltimore, Henry carried 30 times for 195 yards and even threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Corey Davis, as the Titans stunned the Ravens 28–12. That made him the only player in NFL history with at least 175 rushing yards in consecutive playoff games. It also gave him the record for the most rushing yards in a postseason game by a Titan.

October 2020: Houston and the 94-yard run

In Week 6, Henry torched the Texans for 212 rushing yards and 52 receiving yards, including a 94-yard rushing touchdown, and then ended the game in overtime with a 5-yard touchdown in a 42–36 win. That month, he gained 344 rushing yards and scored five touchdowns, and was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month.

November 22, 2020: Ravens, overtime

Back in Baltimore, the Ravens had held Henry to 44 yards on 18 carries through three quarters. Then Tennessee drove for the lead and eventually took the game to overtime, where Henry ran 29 yards for the winning touchdown in a 30–24 win. He finished with 133 yards on 28 carries. It was a fourth-quarter, wear-them-down masterpiece, and perhaps the clearest illustration of how his style works.

January 3, 2021: 250 yards in Houston

The regular-season finale at Houston saw Henry carry the Titans to a 41–38 win and push past 2,000 yards. His 250 rushing yards and two touchdowns remain his single-game career high.

September 2021: Seahawks in overtime

In Week 2, Henry rushed for 182 yards with three rushing touchdowns and added 55 receiving yards as the Titans beat Seattle 33–30 in overtime.

October 2022: Houston again

Henry carried 32 times for 219 yards and two scores in a 17–10 win over the Texans in Week 8, earning AFC Offensive Player of the Week and, later, Offensive Player of the Month for October.

October 2024: debut season statement in Buffalo’s backyard

On the Ravens’ first offensive play of their Week 4 game against the Bills, Henry took off for an 87-yard touchdown, the longest run in franchise history. He finished with 199 yards and a touchdown rushing, plus a receiving touchdown, as Baltimore won 35–10. A week later against the Bengals, he scored his 100th career touchdown and passed 10,000 career rushing yards, becoming the fifth player in league history to hit both marks.

January 2025: the Steelers playoff game

In the wild-card round, Henry ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns in a 28–14 win over Pittsburgh, the most rushing yards in a postseason game in Ravens history.

December 27, 2025: Lambeau Field

On a Saturday night in Green Bay, with Baltimore’s playoff hopes on the line, Henry rushed 36 times for 216 yards and four touchdowns, the fourth such 200-yard, four-touchdown game in his career total and the one that put him alone atop the all-time list of 200-yard games (seven). The final touchdown, a 25-yard run, sealed a 41–24 win. He was 31 years old, making him the third-oldest player to ever have a 200-yard rushing game.

September 13, 2026: the 2026 opener

At Indianapolis, Henry carried 24 times and anchored Baltimore’s 41–23 win. The line: 144 yards, three touchdowns, a 19-yard catch. The three scores moved him past Marcus Allen into sole possession of third place on the career rushing touchdown list at 125, and it was his seventh game with 140-plus yards and three-plus touchdowns, tying Jim Brown for the most ever.

September 27, 2026: Rio de Janeiro

The Ravens and Cowboys played the first regular-season NFL game ever in Rio. Henry ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, and Tyler Loop’s 56-yard field goal won it 34–31 as time expired. He had 36 yards and two scores on 10 carries in the first half alone, passing Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson (13,259 yards) for ninth on the all-time rushing list. It came a week after he was held to 68 yards on 16 carries in a loss to the Saints and publicly criticized his own team’s late-game execution.

You May Also Like: Lamar Jackson: The Two-Time MVP Whose Running Ability Creates Space for King Henry

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9. Derrick Henry Playing Style & Key Skills

Size, power and the stiff-arm

Standing 6 ft 3 in and weighing 252 lb, Henry has the frame of an outside linebacker playing running back. Defensive backs who square up on him tend to regret it, and veteran defenders have long argued that the key is to stop his momentum before he reaches the second level. His weapons:

• The stiff-arm. It is his signature. Henry uses his long arms to hold off tacklers at a distance, and the technique has become part of the NFL’s visual vocabulary.
• Leg drive and balance. He keeps his feet churning through contact and almost never goes down on first touch.
• Long-strided breakaway speed. Henry’s runs of 99, 94, 87, 76 and 75 yards show that he is not just a grinder.
• Late-game efficiency. Observers have noted for years that his yards per carry tend to climb in the fourth quarter as defenders tire, which is why games like the 2020 overtime win in Baltimore play out the way they do.

