Oscar Anthony Henton (born July 27, 1963) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player who played two seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Early life

Henton was born in Bessemer, Alabama where he later attended

Jess Lanier High School Bessemer is a southwestern suburb of Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. The population was 26,019 at the 2020 census. It is within the Birmingham- Hoover, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, of which Jefferson County is the ...

. He matriculated at Troy State University.

College career

Henton attended Troy State University, Troy, Alabama where he majored in Business Administration. He was chosen Gulf South Conference Freshmen of the Year in 1982 while playing nose guard, before finishing his college career as outside linebacker. Made All-Gulf South Conference Linebacker in 1984. During his four years at Troy he had 87 tackles, 118 assist, 11 sacks and 7 broken passes.http://www.datebasefootball.com

Football career

Henton was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the ninth round of the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

. During his first season in Pittsburgh Henton was voted as the Steelers Defensive Rookie of the Year and honored with the prestigious "Mean Joe Greene Award". He played two seasons for the Steelers at linebacker. In 1991, Henton was drafted by the Sacramento Surge becoming the first pick in the first round for the World League Of American Football (WLAF). During the 1992 season Henton former college coach, Chan Gailey went into negotiations with the Surge to bring Henton back home to Birmingham where he finished his career as a Professional Football Player.

References

1963 births Living people Players of American football from Alabama American football linebackers Troy Trojans football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Sportspeople from Bessemer, Alabama {{Linebacker-1960s-stub