Drew Henson

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Drew Henson as a baseball player and member of the Columbus Clippers

Drew Daniel Henson (born February 13, 1980 in San Diego, California) is a former Minor League Baseball player and American football quarterback who has played for the Dallas Cowboys and currently play's for the Minnesota Vikings. From 1998 to 2000, Henson played college football at Michigan. Henson was the Wolverines' starting quarterback for most of the 2000 football season, leading the team to a share of the Big Ten title.

[edit] Early years

Henson attended Brighton High School in Brighton, Michigan, and Henson starred in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he completed 400 passes for 5,662 yards and 52 touchdowns in 3 seasons. As a sophomore defensive back, he added 47 tackles and 5 interceptions. He was also an excellent punter. In baseball, he hit a then national prep record 70 home runs, and was named the USA Today High School Player of the Year.

[edit] Professional career

In January 2001, Henson announced his intentions to remain in school for his final season and he quickly became a Heisman Trophy candidate. However, that March he reconsidered and left Michigan to accept a $17 million offer from the New York Yankees to play baseball on a full-time basis. Despite this decision, the Houston Texans drafted Henson in the 6th Round (192nd overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft, hoping to trade him if he decided to return to football.

Henson played professional baseball for the Columbus Clippers, then the AAA affilate of the Yankees, during the next two years, but only had 9 at-bats in the majors. In 2004, he chose to give up baseball and return to football, joining the Dallas Cowboys after they traded their third round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft to Houston in exchange for Henson's services.[1]

On Thanksgiving Day 2004, Henson started his first game for the Dallas Cowboys. Henson went 4-12 for 31 passing yards in the first half before leaving the game with the score tied at seven. Head coach Bill Parcells opted to insert veteran quarterback Vinny Testaverde and the team went on to win the game 21-7. In 2005, Henson had a poor training camp showing and landed third on the depth chart behind Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo.

After the 2005 campaign, Parcells announced that Drew Henson would be allocated to NFL Europe league to work on his skills. In 2006, Henson was assigned to the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe, where he almost led them to the World Bowl only to finish third behind the Frankfurt Galaxy and the Amsterdam Admirals. On August 23, 2006, Parcells stated that Henson would not be on the Cowboys 2006 roster. With Drew Bledsoe as the starter, and Tony Romo having had a strong preseason, Parcells was not inclined to keep Henson on the roster. His official status was unclear until August 24, when he was officially released. Having cleared waivers, Henson was free to sign with any NFL team. On September 27, Henson signed on to the practice squad of the Minnesota Vikings, but was then released on October 10. He was signed again by the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday, December 6th, 2006 as the 3rd string QB after the lousy performance by the Vikings QB's in the week 13 game vs. the Chicago Bears