Durability and conditioning

Henry is famous for his offseason and in-season recovery routine. He reportedly spends more than a quarter of a million dollars each year on body maintenance, including massage, hyperbaric oxygen, infrared saunas, vitamin and nutrient IVs several times a week, and a personal chef, and he is known for a strict diet that avoids gluten, artificial sugar, fried foods and dairy. In the same breath, he has acknowledged he allows himself some “cheat days” in the offseason, fried chicken included. That mix of discipline and ease is part of why teammates describe him as a model professional. Ravens tackle Ronnie Stanley has said (paraphrase) that Henry can play as long as he wants because there are few players built like him.

How he fits the Ravens’ offense

In Baltimore, Henry’s role is as the physical counterweight to Lamar Jackson’s speed. New offensive coordinator Declan Doyle’s system is expected to put Jackson under center more often, which suits a downhill runner who benefits from momentum. Running from under center, combined with Jackson’s read-option threat, forces defenses to commit to one gap or the other, and that is where Henry’s power takes over. The Ravens’ run game has also fed play-action, an effect that has long been associated with his presence in the backfield.

Weaknesses and how he compensates

Henry has never been a major receiving threat, and the sacrifice of that skill shows in his usage. He has also fumbled 24 times in the regular season (13 lost), most of them in his heavy-use years. But over a career, the limitations have been a small price. When defenses commit eight or nine defenders to the box and he still produces, the question stops being what he cannot do.

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10. Derrick Henry Major Honors & Achievements

NFL honors

• AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2020); also PFWA Offensive Player of the Year (2020)
• 5× Pro Bowl (2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024)
• First-team All-Pro (2020); second-team All-Pro (2019, 2024)
• 2× NFL rushing yards leader (2019, 2020)
• 3× NFL rushing touchdowns leader (2019, 2020, 2024, the last one shared)
• 10× AFC Offensive Player of the Week; 3× AFC Offensive Player of the Month
• NFL Top 100 appearances every year from 2019 to 2026: 99th (2019), 10th (2020), 4th (2021), 12th (2022), 25th (2023), 49th (2024), 7th (2025), 15th (2026)
• Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominee (2021, 2022, 2025)
• NFLPA Alan Page Community Award finalist (2025, 2026)
• Named to the All-Quarter Century Teams at multiple outlets, including ESPN, CBS Sports and Pro Football Focus

College honors (2015)

• Heisman Trophy
• Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, Doak Walker Award
• Unanimous All-American; SEC Offensive Player of the Year
• CFP National Champion; Cotton Bowl champion

High school honors (2012)

• MaxPreps National Player of the Year and Athlete of the Year
• Parade All-American; USA Today All-USA selection
• Florida’s Mr. Football and Gatorade Florida Player of the Year
• National high school leader in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns

Records (a selection)

• Longest rushing play and rushing touchdown in NFL history: 99 yards (tied with Tony Dorsett)
• Most career games with 200+ rushing yards: 7
• Most rushing yards in first two seasons with a franchise: 3,516 (Ravens)
• Most seasons with 1,500+ rushing yards: 5 (tied with Barry Sanders)
• Most seasons with 12+ rushing touchdowns: 7 (tied with LaDainian Tomlinson)
• Most rushing yards in a season by a player 30 or older: 1,921
• Most postseason games with 150+ rushing yards: tied with Terrell Davis
• Only player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season at the high school, college and pro levels

Super Bowl status: none. Henry has no appearances and no wins. His deepest postseason runs were the 2019 AFC Championship Game with the Titans (a 35–24 loss at Kansas City) and the divisional round with the Ravens after the 2024 season.

Did You Know? Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time rushing leader, has said (paraphrase) that he thinks Henry could one day break his career rushing record. Smith’s mark of 18,355 yards is still more than 5,000 yards beyond Henry’s current total, so it would take several more elite seasons.

