Former Michigan Quarterback Drew Henson arrived in Ann Arbor with lofty expectations, a tall, athletic prospect with a rifle for an arm, and a polished three-sport star.
While Henson was never quite able to wrestle the number one QB job away from future NFL icon Tom Brady, as detailed in Tom’s recent book ‘The TB12 Method,’ he did show flashes of brilliance that had many Wolverine fans calling for him to take the starting position.
Henson eventually broke the hearts of much of the Wolverine faithful when he signed on the dotted line with George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees to begin his journey to the Major Leagues, forgoing what could have been a record-setting senior season for the maize and blue.
Now, the former Brighton, Michigan product is being honored for his prowess on the baseball diamond — this time by his home state.
Report: Drew Henson Inducted Into the Michigan Baseball Hall-of-Fame
Henson shared the news on his Twitter account, thanking the Michigan football account for retweeting the news prior.
Thank you @UMichFootball! Go Blue! https://t.co/9nhdAiI8zR
— Drew Henson (@drewhenson7) June 19, 2021
Henson, 41, holds several MHSAA records for his career, including two of the top seasons for runs scored among all players in state history.
In 1998, Henson scored 83 times, improving on his previous high mark of 67 runs in 1997. He holds the all-time state record for most runs scored with 250, and also has two 71-hit seasons, both of which rank in the top 20 of all-time according to the MHSAA’s website.
Henson also has the most hits in state history with 257, and is second all-time for most home runs in a season with 23, among others.
He was named the Baseball American High School Player of the Year, USA Today Player of the Year and Gatorade National Player of the Year.
“It’s special to me, because it is like the culmination of all the sacrifices my parents made for my sister and I as we were growing up,” Henson said to The Detroit News.
“They were both full-time teachers and coaches and had paid their own way through their master’s programs, but at the same time sacrificed every minute and extra dollar for my sister and I to have the opportunities to experience everything and then choose what we loved and then be able to pursue that.”
Henson’s baseball contract was for 6 years, $17 million, despite the fact that he was projected as a top 10 pick in the next year’s NFL Draft.
Henson in 2020: “I Played Baseball (But) I Missed Football”
While Henson became one of the top baseball players in state history, he told Angelique Chengelis of the News in January 2020 that he wished he would have stuck around for the completion of his football career in Ann Arbor.
“I left (Michigan) before my senior year, and I wish I would have had a little more patience to play everything out,” Henson said according to Chengelis.
“I probably would have ended up playing football, because when I played baseball, I missed football. I missed being a quarterback.
“I missed the camaraderie, the team part of it, the prep, everything that goes into it, and that’s why I walked away from a lot of money to go pursue my football career.”
Henson’s career stats at Michigan can be seen below according to SportsReference.com.
You can also check out some highlights of his exciting but ultimately disappointing, in a certain sense anyway, career in the video player below.
Hey, at least he beat Ohio State, and showed Michigan fans what top-tier talent at QB can do when he’s firing on all cylinders.
Henson led the Wolverines to their last victory over the Buckeyes in Columbus, a 38-26 decision back in 2000.
