Football

Titans RB Derrick Henry thanks God as he wins NFL Offensive Player of the Year

By Cole Claybourn Feb 6, 2021
Tennessee Titians running back Derrick Henry poses with his Offensive Player of the Year award during the NFL Honors ceremony. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry was named the Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year during the 2021 NFL Honors on Saturday night after a historic season.

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He gave credit to God in his comments afterward.

“First and foremost, I want to thank God,” Henry said. “I also want to thank all of my teammates for all your hard work, all of you. I want to thank everyone in the entire Titans organization for giving me chance and an opportunity at my dream. I am so thankful, so grateful for this opportunity.

“Yulee (Florida) stand up. Thank y’all again. God bless.”

Henry — who also collected FedEx Ground Player of the Year honors — put together one of the best seasons in NFL history. He set a franchise record with 2,027 rushing yards, which was more than what 23 teams totaled, and made him just the eighth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. It was the fifth-highest total in NFL history.

He also had three games with 200 or more rushing yards, and became the first player to lead the league in rushing in back-to-back seasons since Chargers running back LaDanian Tomlinson did it in 2006-07.

Henry often wears his eye black in a cross pattern as a way to publicly show his faith. He recently spoke about his Christian faith with Rob and Remy Maaddi on the podcast the couple hosts, “Faith on the Field.”

“I pray all the time,” Henry said. “I’m always thankful for all my blessings that God has given to me, to me and my family. My grandmother always told me, ‘Always keep God first. Always thank Him for everything in your life, good or bad.’

“I always thought, ‘What can I do to basically show off God? What can I do more than just a celebration or things like that?’ So I just thought that maybe I could put the cross on my face. It’s like He’s out there with me playing and doing the things that I’m doing.”

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