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11. Derrick Henry Rivalries & Head-to-Head Battles

Baltimore, before he was a Raven

The Ravens spent years being tormented by Henry before they signed him. In the January 2020 divisional round he ran for 195 yards in an upset. In November 2020 he scored the overtime winner. And in the January 2021 wild-card round, Baltimore finally slowed him: 40 yards on 18 carries and no first downs in a 20–13 Ravens win. That pattern, one wild swing in each direction, is why the Ravens eventually decided it was better to have him on their side.

Jacksonville, Houston and Indianapolis

His AFC South opponents saw the most of him. Against the Jaguars, the team nearest his Florida hometown, he produced the 99-yard, four-touchdown game in 2018 and a 215-yard performance in 2020. Against the Texans he ran for 211 (2019), 212 (2020), 250 (2020) and 219 (2022). The Colts gave up 178 yards and three touchdowns in November 2020 and 144 yards and three touchdowns in the 2026 opener, and they were also the opponent when he broke his foot in 2021. Tennessee beat Indianapolis repeatedly during his tenure.

New England and Kansas City

The Patriots game in January 2020 was one of the signature wins of his career (182 yards). Kansas City, on the other hand, was the barrier. He had 156 yards in a 2018 playoff win, but 69 yards in the 2019 AFC Championship loss, and a 115-yard, two-touchdown game in a 2022 overtime defeat.

Buffalo

Buffalo has been both the best and worst of Henry’s Ravens tenure. In Week 4 of 2024, he put up 199 yards in a 35–10 win. In the playoffs that season, the Bills edged Baltimore 27–25 in the divisional round, and in the 2025 opener Buffalo won a thriller 41–40 even though Henry ran for 169 yards and two touchdowns. Henry’s career in Baltimore has therefore had a Bills-shaped hole in it.

Pittsburgh

The Steelers rivalry has been a seesaw. Henry ran for 186 yards in January 2025, but Pittsburgh won both regular-season games against Baltimore in 2025, including the 26–24 Week 18 decider that ended the Ravens’ season.

Positional peers

• Ezekiel Elliott was drafted 41 slots ahead of Henry in 2016. Over the decade since, Henry has out-rushed him by roughly 3,900 yards, per StatMuse’s ten-year totals through August 2026.
• Leonard Fournette lost to Henry’s Alabama in 2015 (210 yards, three TDs) in the key game of that season’s Heisman race.
• Saquon Barkley won the 2024 rushing title and the Super Bowl with the Eagles, while Henry finished second in yards and tied for the lead in touchdowns.

The reunion game

Today, October 4, 2026, Henry plays the Tennessee Titans for the first time since leaving them. The Ravens are 2–1 and the Titans are 0–3, with Baltimore favored by double digits at M&T Bank Stadium. It will be the first time he has lined up against the franchise he spent eight years carrying.

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12. Derrick Henry Injuries & Setbacks

The 2021 Jones fracture

The most significant physical setback of Henry’s career came in Week 8 of 2021 against Indianapolis, when he suffered a Jones fracture in his foot. Before the injury he was leading the NFL in carries, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, and was on pace for a record-setting year. He was placed on injured reserve on November 1 and missed the rest of the regular season, returning on January 21, 2022 for the divisional round against the Bengals, where he had 62 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries in a 19–16 loss.

Other physical issues

In 2019 he missed one game, in Week 16 against the Saints, with a hamstring injury. Beyond those two episodes, he has been extremely durable for a back with his workload. He played all 17 regular-season games for the third straight year in 2025. He has not missed a game since 2021, and none of the sources checked for this article report a current injury as of early October 2026.

Statistical and team setbacks

• Fumbles. Ball security has been his rare weak point. He had five fumbles (three lost) in 2019 and six (three lost) in 2022, and four (three lost) in 2025.
• The 2023 dip. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry and produced his worst scrimmage output in years, including the Week 15 game against Houston in which he had fewer than 15 scrimmage yards on more than 20 touches.
• Playoff disappointment. His postseason resume includes some memorable wins but also four early exits in the Titans years (2020 wild card, 2021 divisional, plus the 2017 and 2019 playoff losses) and the 2024 divisional round exit with the Ravens.
• The 2025 Ravens season. Baltimore missed the playoffs for only the second time since 2018 despite his production, with a quarterback who missed four games and a defense that struggled.
• Workload questions. He has 2,728 career regular-season carries plus 198 in the playoffs. Skeptics have predicted a decline for years, though so far the evidence has pointed the other way.

