When weakside linebacker Erin Henderson makes a stop in the backfield or is involved in a big play, it is almost guaranteed to be followed by arguably the most overused phrase from a broadcaster calling a Terrapin football game.
“Erin Henderson, the little brother of E.J. Henderson … “
“It sucks that they always say it,” Erin said. “He’s not out there making those tackles, he’s not out there making those plays. It is what it is. You gotta take the good with the bad.”
That’s life for Henderson, the Terps’ defensive leader and most recognizable player. His brother, E.J., was a two-time All-American with the Terps and is now the Minnesota Vikings’ starting middle linebacker and arguably their best defender. No matter how well Erin plays, he has yet to break away from E.J.’s shadow – and by no fault of his own.
But that isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world, either.
“It’s gonna make me a lot of money one day,” Henderson said. “As annoying as it may be and as irritating as it may get, it’s gonna help me in the long run too. When I go to make that step to the next level and everything like that, it’s gonna be the same comparisons and same things, and he’s had a pretty solid career thus far, so it is what it is.”
So far, Erin is following in his brother’s footsteps. He led the Terps with 114 total tackles last season and has 32 this season, double the total tackles of the next-closest Terp defender. Like E.J., Erin appears well on his way to an NFL career.
“I just see him really developing as a young man,” coach Ralph Friedgen said. “I think he’s gonna do very well. He’s gonna do very well in life. I’m really proud. I’ve been very blessed to have coached both of the Hendersons. They’re a wonderful family, they’re really good kids, and I just see him developing as a very good football player but also as a person too.”
It’s arguable that no other player on the Terps has shown the improvement and progression Henderson has in the past year. After redshirting his first season and then missing the next season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Henderson entered last year without any college football game experience.
By season’s end, he was the big-name player on defense – and not just because of his last name.
“I think a lot of the guys on defense look up to him,” linebacker Moise Fokou said. “He’s always around trying to keep us up, keep the defensive tempo up, keep us amped.”
There are noticeable differences in Henderson’s play from the past two West Virginia games. Last year in Morgantown, W. Va., Henderson was a step too slow and wasn’t quick enough to the ball. But last Thursday night, he looked like a hawk every time Pat White or Steve Slaton started to run. He had a game-high 11 tackles, five more than last year’s contest, and 2.5 tackles for a loss.
“That was like my third game of the season last year,” Henderson said, “so it was really like a shocker to me when I stepped out there.”
Another problem was that Henderson wasn’t playing physical enough. And after Henderson was benched for much of the game against Florida International last season, Friedgen pulled Henderson into his office to have a talk.
“[I told him] you have to play more physical, and to be honest with you, he was probably pretty upset with me that I said that,” Friedgen said.
Henderson was upset and couldn’t figure out what he was doing wrong.
“I think it was a needed wake-up call,” Henderson said. “I was squandering that opportunity that I had to wait so long for, and I think I really needed that. I hated Coach Cosh at the time, I was mad at Coach Friedgen at the time. Once I sat down and talked to them and they explained to me what I needed to do to make sure it didn’t happen again, I took that it and went out there and did my best to make sure that never happened again.”
It hasn’t.
In fact, almost a year later, Friedgen again brought up Henderson and the nature of his physical play. This time, though, it was praising him for a hit on West Virginia fullback Owen Schmitt on the goal line.
“He hadn’t brought it back up [until this week],” Henderson said. “I figured I must have improved, I must have gotten better in that aspect.”
Henderson, a redshirt junior, is on pace to graduate this December with a communications degree. Whether he makes a run for the NFL after this or next season is up in the air, but one thing’s not: The linebacker has solidified himself as the face of the Terps’ defense – exactly like his brother did when he was here.
And as long as Henderson plays football, those references will lurk over him.
“When I was younger I hated it, but now it’s like whatever,” he said. “It is what it is. I think I had a chance to put my name out there for myself and do my whole thing. That’s helped me cope with it a little bit, just the fact that I’ve been able to show I’m my own man.”
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