A compilation has emerged to show just how tough Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry has been throughout his playing career. 

Derrick Henry, nicknamed ‘King Henry’ is without a question one of the most dominant running backs in the National Football League right now, helping the Tennessee Titans to become one of the teams with an outside chance of making the Super Bowl every year. 

He was a slow starter in the league, only drafted in the 2nd round back in 2016 and having to start out as a backup in his first few years, before 2019 and 2020 saw him lead the league in carries, yards and rushing touchdowns. Indeed his 2020 campaign saw him become just the eighth man in NFL history to see someone rush for over 2,000 yards. 

Last season was something of a disappointment as he suffered an injury that seriously hampered both his and the Titans’ seasons, forcing him to drop a tad below 1,000 yards on the season and not being at 100% when the playoffs rolled around. As a result, the #1 seeded Titans fell to the Cincinnati Bengals with Henry only putting up 62 yards on 20 rushing attempts. 

How does he do it? 

A large part, in fact perhaps all, of how he’s able to perform the way he has is down to his very impressive frame. 

With his NFL profile listing him at 6’3 and 247lbs, you could very easily mistake him for a linebacker or defensive end, which makes him incredibly hard to tackle. And anyone who does try to get in his way, to quote the ski instructor from the ‘Asspen’ episode of South Park is going to have a bad time. 

But whilst he might be that height now, he has always been bigger than a lot of people trying to tackle him whilst he was growing up, as a video that has emerged on social media demonstrates.

Dominant from day one 

A video posted by CBS Sports (using footage from various other media outlets), shows Henry showing his brute strength during his days both in college at Alabama and in high school at Yulee in Florida, as he shoves off would-be tacklers left, right and centre:

There have always been players who have just been so dominant at their position that they stand out above the rest, whether it be Michael Vick with his speed at quarterback, Aaron Donald with his strength at defensive tackle, or Deion Sanders with his all-round ability as a defensive back.

But you could make the argument that we will never see anyone as physically dominant as Henry play the position of running back now or at any point in the future.