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13. Off-the-Field Life

Family and values

Henry has been in a long-term relationship with Adrianna Rivas since 2016, and they have three daughters. He is protective of their privacy, and public discussion of his family tends to focus on how he balances football with fatherhood. He also keeps two dogs, a Goldendoodle and a Rottweiler mix.

Education and promises kept

On May 4, 2018, Henry graduated from Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in communications, honoring a promise to his late grandmother Gladys. The same day he wrote a first-person essay for The Players’ Tribune thanking her. It remains one of the most affecting parts of the Derrick Henry biography.

The Two All Foundation

In 2019, Henry founded the Two All Foundation, whose mission is to level the playing field for young people regardless of their circumstances, background or disability. The name connects to the number 2 he wore at Yulee and Alabama.

A running list of giving

Henry’s charitable work is extensive and well documented:

• Every December he hosts a holiday toy giveaway in Yulee, distributing hundreds of toys to the first 500 children.
• In 2019, he partnered with Pay Away the Layaway to pay off 50 layaways totaling $10,000 at a Nashville-area store.
• In 2021, he donated $10,000 to a Nashville firefighter’s family that lost its home, and $20,000 to CORE’s Haiti earthquake relief effort.
• His back-to-school events with the Boys & Girls Club of Middle Tennessee delivered 5,000 backpacks in 2021, and in 2023 he bought Nike shoes for 60 children, school supplies for 150 students, and classroom supplies for 39 first-year teachers.
• In June 2024, he hosted a free carnival in Yulee for roughly 200 children, who received bikes and school-supply backpacks.
• In Baltimore, he gave 200 students at Curtis Bay Elementary backpacks, then, when the school said it needed winter coats, supplied coats for all 465 students. He was named NFLPA Community MVP for this work in Week 10 of 2024, and again in Week 18 of 2025.

Business interests

In April 2022, Henry became a minority owner of Major League Soccer’s Nashville SC.

Media

Henry is not a loud personality, but he is a regular on podcasts and talk shows. On The Lounge podcast in September 2026 he said (paraphrase) that he is tired of watching the Super Bowl from home and that this season is his focus for finally getting there.

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14. Derrick Henry Endorsements, Brand & Net Worth

Endorsements and advertising

Henry’s brand is built on understated power. He has appeared in advertisements for Old Spice, State Farm, FedEx and Pepsi, and he has reportedly appeared in more than 99 commercials across his career, including NFL-produced spots. In February 2026, he co-starred with actress Kathryn Hahn in a Super Bowl LX commercial for the protein yogurt brand OIKOS. The irony of that moment, a player who has never appeared in the big game starring in one of its most-watched ads, was not lost on fans.

Contract history

Reporting at the time described the extension as the largest ever for a running back over 30, with $14 million fully guaranteed for 2025, $11 million for 2026, and a $12 million salary in 2027. The team’s website noted that the roughly $15 million average annual value made it the third-highest among running backs, behind only Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey at the time. Spotrac lists a 2026 cap hit of about $5.6 million, rising to about $16.3 million in 2027. That is the Derrick Henry contract picture: he is under team control through the 2027 season.

What is Derrick Henry’s net worth?

This is where honesty requires caution. Many websites publish Derrick Henry net worth figures, and they disagree wildly, from roughly $12 million in one Pro Football Network estimate to figures many times higher on content-farm sites. None of the estimates come from audited financial statements, and several of the higher-numbered ones appear on low-quality sites. A fair reading is that Henry has earned well over $100 million in contract value across the deals listed above, but that is not the same as take-home pay: agent fees, taxes, living expenses and the reported quarter-million dollars a year he spends on body maintenance all reduce what he keeps, and signing bonuses are paid on different timelines than the headline numbers suggest. Treat any single figure with skepticism.

