The two-time reigning rushing champion, Derrick Henry continues to rack up yards and accolades.
Henry’s latest tour de force saw him churn out 182 yards rushing and three touchdowns to lead the Tennessee Titans to an overtime triumph against the Seattle Seahawks.
The sensational Sunday garnered Henry AFC Offensive Player of the Week and FedEx Ground Player of the Week.
Amid his latest accolades, though, one of Henry’s oldest achievements was cast aside.
Once upon a time a star runner for Yulee High in Florida, Henry rumbled to a state single-game record of 502 yards rushing in 2012. Henry’s state standard was broken on Sept. 17 when Baker High’s Kayleb Wagner rushed for an amazing 535 yards in a 49-48 win over South Walton.
Henry took notice of Wagner’s accomplishment and went out of his way to offer the youngster congratulations.
"I think it is incredible," Henry said earlier this week, via the Titans team website. "I thought it was really cool. I got to talk to him a little bit on Instagram and hopefully he breaks some more. That was really cool, definitely an inspiration to me and I am sure he is an inspiration to his team and everybody over there in that community. It was definitely cool to see and hopefully I can do something for him these upcoming weeks. I love to see it."
Wagner’s accomplishment is all the more impressive and drew even more attention as he was born without a left hand.
It’s an inspiring tale that Henry hopes will carry on.
"I just told him to keep going, keep working hard, keep God first, break some more records," Henry said. "I have been trying to talk to him to see what I can do for him. It is a cool situation. He was outrunning guys, guys weren't touching him, it was really cool. Records are meant to be broken and I hope he breaks some more."
It might not be the only time this year that Henry reaches out to Wagner, who has a shot at topping Henry’s single-season state record of 4,261 yards, which he also set in 2012.
Wagner turned in another terrific showing on Thursday night with 426 yards in a 43-42 win to put him at 1,228 yards for the year. The Gators are currently 3-0 with five more games to play in the regular season.
So, as Henry currently leads the NFL in rushing and is looking for a third consecutive rushing crown, Baker will likely wise be looking for another one of Henry’s state records.