Erin Henderson (born July 1, 1986) 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 with ...

inside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

that played nine seasons in

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). He is currently an assistant linebackers coach at

Avila University Avila University is a private Roman Catholic university in Kansas City, Missouri. It is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and offers bachelor's degrees and master's degrees. Its 13 buildings are situated on a campus of in K ...

. He was signed by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2008. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Early years

Henderson was born and raised in Aberdeen, Maryland. He played quarterback and linebacker for Aberdeen High School in

Harford County, Maryland Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

and won the first state football championship in school history.

College career

After redshirting his freshman year with the Terrapins, Henderson missed the entire 2005 season after tearing his left

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

. Henderson entered his redshirt sophomore year in 2006 at Maryland and started 12 of 13 games at linebacker. Henderson finished the season with 114 total tackles, 1 sack, 3 forced fumbles, and 2 interceptions. Henderson returned an interception for a TD in a close 28-26 victory at Virginia on October 14, 2006. Henderson had a season high 17 total tackles at Clemson on April 11, 2006. He earned second-team all-ACC honors while finishing 2nd in the conference in total tackles. As a redshirt junior in 2007, Henderson recorded 133 total tackles, a forced fumble, 4 fumble recoveries, and an interception. Henderson had a season high and career high 18 total tackles versus Virginia on October 20, 2007. Henderson was a semi-finalist for the

Dick Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

, which went to

James Laurinaitis James Richard Laurinaitis (born December 3, 1986) is a former American football linebacker who played for the St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he was a t ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. He led a 6–6 Maryland squad to the

2007 Emerald Bowl The 2007 Emerald Bowl, one of the 2007–08 NCAA football bowl games, was played on December 27, 2007, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California, with the Atlantic Coast Conference represented by the Maryland Terrapins against the Oregon State Be ...

, where they lost to

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

Professional playing career

Minnesota Vikings

During his rookie year, he played in 10 games and finished with 15 tackles. He mostly played on special teams and saw limited time on defense. Henderson played in two regular season games for the Vikings in 2009, recording four tackles. He was suspended four games by the NFL on December 15, 2009, for violation of league's banned substances policy. Henderson won the starting job at weak-side linebacker at the start of the 2011 season. Set to become an unrestricted free agent for the 2013 season, Henderson re-signed with the Vikings for a two-year contract. In the first regular-season game of 2013 against the Lions, Henderson recorded his first interceptions and got 11 tackles and 1 pass deflection. He was released from the Vikings on February 7, 2014, after two suspected

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

arrests.

New York Jets

After being out of the league in 2014, Henderson signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

on April 8, 2015. On March 23, 2016, the Jets signed Henderson to a two-year contract for $3.1 million. On October 22, 2016, he was placed on the Reserve/Non Football Illness list. On February 25, 2017, the Jets declined Henderson's option, making him a free agent.

After football

Henderson became a substitute eighth-grade math teacher. He also volunteered as an assistant football coach at his former high school,

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Professional coaching career

In 2019, Henderson became an assistant linebackers coach for

Personal life

In March 2012, Henderson married his longtime girlfriend Maleah Flint in an elaborate ceremony in Atlanta, GA. Together they share their only child, a son named Lennox. Henderson is the younger brother of former linebacker

E. J. Henderson Eric N. "E. J." Henderson (born August 3, 1980) is a former American football linebacker who played nine seasons for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Vikings in the second round of the 2003 NFL Dra ...

. They both played

. Henderson was arrested on suspicion of DUI in November 2013 and again January 1, 2014. Henderson was charged with a DWI and possession of ten grams of marijuana on February 27, 2014, after being released from the Vikings earlier that month. On May 7, 2014, he was sentenced to two years of probation after he pleaded guilty to the latter DWI charge.

Lawsuit

On September 29, 2017, it was announced that Henderson filed a lawsuit against the

for failing to accommodate his disability with his

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

and wrongful termination, which cost him more than $3 million.

References

External links

Maryland Terrapins bioMinnesota Vikings bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Erin 1986 births Living people People from Aberdeen, Maryland Players of American football from Maryland American football linebackers Maryland Terrapins football players Minnesota Vikings players New York Jets players