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15. Derrick Henry Facts for Fans

1. He is the only player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season at the high school, college and NFL levels.
2. His 99-yard touchdown run on December 6, 2018 ties the NFL record for longest rush, shared with Tony Dorsett.
3. He has rushed for 200-plus yards in a game seven times, more than any player in NFL history.
4. He has thrown four regular-season touchdown passes and one more in the playoffs, without a single interception.
5. His nickname “El Tractorcito” came from a Spanish-language broadcaster during the 2014 Sugar Bowl. “King Henry” came from stadium crowds in high school.
6. He wears No. 22 to honor a late Alabama teammate, Altee Tenpenny.
7. He is a Heisman winner who was not a first-round pick. He went No. 45 overall.
8. He has never missed a game since 2021 and has played all 17 contests in each of the last three full seasons.
9. He was a Florida state-record holder with a 510-yard high school game.
10. He is the NFL’s active leader in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.
11. He ran a 4.54 forty at 247 pounds at the combine.
12. He once hit a Little League home run onto a school bus.
13. His 1,921-yard 2024 season is the most ever by a player age 30 or older.
14. He earned his degree in 2018 to honor his grandmother.
15. He appeared in a Super Bowl LX ad for OIKOS yogurt, not on the field.

Did You Know? In 2019 and 2020, Henry became the first player in NFL history to run for 175-plus yards in back-to-back playoff games, and he did it by beating the same Patriots defense that had eliminated Tennessee two seasons earlier.

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16. Derrick Henry Comparison with Peers

The table below uses ten-year totals (August 2016 through August 2026) from StatMuse, which cover the careers of the most productive backs of Henry’s generation. Henry’s row shows his totals going into the 2026 season for a fair comparison.

What the table shows: Henry’s rushing yardage is roughly 4,500 yards ahead of the next closest player on this list, and he has scored almost double the rushing touchdowns of any of them. Taylor has the better per-game average, and Barkley holds a championship ring that Henry lacks. McCaffrey is the most dangerous receiver of the group by a wide margin, with 5,390 receiving yards to Henry’s 1,801. In a ranking of pure rushing, nobody from this generation is close.

You May Also Like: Saquon Barkley: The 2,000-Yard Rival Who Beat Henry to the 2024 Rushing Title and Won a Super Bowl

Historical context. Against the all-time greats, Henry has already passed Jim Brown on the career rushing yards list, along with Hall of Famers Marcus Allen, Edgerrin James, Marshall Faulk, Tony Dorsett and Eric Dickerson. He now sits behind only Emmitt Smith (164 rushing TDs) and LaDainian Tomlinson (145) in touchdowns, with 128.

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17. Derrick Henry Legacy & Impact on the NFL

He changed the aging curve conversation

For more than a decade, the NFL’s conventional wisdom has been that running backs fall off a cliff at age 28 or 29. Henry’s career argues for an exception. His best individual seasons by yards per carry came at ages 30 and 31, and he became the first player ever to record back-to-back seasons of 1,500-plus yards and 15-plus rushing touchdowns at age 30 or older. Teams now debate whether the old rules apply to certain body types, and Henry is Exhibit A.

He made the “big back” fashionable again

At a time when league-wide trends favored smaller, pass-catching running backs, Henry showed that a pure power runner can be the engine of an offense. Titans coach Mike Vrabel built one of the league’s most physical offenses around him, and the Ravens saw how much value a downhill runner adds to a mobile-quarterback system.

The Hall of Fame question

By Pro Football Reference’s Hall of Fame Monitor, Henry scores about 69, well short of the average Hall of Fame back’s roughly 106, and that metric ranks him 27th among running backs. But he is still adding to the total each week, and several of his marks, such as the 99-yard run, the seven 200-yard games, the 2,000-yard season and the college and high school records, are the sort of unique achievements voters remember. A Super Bowl ring would obviously help, though the argument can be made without one. This is analysis rather than prediction, and Henry has years left to change the math.

The cultural footprint

Henry has become a symbol of work ethic and humility. His charitable work, from Yulee toy drives to Baltimore winter coats, adds a human dimension to a persona that is otherwise defined by violence on the field. In Nashville he was a civic icon, and in Baltimore he has quickly become one as well. As Smith’s comment suggests, even the greats of the position have begun to view him as a serious contender for the all-time rushing crown.

