Garney Henley (born December 21, 1935) is an American former professional football player, who played in the Canadian Football League.

College career

Garney Henley attended Huron College in South Dakota, playing as a running back from 1956 to 1959. From 1956 to 1959, Henley was a running back on the varsity team. Meanwhile, Henry was named dean's List honor Student. In 1959, Henley broke a First Team NAIA All-America, records with 394 points and more than 4,000 rushing yards.

CFL career

Henley was drafted in 1960 by the

NFL 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 major ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in the 15th round (173rd overall), but was traded to the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

in Ontario, Canada. Following this trade, Henley embarked on a 16-year career (1960 to 1975) within the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. In his early Tiger-Cat career, Henley was used mostly as a defensive back. In his later years with the Tiger-Cats, he played more commonly as a receiver. As a defensive back, Henley intercepted 59 passes for 916 yards and 5 touchdowns, and was selected as an All Star nine times. Following Henley's transition into an offensive player, he was an All Star for the 10th time in 1972 as a wide receiver. Henley won the

CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award The Most Outstanding Player Award is annually awarded to the best player in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Terry Evanshen Trophy winner from the East Division, and the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy winner from ...

in 1972 in which the Tiger-Cats won the

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

at their home field, Ivor Wynne Stadium, in Hamilton, Ontario. He played in 7

games, winning 4: the

51st Grey Cup The 51st Grey Cup took place on November 30, 1963, at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, and decided the Canadian Football League (CFL) champion for the 1963 season. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the BC Lions 21–10, in front o ...

of 1963, the

53rd Grey Cup The 53rd Grey Cup, also known as the Wind Bowl, was hosted at CNE Stadium in Toronto on November 27, 1965. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 22–16. Weather conditions and change in punting rule Because of strong winds ...

of 1965 (the so-called 'Wind Bowl'), the

55th Grey Cup The 55th Grey Cup was played between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Saskatchewan Roughriders on December 2, 1967, at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, before 31,358 fans and was won by the Tiger-Cats by a score of 24–1. Box Score First Quarter Ham ...

of 1967, and the

60th Grey Cup The 60th Grey Cup was played on December 3, 1972, before 33,993 fans at the Ivor Wynne Stadium at Hamilton. It was the last Grey Cup to be played in December until 2021, which, coincidentally, was also held in Hamilton. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats de ...

of 1972, losing 3: the

49th Grey Cup The 49th Grey Cup was the Canadian Football League's championship game of the 1961 season on December 2, 1961. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21–14 at CNE Stadium in Toronto before 32,651 fans. It is considered to b ...

of 1961, the

50th Grey Cup The 50th Grey Cup, also known as the Fog Bowl, was the 1962 Grey Cup Canadian Football League championship game played between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on December 1, 1962, at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. It remai ...

of 1962, and the

52nd Grey Cup The 52nd Grey Cup was hosted at CNE Stadium in Toronto, Ontario on November 28, 1964. The BC Lions defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 34–24, the first Grey Cup victory for BC. Bill Munsey on offence and defence BC player Bill Munsey scored two ...

of 1964.

Post-football career

While still playing football in Hamilton, Henley was hired at the University of Guelph by athletic director, Bill Mitchell. Henley served as the assistant athletic director, advisor to the football team and taught in the Physical Education program. He also took over the Gryphon Basketball program. Despite several winless seasons, Henley gradually developed the program into a highly competitive side. This culminated in 1973-74, when Henley coached the team to its first CIAU national championship. Following his playing days, Henley became the athletic director and coach at

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not parti ...

in New Brunswick, and Brock University in Ontario. From 1989 to 1993, Henley was hired as defence coach with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. As coach, he made another appearance in the

in 1989, losing to Saskatchewan in the final minutes. He also served as the Director of Football Operations for the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

from 1995–1996. His teams had a combined 6–30 record. In 1996, Henley moved back to his home state of South Dakota after 36 years in Canada. He finished his career as an athletic director at his alma mater, Huron University. After Huron University closed, Henley became General Manager for Professional Transportation Inc., transporting railroad engineers and conductors. He retired in 2013. Henley's footballing career was celebrated when he was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

in 1979, the University of Guelph Athletics Hall of Fame on October 4, 1985, the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 2004, and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. Henley was voted the sixth greatest CFL player in a poll conducted by Canadian Sports network TSN in 2006.

Videos

Canadian Football Hall of Famer
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College career

CFL career

Post-football career

Videos

References

Further reading