Taurean Levar Henderson (born January 20, 1983), 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 ...

player. He is a multi-purpose running back and is currently a coach with the Texas Revolution of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...

Early life

Born the son of KeSandra Henderson and Archie Ward, Taurean attended Gatesville High School, in

Gatesville, Texas Gatesville is a city in and the county seat of Coryell County, Texas, United States. Its population was 16,135 at the 2020 census. The city has five of the nine prisons and state jails for women operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. ...

. There he played for coach Kiff Hardin. He senior season he rushed for 2,953 yards and 32 touchdowns on 386 carries, helping lead Gatesville to Class 3A State Championship. For his high school career, he rushed for 6,337 yards and had 76 touchdowns. After his senior season, he received many honors and was named

Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Carter acc ...

First-team All-State, the 17-3A District MVP, Super Centex Player of the Year, Killeen Supreme Team Offensive Player of the Year, Associated Press First-team All-State, Texas Sportswriters Association Offensive Player of the Year, and was named to the

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal ''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal'' is a newspaper based in Lubbock, Texas, United States. It is owned by Gannett. History ''The Lubbock Avalanche'' was founded in 1900 by John James Dillard and Thad Tubbs. According to Dillard, the name "Avalanche" ...

Top 100 list. He was recruited by Baylor, Texas Tech, TCU and Kansas.

College career

Taurean committed to play football at

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

. Although having never rushed for 1,000 yards in a season due to Tech's predominantly passing-based offense, he averaged more than 75 receptions a season since his sophomore year. As of 2006, he ranked third in all-time receptions, out of all players including wide receivers. He has caught over 300 passes in his career. He is in second place on the Tech career receptions list with 236 and trails all-time leader

Wes Welker Wesley Carter Welker (born May 1, 1981) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who is the wide receivers coach for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the San ...

by 23. He is second on the career touchdowns list at Tech with 47 and is in third place at Tech with 33 career rushing scores. He is also second with 282 career points and trails all-time leader James Gray (1986–89) by 30 points. His 78 receptions in 2003 ranks fifth on the Tech single-season list.

Records Held

Tech Junior Scoring - 108 points (2004) Tech Sophomore Receptions - 78 (2003) NCAA Freshman Receptions - 98 (2002) Tech Freshman Receptions - 98 (2002) Tech Freshman Single-Game Receptions - 13 vs. A&M (2002) Tech Freshman Single-Season Receiving Yards - 633 (2002) Tech Freshman Single-Season All-Purpose Yards - 1,453 (2002)

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Although he was projected by some as a mid-round NFL prospect, Henderson went unchosen in the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. However, immediately following the draft he signed as a free agent with 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 ...

. After spending a few months in training camp, he was released on July 27.Vikes Sign One, Cut Three
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Atlanta Falcons

He has since been signed by the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

, who allocated him to

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

where he played for the

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Taurean 1983 births Living people People from Gatesville, Texas American football running backs Atlanta Falcons players Minnesota Vikings players Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Texas Revolution (indoor football)