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18. What’s Next: Current Season & Career Outlook

The 2026 Ravens

Baltimore enters Week 4 at 2–1, with a new head coach in Jesse Minter and a new offensive coordinator in Declan Doyle. Lamar Jackson missed four games in 2025 and was not at full strength for more, and the team expects a healthier, more productive 2026. Henry has averaged 1,758 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns per season since the start of 2024. The expectation, shared by analysts, is that his workload remains heavy.

This week: the Titans

Today’s game against Tennessee is Henry’s first against his old team. Football fans will be watching for any tribute from the Titans’ side, and for the possibility that Henry adds more milestones, since he is within reach of several round numbers in yardage and touchdowns.

The milestone watch

If Henry maintains the roughly 1,555-yard, 14-touchdown annual pace he has averaged since 2022, he would finish 2026 sixth on the all-time rushing yards list. He is already third in rushing touchdowns, and the next target in that category, Tomlinson’s 145, is 17 away. Emmitt Smith’s records at 18,355 yards and 164 touchdowns are the loftiest goals, and they would require extraordinary longevity.

The Super Bowl push

Henry has said (paraphrase) that he believes the Ravens have all the pieces for a championship and that his goal for 2026 is a Super Bowl. He has also said he is not thinking about retirement, and that he will keep playing as long as the love of the game remains. He has also indicated he hopes to finish his career as a Raven. His contract runs through the 2027 season, so there is time for that to happen.

Risks

The risks are the standard ones for any 32-year-old running back: injury, the cumulative toll of more than 2,900 career touches including the playoffs, and a decline in explosiveness. His per-carry average this season (4.6) is below recent years, and the Ravens’ decision to shift more of the offense under center is both an opportunity and an experiment. Still, the more often the question has been asked, the more often the answer has been a 100-yard Sunday.

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20. Frequently Asked Questions Derrick Henry

1. How old is Derrick Henry, and when is his birthday?

Derrick Henry was born on January 4, 1994, in Yulee, Florida. He is 32 years old and will turn 33 on January 4, 2027.

2. What team does Derrick Henry play for in 2026?

He plays for the Baltimore Ravens and wears No. 22. He joined Baltimore on March 12, 2024, after eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans.

3. Has Derrick Henry won a Super Bowl?

No. Henry has never appeared in a Super Bowl. His deepest playoff run was the 2019 AFC Championship Game with the Titans, and with the Ravens he has reached the divisional round once (the 2024 season). He has said (paraphrase) that winning one is his focus for the 2026 season.

4. How many rushing yards and touchdowns does Derrick Henry have?

Through Week 3 of 2026, Henry has 13,319 rushing yards and 128 rushing touchdowns. That ranks 9th and 3rd all-time, respectively.

5. Where was Derrick Henry drafted?

He was selected in the second round, 45th overall, by the Tennessee Titans in the 2016 NFL Draft, after a Heisman-winning career at Alabama. He was the second running back taken, after Ezekiel Elliott.

6. What is the Derrick Henry contract with the Ravens?

In May 2025 he signed a two-year, $30 million extension with $25 million guaranteed, running through the 2027 season.

7. What is Derrick Henry’s net worth?

There is no verified figure. Published estimates vary from about $12 million to far higher numbers on less reliable sites. His career contract values total well over $100 million, but that is not the same as net worth.

8. Did Derrick Henry win the Heisman Trophy?

Yes. He won the 2015 Heisman Trophy after rushing for 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns at Alabama. He also won the Maxwell, Walter Camp and Doak Walker awards.

9. Why is he called “King Henry” and “El Tractorcito”?

“King Henry” was a nickname given by crowds and local broadcasters during his record-setting years at Yulee High School. “El Tractorcito”, Spanish for “the Little Tractor,” was coined by a Spanish-language broadcaster during the 2014 Sugar Bowl, referring to his long, powerful stride.

10. Is Derrick Henry retiring soon?

Not by his own account. He has said (paraphrase) that retirement has not crossed his mind this season and that he will continue as long as he loves the game. He has also said he would like to finish his career with the Ravens, and his contract runs through 2027.